I discovered this chapel through the following blog about LDS architecture, which I find fascinating. I also heard mention of it afterwards from a friend, then eventually another friend of mine moved into one of the wards that meets in the chapel. As it turns out, someone I work with at BYU is the bishop of one of the wards that meets in this building.
Here's a link to the architecture site. This guy takes way better pictures than I do!
Here's my addition, I pretty much just took selfies of this organ, so here's one of them:
Not the best photo, but there I am. This was taken May 20, 2014. The console is off to the right of the photo, but you can get a better view of its location at the architecture site linked above. The swell box is located behind the grilles you can see just behind the center of the pipe facade. There are also several pipes in the right side wing (again, not in this photo). It's really neat how close you can get to the little pipes on this organ's facade. Usually you can just get close to the larger 8' and 16' ranks, but these are fairly close to eye level.
I don't know who built this organ, as I had only played 2 chapel organs prior to this one, but it feels like it could be a Wicks, possibly a Reuter. It's small, it has very few ranks, and the Tutti (or Sforzando, as Wicks likes to call it. It means full organ, all the stops out) wasn't overwhelming. It was a sweet, soft sound, and I remember the keys and especially the pedals having a very soft touch, which leads me again, to believe that this is a Wicks. The wind chest for the facade and console controls also remind me of other Wicks organs I have played.
Enough about the brand. This organ felt small, but what was there I liked. It was hard to play my interpretation of Diane Bish's "God of our Fathers," since I had to use the reeds to support the principal chorus, and since the stops were unified, when I tried to play the fanfare on top of the chorus, I didn't get any sound. I did enjoy this, a lot, though. The organ is well-maintained, and in a great acoustic space. The wood paneling continues along the entire ceiling and into the cultural hall, so there's some good reverberation. It's a good organ for the building.
I'd like to go back soon, to get a more experienced organist's perspective on this organ. That may or may not be coming soon, but I'm planning on posting some cool organ videos I have found within the next few days. I hope you guys like them!
Built By: Unknown, probably Wicks Organ Company
Opus Number (if indicated):
Year: Building built 1959
Manuals: 2
Ranks: Less than 10
Location: 667 N 600 E Provo, UT
Provo 9th & 19th Wards - Stoplist
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