This weekend's concert, using the Rodgers Chicago Touring Organ was reviewd in the Chicago Tribune by Alan G. Artner.  

"Guest chorus director William G. Spaulding and the Grant Park Chorus made the evening memorable." 

"David Schrader's two extended organ solos achieved cumulative power."

Read the full review here

It was no surprise for us to learn, on June 28, that Connie Wilson (former Music Director at Holy Spirit Catholic Community in Naperville) had been chosen as the Jury Foreman at the trial of former Illinois Governor, Rod Blagojevich.

While the facts and events of this trial unfolded like a circus in the media for months, it was great to learn that Connie was in charge of this group.  She was quoted in the Chicago Tribune as saying "We made sure everyone was heard." This is exactly the kind of person that we knew her to be.... one that listens to all the evidence, before making a decision.

And so it was of the events that took place at her church in the selection of a new organ.... there was a lot of confusing testimony on behalf of both "big" American brands.  Nevertheless, Connie was devoted to making the "right" choice and was amazingly fair to both companies in the process.  She centered her search on a particular price point and asked both firms to arrange visits at their best installations at that price point.  She invited the Cathedral Musician to come with her to see and hear these organs.... at Visitation Catholic Church (Elmhurst) and St. Issac Jogues (Hinsdale).  After hearing both instruments within 30 minutes of each other, she felt confident in selecting the Rodgers 967 as the "right" organ for Holy Spirit Church.

Recently Resurrection Lutheran Church chose the most versatile way possible to upgrade their  55-year old Wicks / Berghaus Pipe Organ... they replaced the console with a Rodgers Console with a state-of-the-art Roland Midi System.  Following is the recent Sun-Times newspaper article on this successful "upgrade."

SUN-TIMES ARTICLE LINK

 2011 ACDA National Conference

Chicago, Illinois   

March 9-12, 2011

Rodgers' new Allegiant 558 will be on display along with the new C-30 digital harpsichord (shown below) in the exhibit Hall of the Chicago Hilton, 720 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL.

We look forward to meeting 4,200 of the Nation's Leading Choral Directors. 

Dan Miller will be on hand and Don Lewis will be there to demonstrate the features of the Roland VP-770.

This past Monday evening, the Rodgers Chicago Touring Organ was featured 'center stage' at the Harris Theatre for the Chicago Premier of "Digital Loom" by composer, Mason Bates (left).  Digital Loom is a composition which moves in and out of a soundscape which includes a parlor organ with tremolo, distant church bells, and full organ ensembles, grounding listeners in the familiar, with the new.  The idea was to combine the sound of an ancient instrument (the Pipe Organ) with the sounds of contemporary dance music (electronica) to see what would result.  "Quite a Lot, as it turned out," according to Music Critic, John von Rhein, from the Chicago Tribune.

Bates became familiar with the Rodgers Organ at the Julliard School of Music.  He specifically requested the use of a Rodgers Organ for the program as he has had excellent results using Rodgers instruments for performances of Digital Loom around the United States. Fortunately, the 18-channel Rodgers Touring Organ was available for this event.  What made the performance even more spectacular was the fact that Bates' "track"  (which accompanied the live organ performance) was played through a multi-channel surround system at the Harris Theatre, offering a massive 3-D sound presence in the room.  There were pops, bangs, booms, and drum riffs coming from the right, the left, and even the rear of the auditorium.  In addition the Rodgers organ (which comes standard with 1/4" output jacks) was able to play through the house system at a low level spreading the sound beautifully throughout the space.  The result was noticeably better than other organs that were amplified by placing microphones in front of the speakers (as is the case at the United Center).

Bates, 33, has this to say about Digital Loom (showing some amazing insight about the organ):

a) pairing an ancient instrument of the church with the sound of modern-day dance music did not seem like a pregnant idea at first.

b) It was the organ's ability to play loud enough to compete with any speaker system that initially was intriguing.... after all, it is the world's oldest synthesizer. 

c) the power of the organ lies in its ability to create a space....

d) The Organist, like his modern-day counterpart, the DJ -- is simultaneously perceived as background accompaniment to various activities ... controlling the choreography within its belly.

Many thanks to Isabelle Demers, the Organist for the event.  Her performance was nothing short of dazzling.  Isabelle has completed her Master's degree at Julliard and is presently working on her doctorate there with Paul Jacobs.  

Triune Music was recently awarded this plaque for outstanding sales in 2009.

Triune Music was Rodgers #1 Dearler in 2009. 

We thank our many new owners for helping us to achieve this coveted award.

If you do not have a Rodgers Organ yet, you owe it to yourself to find out why Triune Music is leading the nation in quality organ designs & installations.

Triune Music supports many good causes in the Midwest States that we serve.

During the Summer of 2008,Triune Music was one of the largest corporate donors to the Fox Valley AGO "Pipe Organ Encounter."  This POE welcomed 35 young organists for a week-long "summer organ camp."  They are shown below in a group photos at Symphony Center in Chicago.

Triune Music is also supporting the ongoing concert series at St. Michael Church in Wheaton which houses our magnum opus.

Triune Music regularly donates to various food pantry's in the area and regularly supports P.A.D.S.

"To whom much is given...."

Musical Merchandise Review has just published an article on several firms in the keyboard industry that are having a "banner year" in spite of the current economic climate.  Read the article here featuring President Steve Smith.

What's Right with Keyboard Sales: A Look at Eight Retailers Who Are Doing Well

Following are several progress pictures of the 74-rank Fratelli Ruffatti Pipe Organ that will be installed next year at Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, IL next Fall.

Here are some of the pipes:

Here are some of the chests in the erecting room @ Padua:

A photo of the console prior to staining it....

S. B. Smith & Associates (Triune Music) was presented with an award from Rodgers Instruments, LLC in July for being one of their TOP TEN Dealers in the period from January 2008 to June 2008.

Rodgers has announced the availability of a new Automatic Pipe Tuning Sensor. This device allows the digital voices of Rodgers Masterpiece organs (and many previous Trillium Series organs)  to automatically track with the pitch changes of your windblown pipes.

Once installed, it is not necessary for the organist to manually tune the organ's digital voices to the pipes. The automatic pitch compensation even extends to any connected MIDI sound modules. 

The automatic pipe-tuning sensor is a very positive addition to existing or proposed Rodgers pipe/digital interface organs.

Rodgers Instruments and Fatar (Italy), the world largest keyboard manufacturer, have concluded a joint research and development project with the announcement of new velocity-sensitive, wood-core keyboards for Rodgers Digital Organs and pipe/digital organs made in Hillsboro.