Skinner Sesquicentennial Conference presented April 24–25 in Evanston, Illinois
THE DIAPASON, along with the Chicago, Fox Valley, and North Shore Chapters of the American Guild of Organists, the Chicago-Midwest Chapter of the Organ Historical Society, and the Music Institute of Chicago, presented a conference in honor of the sesquicentennial of the birth of Ernest M. Skinner, April 24–25, in Evanston, Illinois.
The conference opened with a concert by the choral ensemble Bella Voce in St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, accompanied by Christine Kraemer on 1922 Skinner Organ Company Opus 327.
The following day’s events included recitals by Andrew Schaeffer and David Jonies on 1927 Skinner Organ Company Opus 616 in the First Congregational Church. James Russell Brown provided a demonstration program and lecture on the restoration of 1914 Ernest M. Skinner Company Opus 208 in the Nichols Concert Hall of the Music Institute of Chicago (formerly First Church of Christ, Scientist, of Evanston).
Rounding out the day were lectures by Stephen Schnurr and Joyce Robinson in the lovely chapel of First Congregational Church.
Upon reflection, the author, an economist and longtime student of market phenomena and the economics of pipe organ building, believes the concept of superstars described by Sherwin Rosen, professor of economics at the University of Chicago, has a novel and intriguing application to the King of Instruments and its builders in the last 100 years.
Skinner Opus 774 is in like-new condition, thoroughly appreciated, and safely installed in its new California home
It was July of 2004. The voice on the phone was Douglass Hunt, premier organ technician for some of New York City’s highest profile churches and their giant organs. He had been in contact with Christ Church in the posh Bronx village of Riverdale. They were very interested in acquiring Skinner Opus 774, an original 1929 organ still installed at St. Paul’s Memorial Reformed Church in Reading, Pennsylvania.