Historic Pipe Organ Needs a New Home

A beautiful pipe organ with over 1,300 pipes is looking for a new home. The organ sits in the A.T. Olson Chapel in Bannockburn, Illinois. The Donato Foundation bought the campus in January and wants to help the organ find a good place to go. The foundation hopes a church, school, or music program will want this special instrument.

The pipe organ was built in 1980 by Casavant Frères, a famous Canadian company. This company has been making organs since 1879. Each organ they make gets a special number, and this one is called Opus 3464. The Pipe Organ Database keeps track of all these instruments for history.

Anna Donato helped start the foundation that bought the campus. She wants to turn the old school into a place for youth sports. The previous owners tried to sell or give away the organ, but they couldn't find anyone to take it. Now the foundation owns it and wants to help it find a good home.

The chapel will stay the same for now, so there's no hurry to move the organ. Donato would love to see another group use this beautiful instrument. She also hopes the historic mansion on campus can be used for art shows or community events. She wants local groups to reach out if they're interested.

The organ works differently than very old ones. Old organs used rods, levers, and chains to connect the keyboard to the pipes. This one is 'electro-pneumatic,' which means it uses electricity to send signals from the keyboard to the pipes. The pipes still make music when air flows through them, just like all pipe organs.

Edward Landsin Senn works with the Organ Historical Society. He says people still want to buy pipe organs today. Any organ over 50 years old is considered historic. This organ is 45 years old, so it's from a newer time period. The pipes you can see look very nice in the chapel.

Pipe organs have been around for hundreds of years. Some are huge and fill entire concert halls like buildings. Others, like the one at Olson Chapel, are smaller but still impressive. Mozart called the pipe organ the 'king of instruments.' Many famous composers have written music for organs because they make such beautiful sounds.