[rodgersorgan] Coral Ridge Consoles
- From: Topa12283@xxxxxxx
- To: rodgersorgan@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 1 Dec 2002 15:52:37 EST
Free Priority Mail Shipping through the Holidays from on music from Frog Music
Press!
================================================================================
Concerning the consoles at Coral Ridge Presbyterian, it is no secret that
Diane Bish was quite fond of the organ and the original Ruffatti console.
Assistant Organist Dave Wilcox related to me that the electrical problems
resulted in an actual fire in the console. Fortunately it was confined to
the combination action relays and did no damage to the rest of the console,
but it meant that everything had to be hand-registered for about nine months!
The Crescendo pedal was still functional (in those days they were
hard-wired) so that was a life-saver. Dave personally played stop-puller to
Diane for many services and occasions until the problem was resolved.
I spoke to Diane at the inaugural recital of the mammoth Keates-Geisler organ
(239 ranks) at First Baptist in Jackson, Mississippi back in the early 1990s.
I was interviewing for the full-time organist position at the time, so I had
several opportunities to chat with Ms. Bish. I asked how she liked the new
Rodgers console, and to my surprise she flatly stated, "I hate it!" Then she
went on to say that "They didn't do anything that I asked." As it turns out,
she was away quite often during those years and the other folks on staff
ended up overseeing the details of the console. Several years later at the
Church Music Explosion, she seemed very proud of it, showing off the neat
storage drawers in the rear of the console for music scores and her shoe
collection! I'm sure it might have been a "control" issue as her gradual
departure from Coral Ridge was somewhat bumpy (according to others on staff).
Apart from that, I was priveleged to host her at my church in Roswell,
Georgia for a concert and a taping of "The Joy of Music." At the time (1992)
I was organist and interim Director of Music, and this was the high point of
the year. Ms. Bish was an absolute joy to work with - not the least bit
demanding and never complaining, in spite of the terrific pressure of a TV
taping and major recital (the crowd exceeded 1400). She was always in a
humorous mood, even joking back satge between numbers! Her playing was, of
course, flawless and exciting.
An additional insight concerning Coral Ridge - at a recent Church Music
Explosion, we celebrated the 25th anniversary of the organ and were noting
the "prepared for" stops on the newer Rodgers console. This prompted me to
ask Diane if any changes were made in the Ruffatti over the 25 years, and she
confirmed that none were made except the console itself.
Tom Alderman
Organist, Roswell United Methodist (V/94 Moller)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A MIDI Musical Christmas will delight your ears! Buy now for Christmas music
making.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To unsubscribe or change mail delivery (digest, vacation) or to see new PR-300
MUSIC
go to our website at www.frogmusic.com/rodgers.html
Other related posts:
- » [rodgersorgan] Coral Ridge Consoles
