Holtkamp Organ Company
 
Philosophy
Holtkamp Philosophy
Sound quality, beauty, craftmanship, and attention to detail are hallmarks of the Holtkamp organ.

 
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In my first years after completing undergraduate studies at Carleton College I was assisting in the tonal regulation of a pipe organ in Minneapolis.  I was sitting on the organ bench.  The pastor came over, sat by me, and asked why I decided to follow the path of my predecessors.  My answer was, in part, that over the years, I had learned to respect work that is done by hand, and to value it highly.

 

While at a convention in Boston I had the pleasure of sitting on a bus with Rand Wagner, then Vice President of Organ Supply Industries.  He asked me to look into my crystal ball, and tell him what he might expect if he were to hear a Holtkamp organ twenty five years in the future.  I thought for a time and answered that the organ would “work good, look good, and sound good”.  This annoyed Randy to no end as he was hoping for a spontaneous musical/artistic/philosophical manifesto.

 

Building pipe organs is an art, a business, and a passion.  It is intellectual and emotional.  It is the intersection of science and music.  Like art on canvas or art in stone, each creation is a testimony to the time in which it was built.  Unlike art on canvas or in stone, both of which tell one story, the pipe organ tells a different story with each playing.  So to honor each playing, each organ must be eloquent, faithful, and true, as the heart meets the mind.

 

 
2909 Meyer Avenue | Cleveland, Ohio 44109 | Tel. 216.741.5180 | Fax 216.741.0678

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