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Dr. Herbert Wertheim, a
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Wertheim Concert Organ on the Way When the Dr. Herbert and Nicole Wertheim Center for the Performing Arts opened its doors in November, 1996, it boasted all the attractive design and state-of-the-art equipment worthy of such a place, save one: a concert-hall organ. Today that glaring omission is being rectified. "The addition of a first-class organ will mean so much to all of us," said Frederick Kaufman, director of the School of Music. "It will open up numerous exciting performance opportunities not currently available to us in South Florida, and we are therefore sincerely pleased to be bringing this new gift to the concert stage." |
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The prestigious 125-year-old Schantz Organ Company will take a year to build FIU's nearly $700,000 organ in its Orrville, Ohio, factory before disassembling and rebuilding it in the Wertheim next April. Its acquisition was made possible through a gift of Herbert and Nicole Wertheim, after whom the center is named, in combination with other university funds. The organ will be dedicated in honor of Dr. Wertheim's mother, Sydell Ida Wertheim, who died last year. "This is in memory of the joy she gave," Dr. Wertheim said. "She was a person who always gave and seldom took. Through this gift her voice will sing forever." Upon installation, the organ will be the largest in Miami-Dade County and one of the most technologically advanced in the country. "It will be the talk of the organ world," said Dean Manning, an organist (and dentist) who volunteered to help prepare the design specifications. The organ will feature a solid-oak console with four manual keyboards and a pedal clavier that control its 4,255 pipes. A room next to the stage will house a German-built blower, which produces the air pressure to generate sounds from the pipes. Once in place at the Wertheim, the 26-ton organ will undergo several weeks of tuning. It will then be ready to accommodate virtually every piece of music ever written for the organ, including solo and orchestral works, as well as music written for a variety of other instruments and transcribed for organ. It will also serve to teach aspiring musicians. Dr. Kaufman announced that the organ will make its debut in the fall of 1999. "We are planning a world-class organ recital series and look forward to new oratorio, choral, and symphonic possibilities in the future," he said. From the FIU Philanthropist |
