review of the event

18 June 2014 – Church of St. Antony, Zurich / Kuhn Organ Builders, Männedorf

Jubilee celebration with a concert by Benjamin Righetti, titular organist of the Church of St. Francis in Lausanne and Professor at the University of the Arts in Berne, holder of numerous awards, played on the one hundred year old Kuhn organ, speeches, tour of the company with demonstrations and six exciting workshops which will bring you into unique proximity with the work of the organ builder.

Church of St. Antony, Minervastrasse, Zurich

9.15 a.m.
Words of welcome from Hans-Peter Keller, Kuhn Organ Builders Ltd
10 a.m.
Concert by Benjamin Righetti, titular organist of the Church of St. Francis in Lausanne and Professor at the University of the Arts in Berne, holder of numerous awards, played on the one hundred year old Kuhn organ
11 a.m.
Brief addresses in the banqueting hall (Dr. Friedrich Jakob, Gunter Böhme, Markus Hahn)
11.45 a.m.
Depart by bus to Männedorf

Männedorf
12.30 p.m.
Buffet lunch in the church hall, Alte Landstrasse 250
1.40 p.m.
Depart by bus to the Kuhn Organ Builders works at Seestrasse 141
"Organ building live": You can choose and attend three workshops from the list below. 45 minutes + 15 minutes coffee break per workshop
2 p.m.
Attend workshop I
3 p.m.
Attend workshop II
4 p.m.
Attend workshop III
5. p.m.
Joint wine tasting
6.15 p.m.
Close of event

Demonstration workshop "Organ building live"

A. Tour of the works
• Tour of the premises
• How the buildings developed on the Kuhn Organ Builders site
• Ecological features
• Future developments

B. Construction
• Planning a new organ, from the initial idea to the finalized project
• Musical concept
• How much room does an organ pipe need to sound good?
• How to develop a concept for the whole organ
• Taking measurements of the building
• Architecture – Organ design – Proportions
• Structural engineering for organs

C. Voicing
• Introductory explanations
• The voicer’s tools
• Practical attempts with three identical pipes
• Participants’ own attempts
• Explanation of various tunings (theoretical and practical)

D. Tin pipe workshop
• Casting a sheet from A to Z
• Producing tin pipes: Demonstration and opportunity to try soldering

E. Tuning reeds
• Introduction: What to heed
• Demonstration
• Opportunity to tune reed pipes

F. Current developments in organ controls
• The conventional capture system
• Extended functions of a capture system with touch screen as exhibited by the organ in Nidaros Cathedral, Trondheim (demonstration)
• Ensemble playing with several organs and consoles