A. William Thurmeier

Golden Eagle Organ Co.

E-218 Ave. B South

Saskatoon, SK

S7M 1M4

(306) 384-6600

goldeneagleorgan@sasktel.net

1974 – 1975 Organbuilder’s Apprentice

David McDowell Organbuilder (retired)

16225 Forecastle St.

Tucson, AZ

USA 85739

(520) 825-9736

My introduction to Organbuilding began in a full apprenticeship position in a small firm of three employees plus the master builder, Dave McDowell. Dave came from a family with a long tradition of organ building. His grandfather worked for many years for the Roosevelt Organ Co. and then moved to Colorado and set up his own business. Dave first learned pipe voicing and tuning and other skills working in his grandfather’s shop. He was subsequently hired by Ernest M Skinner and Son Organ Company in 1938. He worked for a time in their plant making glue, later organ pipes, then in the erection room, and finally in tuning. After some time at the Methuen plant he was sent to study organ building in Germany. His study was cut short by the war and Dave returned to live near his father in Tucson, Arizona. After serving in the army during the war, Dave was hired for a time installing organs for the W. W. Kimball Organ Company and finally as a representative for the Rueter Organ Company, working out of Tucson for some years. Finally he went independent and began building his own instruments. His opus list totals 82 instruments.

My work for him covered almost every area of Organbuilding except the making of pipes which he had discontinued because of a bout of lead poisoning he had just recovered from. Some of these activities are as follows:

-Assistance in making additions to two electropneumatic organs (Aeolian-Skinner in Christian Science Church, Tucson, Arizona,

1974 and McDowell Organ in a Lutheran church in Tucson, Arizona, 1974).

-Servicing and tuning of many organs including McDowell, Austin, Rueter, Wicks, Kilgen, Aeolian-Skinner, Möller, and many others.

-Releathering and building of electropneumatic and direct-electric windchests, reservoirs, and shutter mechanisms.

-Wiring of consoles and switching systems.

-Training in voicing and tuning of both flue and reed pipes.

-Assistance in building of 10 rank electropneumatic organ (Casa Grande, Arizona, 1975).

1976 – 1980 Organbuilder

Opus 01 Christus Victor Lutheran Church

1220 Pennsylvania N.E.

Albuquerque, NM, 87110

USA

The photo with the lower casework installed has been lost

This organ was originally intended as a home practice instrument for myself. It consists of four ranks:

16’ Gedeckt (97 pipes)

4’ Principal (85 pipes)

2 2/3’ Quint (61 pipes)

16’ Free reed Oboe (73 reeds)

Everything is unenclosed except the free reed, located in a chamber to the left behind a grill. These ranks are distributed across two manuals and pedal with considerable intelligent unification. The keying and stop actions are electric (top two octaves) and electropneumatic (all the rest) of my own manufacture but following principles learned at McDowell Organs. This organ was completed and installed in February of 1980.

1989 – 1996 Benedictine Monk and Organbuilder

Opus 02 St. Peter’s Abbey

Box 10

Muenster, SK

S0K 2Y0

(306) 682-1777

(306) 682-1766 fax

This organ was begun during my time in St. Peter’s Abbey as a monk in 1989. The work was undertaken in spare time while engaged in many other duties in the monastery until March 1996 when I left the monastery to found my own organ building company in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The organ was completed in stages:

1. January 1996: At this time the console and 10 Antiphonal ranks were completed as well as the lower part of the organ case. The Antiphonal ranks were playable. (See photo above.)

2. July 2000: The entire Great and Pedal divisions were completed. Five ranks of pipes for the Swell (8’ Koppelflöte, 8’ Gamba Celeste, 2 2/3’ Nazard, 2’ Flautino, and

8’ Trumpet) were prepared for. The rest of the Swell was completed.

3. October 2004: The last five ranks were voiced, installed, and tonal finished, thanks to a generous gift from the Oblates of St. Benedict. With this the organ was completed.

This organ has five divisions: Swell, Great, Pedal, Antiphonal Manual, and Antiphonal Pedal. The Swell, Great, and Pedal divisions are all pipe, the Antiphonal divisions are electronic (Sonic Creations). The Swell and the softer ranks of the Great and Pedal are under expression. The rest of the Great and Pedal are unenclosed and exposed. There are 21 ranks of pipes and 10 electronic ranks. The tonal architecture of the organ is designed primarily for the accompaniment of the monastic chant and hymns for the small community at the Eucharist in a small and rather vibrant building. Small scales were used and several softer 8’ stops provided since these form the foundation of the chant accompaniment. The organ offers a full plenum without being overpowering as befitting a monastic organ. The dedication was held April 10, 2005.

1996 Founding of Golden Eagle Organ Company, March 19.

The company was begun after moving to Winnipeg where subcontracted work was carried out for Musselwhite and Associates. This included various reed and flue pipe revoicing and tuning in Winnipeg, plus the usual mechanical and electrical repairs to various organs about the city during 1996.

1997 to 2005

Completion of opus 2 as outlined above and seen below.

2000 - 2002

Opus 03 Holy Trinity Anglican Church

165 - 2nd Ave North

Yorkton, SK

S3N 1G5

(306) 786- 7131

(306) 786- 4282 fax

This is a major rebuild of an instrument which was installed in Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Yorkton in 1989 by Edwin Foidart of Winnipeg who obtained it from a residence in Edmonton, Alberta. The main part of the organ was from a tubular-pneumatic Kimball organ from Washington state, built in the late 1800s. There was an addition made in the 1930’s or 40’s, probably by Franklin Legge. It had been electrified and expanded in 1965 in Edmonton by Gibson and McLaren. The organ has 9 ranks, electrified tubular-pneumatic chests, electric action chests, and electropneumatic chests. We transported the instrument to the shop in Saskatoon one division at a time, allowing the church to use the remaining division for their Sunday services. Everything was disassembled; some units were discarded and replaced with new. Everything was completely rebuilt with some changes made to the tonal architecture and considerable revoicing done on the pipework to improve the blend and balance of the organ within the room. This project was completed in August 2002 and the rededication was held October 27, 2002.

2002 - 2005

Opus 04 Zion Lutheran Church

323 - 4th Ave South

Saskatoon, SK

S7K 1N3

(306) 653- 2442

(306) 653-4555 fax

This organ was built incorporating the church’s existing three rank T. Eaton’s organ opus 102. To the Eaton’s three ranks of pipes we have added five more ranks, some new, most recycled, revoiced, and/or rescaled and 9 digital ranks using Musicom’s digital synthesis system which also serves as the switching system and 12 level combination action for the organ. The design of the tonal architecture and style of voicing were intended to bring the organ into the realm of the ‘North German Baroque’. The use of an open toed, un-nicked

4’ Octave on the Great, and extensive revoicing and rescaling of other ranks, as well as selective voicing of the digitally synthesized ranks has mostly achieved that, in spite of the limitations of the existing Eaton’s ranks. The organ is housed in a new case of decorative oak. The organ was completed in January of 2006 and the dedication was held March 12, 2006.

2006 All Saints Anglican Church

1801 Lorne Ave.

Saskatoon, SK

S7H 1Y5

(306) 244-4042

This was an M.P. Möller organ opus 6150 from 1933 in which several new ranks were installed, replacing Möller ranks, by Casavant representative René Blanchard of Winnipeg, and a Trumpet by Edwin Foidart of Winnipeg together with their associated electropneumatic and direct electric windchests. The organ had originally been voiced on 5” of pressure and on the installation of the Casavant pipework the pressure dropped to 3 ½” causing problems for the windchest action. The windchest had also warped in some places causing leaks in the channeling. The electrical switching system had also deteriorated to the point of becoming a fire hazard, especially since there were no fuses in the organ. We installed a new Musicom switching system and performed major repairs to the main Möller duplexed pitman chest, reducing spring tension on pouches that required releathering in order to restore their originally fast action.

2006 Unitarian Congregation

213 2^nd Street East

Saskatoon, SK

S7H 1N5

(306) 653-2402

This is a Casavant Frères Ltée organ opus 1364 of 1930 which the Unitarian Congregation purchased in 2006 along with the church building. The organ had originally been installed in Westminster United Church and moved to the present location in 1972 by Dr. Howard Hart. We were called in to begin a staged restoration of the organ. The first stage was the restoration of the electropneumatic console where poor soldering, or no soldering, and oxidation and dirt on contacts had been causing many problems. The bellows in the combination action were also full of holes and many not functioning. This restoration work was followed by a recital of local musicians performing music written for organ, organ and flute, and a piece written especially for the occasion for organ and mouth organ by the Regina composer and organist, David McIntyre and performed by him and the Unitarian Congregation music director, Wendy Carroll.

2007

St. Paul’s Catholic Cathedral

720 Spadina Cres. East

Saskatoon, SK

S7K 3H2

(306) 652-0033

This is a Casavant Frères Ltée organ opus 497 of 1912. In 1953 the organ was electrified and given a new console and renumbered as opus 2190. In 1968 the organ was rebuilt by Dr. Howard Hart of Saskatoon. In 1987 the organ was once again rebuilt by Casavant representative Jean Girouard. At that time the reeds were all revoiced and a new Trumpet installed in the Great. At a subsequent date the Great and Swell Trumpets were exchanged with each other by Mantle and Buck of Winnipeg, Manitoba. We were commissioned to restore the Trumpet on the Great that had been damaged by the installation of an air conditioner above the Great division during which the resonators were filled with dirt and four resonators broken off. We also cleaned the Swell reed ranks and revoiced both Trumpets for proper pitch, since neither could be tuned properly up to pitch at any normal temperature, and both had been cut to length. We also revoiced the 8’ Open Diapason on the Great which was big and tubby and overpowered the rest of the division. As well, there were dead notes on the Swell windchest caused by warping of the electrified tubularpneumatic windchest. This required complete removal of the keying action chest from the chamber.

2007 Marks the beginning of a new era for Golden Eagle Organ Company with the induction of Bill Thurmeier into the American Institute of Organbuilders at the Philadelphia convention in October.

The builder, playing opus 4.

EMPLOYMENT RECORD

1974 to 1975: Organbuilder's Apprentice, McDowell Organs, Tucson, AZ.

1976 to 1977, and 1979: Electronics Technician, Ed's TV and HIFI, Albuquerque, NM.

1978 to 1980: Organbuilder, Self employed, Albuquerque, NM.

1980 to 1989 Electronics Technician Summer between semesters, St. Peter’s Abbey, SK

1989 to 1990: Accounting Clerk, Order of St Benedict, Muenster, SK.

1989 to 1991: Financial Administrator, Diocese of Muenster, Muenster, SK.

1990 to 1993: Formation Director, St. Peter's Abbey, Muenster, SK.

1993 to 1996: Telephone System Manager/Technician, St. Peter's Abbey, Muenster, SK.

1993 to 1996: Electronics Technician, St. Peter's Abbey, Muenster, SK.

1993 to 1996: Organbuilder, St. Peter's Abbey, Muenster, SK.

Feb. 1996 to Oct. 1996 Organbuilder Associate, Musselwhite and Associates, Winnipeg, MB

Oct. 1996 to Nov 1999 Organbuilder, Muenster, SK

Dec 1999 to Present: Organbuilder, Saskatoon, SK

EDUCATION

1973-1976 Pima Community College, Tucson, AZ Undergraduate work Electronics Technology

1975-1976 University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ Fine Arts Organ Performance

1976 Albuquerque Technical-Vocational Institute Diploma Electronics Technology

1977-1978 University of New Mexico, Albuquerque Undergraduate work Electrical Engineering

1981-1982 St. Peter's College, Muenster, SK Undergraduate work Philosophy

1982-1984 St. Anselm College, Manchester, NH B.A. Philosophy

1984-1985 St. John's University, Collegeville, MN Graduate work Theology

1985-1988 Collegio S. Anselmo, Rome S.T.B. Theology

1988-1989 University of St. Michael's College, Toronto Graduate work: Pastoral Theology

1992 Sencore Tech School, 3 day training course Switch Mode Power Supplies

2007 American Institute of Organ Builders Convention Various Training Seminars

MUSICAL TRAINING

Bill began piano lessons in Saskatoon at the age of 7 with Louise Schulte up to grade 9 Toronto Conservatory including basic theory and harmony. He studied flute for two yours with his mother Catherine Thurmeier, then two years with Professor Abramson of Saskatoon. After graduation from high school in Tucson, Arizona, he took classical organ studies for two years with Mary Francis Fest, a doctoral candidate at the University of Arizona. Then he studied with Dr. Roy Johnson at the University of Arizona for one year. Later, while studying electrical engineering at the University of New Mexico, he studied organ as a minor, with Prof. Wes Selby. Later, he studied music theory, composition, and harmony with Zita Maier at St. Peter’s College, Muenster, SK and Gregorian chant accompaniment and harmonization with Fr. Norbert Schwinghammer OSB (St. Peter’s Abbey, SK), Sr. Cecile Gertken OSB (St. Joseph’s Priory MN), and Dom Christophe Chapuis OSB (En Calcat Abbey, France). Bill has been a church and monastic organist for most of 34 years.

Bill is a member of the Royal Canadian College of Organists and is organist and choirmaster for St. Paul’s Catholic Cathedral 10:00 a.m. Mass in Saskatoon. He also performs on the organ occasionally for various events.