A. William Thurmeier
Golden Eagle Organ
Company
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
This photo was taken in May, 2009. Dave was 91
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
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,
1974 and McDowell Organ in a Lutheran church in Tucson, Arizona, 1974).
-Servicing and tuning of many
organs including McDowell,
-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 (First Presbyterian Church, Casa Grande, Arizona, 1975).
1976 – 1980 Organbuilder
Opus 01
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:
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.)
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.
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 entire 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
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.