Buzard organ project

Inspired by the successful Pipe Organ Encounter in Champaign, Illinois last summer, John-Paul Buzard Pipe Organ Builders has installed a practice organ at University Laboratory High School, on the Urbana campus of the University of Illinois. The 12-stop Aeolian-Skinner Organ, Opus 1152-a, formerly installed at the University's Smith Music Hall, room 101, was removed to accommodate a growing early music program. The new "Uni High" organ is installed in the south attic, a large multi-purpose orchestral and choral rehearsal room.

The organ, originally built in 1949, was revoiced and refurbished in 1981 by John-Paul Buzard when he was full-time curator of organs to the U of I. Very little was done to the instrument during its move to Uni High, save some tonal balancing for the larger room, remedial repairs to the console, and re-wiring the windchests with modern PVC-insulated cables. 

The new instrument was first used by the Uni High Music Club, an extra-curricular group of approximately 20 students, at their annual winter group recital held on February 9, 2003. Fittingly, the first organ student to use the instrument was Uni freshman and first year organ student Stephen Buzard, who is studying with the University of Illinois' assistant professor of organ Dana Robinson.  

"If we are serious about inviting and encouraging young people to learn to play the organ, we must bring the instrument to them," says Buzard. Uni High and the Buzard Organ Builders look forward to involving the students in learning about the pipe organ in the coming years, from both the musical and technological perspective. A week-long class is being offered at the school to introduce the students to the organ, its history, technology, and music. The students also will be involved in the organ's long-term maintenance.

University Laboratory High School is a public high school which teaches an accelerated five-year academic program. Qualifying students usually enter as a "Subfreshman" for a compressed 7th and 8th grade year. Of the 300 students at Uni High, nearly a third play the piano. Orchestral and choral participation is extremely high, and student interest in having a pipe organ at Uni was expressed more than a year ago. The Uni High music program is directed by Mr. Richard Murphy; the school's principal is Dr. John Hedeman.