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Pitfalls of installing Pipe Organs.... (Indiana University left without working organ)

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  • Pitfalls of installing Pipe Organs.... (Indiana University left without working organ)

    October 4, 2005

    Silenced sounds

    http://www.music.indiana.edu/publici...S-Sauers.shtml

    After 13 years, IU School of Music still waiting to play $750,000 organ
    By Elisha Sauers, Indiana Daily Student

    The backstage of Auer Hall looks like a mechanic's shop.

    Rows of soldered metal pipes, wooden freights full of tools and two-story-high scaffolding hide behind the façade of an instrument so large, it soars from the balcony to the rafters in height.

    The pipe organ, with its unassembled parts amounting to more than $750,000, has never fired a single note from the barrels of its flutes.

    Its maker won't be finishing it either.

    In 1992, the IU School of Music hired Los Angeles organ designer Manuel Rosales to create the first and only performance pipe organ on campus.

    "In the late 1980s, when my colleagues and I were looking for an artist, we were looking for someone uniquely talented," said professor Larry Smith, chairman of the organ department. "At the time, Rosales was the premier craftsman of organs in the country, so he was the builder of choice."

    An organ becomes an extension of the auditorium in which it lives. Rosales was responsible for tailoring the instrument to the specifics of the Auer Hall venue in the Simon Music Center and the faculty's preferences.

    "We had a consultation with the builder back in the beginning," Smith said. "We discussed the flavor of the instrument -- the kind of sound we wanted and the way we wanted the keys attached to the pipes."

    Rosales was in charge of crafting those preferences to the hall's size and acoustics.

    "It's kind of like when you're buying a car," Smith explained. "It's like saying, 'I want power windows, but I don't want the electric seats.' You decide how the money is spent."

    The contract negotiated between IU and Rosales stated the job was supposed to be completed in 1997, Smith said.



    Contract dissonance

    Thirteen years and $750,000 later, the University can't sue.

    "The contract specified that if the parties were in a dispute, instead of taking (the complaint) before a court, it would be taken before arbitration," said Sharon Groeger, associate University counsel.

    Arbitration is a form of legal negotiation in which an impartial person hears evidence from all parties and then makes a decision. Groeger said arbitration is not typical for IU agreements.

    But IU was not suspicious that the inclusion of a clause restraining both parties from suing one another was an indication of future problems in the deal.

    "I think probably everybody expected that the organ would be completed to our specifications, and everyone would be happy," Groeger said.

    Rosales' attorney Peter Steinberg explained his client prefers to settle matters outside of court.

    "Mr. Rosales is not a litigious person -- he is an artist," Steinberg said. "He does not want to sacrifice his creativity. In a karmic sense, it's negative energy."

    But the School of Music and University counsel contest that Rosales was straying too far from the task.

    "There were a number of stages outlined in the contract," Smith said. "Once he was late on one deadline, he was late on everything else."

    Steinberg said his client saw the situation differently.

    "Mr. Rosales contends he wasn't given proper feedback from the University, and that's why he was unable to complete the project," Steinberg said. "He filed bankruptcy because of pressure put upon him by IU."

    IU initiated arbitration in 2004 to collect compensation for damages, but Rosales filed bankruptcy in February 2005.

    "Essentially, he didn't finish the job. In the arbitration, we were asking for almost $2 million, but he filed bankruptcy," Groeger explained. "The arbitration is just over when the dissenting party claims bankruptcy."

    But Steinberg said the University was just trying to win a large arbitration settlement.

    The results leave little hope for the pipe organ's completion in the near future.

    "The organ is out of Mr. Rosales' control now," Steinberg said. "But as Mr. Rosales stated in a recent deposition, he wouldn't be averse to finish(ing) the project if proper guidelines could be arranged to this day."

    The School of Music has yet to make any official decisions on the matter.

    "It's in pieces," Smith said. "Its fate has yet to be determined."



    Standing room only

    Out of the 31 organ majors in the department, zero of them will touch the keys of a performance hall organ for their senior recitals.

    "It does, in some ways, have a negative impact on the department," Smith said. "We have always been somewhat hampered by the lack of a performance hall home. We have one of the largest departments in the nation, but we don't have a church on campus with an organ or a working performance hall organ."

    Smith said nine practice organs and two studio teaching organs are in the annex.

    "But the practice organs are just that," he said. "They're smaller instruments, and they aren't intended for audiences."

    Senior organist recitals have typically taken place either in a local area church off campus or in one of the teaching studios. Smith said one studio holds fewer than 40, while the other has a capacity of only 75 audience members.

    Some students who use the studio organs opt to play half of their recital repertoire in the first studio and half in the second.

    "They get so crowded, people have to stand up in the back of the room and spill out into the hallway," Smith said. "But if a recital takes place in both studios, at least the back half (of the audience) gets to take turns and trade places with the front (half of the audience)."

    Smith said pipe organs present a unique dilemma because they have to be permanent fixtures in a hall.

    "Until the school does come to a conclusion on the matter, we simply do the best we can do," Smith said.

  • #2
    Re: Pitfalls of "boutique" Pipe Organ builders. (Indiana University left without working organ)

    my comment and why I posted this:

    A factor in selecting a organ builder must be the ability of the firm to finish the contract. Obviously Indiana University made some glaring mistakes in the contract.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Pitfalls of "boutique" Pipe Organ builders. (Indiana University left without working organ)

      I used to be involved with installing and tuning organs, mostly electronic.
      But sometimes unusual demands were made and it was impossible to comply.
      One case was a university which had a large organ that was a combination
      pipe and electronic organ, with only about 8 ranks of pipes including two
      small mixtures. The hall was used for many things and the organ was stored
      off stage and moved into position before performance. Well the pipes needed
      to be completely tuned after being moved, and they allotted two hours for
      the tuning. I said that was not enough, but I would try to get to most of it.
      It turned out that rehearsals ran late, the organ got moved late, and they
      still wanted all 8 ranks tuned in less than 1/2 an hour with the orchestral
      musicians already milling around on stage, some of them already tuning up!

      I don't know what happened in Mr Rosales's case, but I can well imagine
      that it was not all his fault. There is a fine Rosales organ here in my town
      that he built many years ago, at the time it was one of the largest tracker
      organs in the country. Not everyone likes it of course, it is in a fairly
      large church with poor acoustics, but I think it is satisfactory. I have
      heard that he completed some other organs as well, so he is not a brand
      new builder and he is not a flake, despite Indiana's troubles. Maybe they
      can get someone else to finish putting it together???

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Pitfalls of "boutique" Pipe Organ builders. (Indiana University left without working organ)

        That article also fails to mention that IU has a mammoth Roosevelt pipe organ in a 4,000 seating capacity auditorium. That organ is out of favor in the organ world though so not used much, if at all. It was used back in the early 90's when I went to IU but whether it is playable today I have no idea.


        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Pitfalls of "boutique" Pipe Organ builders. (Indiana University left without working organ)

          Rosales is out of business?! That's dreadful!

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Pitfalls of "boutique" Pipe Organ builders. (Indiana University left without working organ)

            yea, too bad that *$%##S#son organ company is still in business.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Pitfalls of "boutique" Pipe Organ builders. (Indiana University left without working organ)

              It's kinda curious that Manuel was able to finish and voice the organ in the Los Angeles Disney Concert Hall. Perhaps too many jobs at the same time or misplaced priorities or impossible requirements. Advance payment not always a good practice, especially across country. BTW arbitration is in common use nowadays and is only binding when specified to be so. It reduces the court load considerably.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Pitfalls of "boutique" Pipe Organ builders. (Indiana University left without working organ)

                Can someone post what happened when Aeolian-Skinner went out of business in the early 1970's?

                The same with Moller?

                Did they leave any church's with contracts not fullfilled that were paid for?

                I believe Austin Organ went bankrupt either last year or early this year, but has since reorganized and is meeting its obligations? Does someone know for sure?



                Also...what is the advice for avoiding what happened to IU? That story I posted only lists IU's side of the story, and I'm guessing that after 13 years or whatever it was that IU had changed the specs on what they wanted in the organ over time leading to the delays as well....but that is just a guess.


                Just in terms of contracts, do some organ companies post bonds to insure completion of projects? It seems to me that payment should be staggared, some up front, some during building, some on completion, or perhaps all paid up front, or most paid up front if a bond is posted for recovery. But I have no idea if that is even possible, or done. Just an idea.

                Thoughts on how to best pay for a organ to protect both the builder, and the church?

                Any horror stories on builders installing organs that the builder never got paid for? I'm sure the shoe could be on the other foot as well?


                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Pitfalls of "boutique" Pipe Organ builders. (Indiana University left without working organ)

                  I am very curious how Manuel was able to secure the finish and voicing contract at Disney Concert Hall.
                  I don't think the Disney Hall committee would award a contract to a company with such a red flag.

                  Rob.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Pitfalls of "boutique" Pipe Organ builders. (Indiana University left without working organ)

                    For some reason, I don't see how Rosales needed any feedback at this stage whatsoever - I mean gosh, the darn thing isn't even put together yet! He was quite content to receive the money though.

                    - N

                    Comment

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