The Boyer Family Pipe Organ (VPO)
Honoring the music and musicians that graced our lives growing up.
Dear Brothers, Sisters, Cousins and Friends,
Welcome to my adventurous proposal to, with your help, commission a new virtual pipe organ (VPO) in honor of my dad, my uncle Norbert (both organists) and all of the music and musicians that graced our lives growing up. Not just the musicians, but all of our aunts, uncles, cousins, siblings and friends who sang a song of friendship, support and love into our lives and helped form us. I remember all of you every morning in prayers.
As some of you know, following the pandemic I began to study the organ when I was asked to serve as Music Director at Grace Episcopal Church in Middletown, NY. Four years later, I’m playing some of our service music and leading the choir. It’s true that kids sometimes grow up to be strikingly like one or both parents. When Dad accepted the old organ from Holy Redeemer Church (1962?) and installed it at home with the aid of Uncle Norbert and others, I shared my living space with large organ pipes in the basement of 8237 Marvale Lane in Affton, MO, so it’s in my blood (along with the lead from blowing on the little pipes).
The Project
It just so happens that the Austin organ at Grace Church Middletown dates from about the same year I came to know about pipe organs, 1962. Organs of that era tend to be expensive to maintain. Some of its ancient technology can be seen here. The organ has become somewhat unreliable, as when it suddenly lost three piston settings shortly before Easter due to an electrical glitch. The parish has massive fundraising needs for restoration of its 1848 building so I could not see a feasible plan for continual fundraising to maintain the Austin.
The idea for a virtual organ for the church recently came to me, sort of in a dream, or on the edge of one (a “pipe” dream?). I have a 3-manual midi organ in my home basement that emulates a pipe organ complete with pedalboard. It uses “Hauptwerk” software which recreates the sounds of great organs around the world by using high-resolution “samples”, recordings of each individual pipe. Until now, no organ maker was making a beautiful instrument utilizing this software. Meet Meta Organworks:
Meta Organworks
The Meta organ functions on the Hauptwerk software platform and answers well our needs. The console, dedicated computer, midi system, and speaker system were designed and built by Dan Lemieux and associates of Meta Organworks in Argyle, NY. This system allows for sample sets, expertly recorded digitally from actual instruments, to be played in exactly the same way as the original organ.
The ergonomically designed touch screens, unique to Mr. Lemieux’s instruments, display an accurate depiction of the stop jambs of the original organ. Each stop functions exactly as the original by touching it. The combination action and combination stepper provide an almost unlimited number of preset registrations. The sound of the state of the art speaker array which will be located just behind the pipes of our Austin, while not “the real thing” will be amazingly true to the sound of actual pipes. Think a great CD recording of organ music played on a state of the art sound system.
The sample sets (or organs) were chosen by Mr. Lemieux for the quality of their samples and to provide a variety of styles of organs from around the world. There are 2 American Classic organs (E.M. Skinner and Rosales), a Canadian Eclectic (Casavant), an English Victorian (Hill), an English Romantic (Brindley & Foster), A French Romantic (Cavaillé-Coll), a Spanish Chamber organ, a Spanish Baroque, a German Romantic (Sauer), a Dutch Baroque (Schnitger), and an Italian Renaissance organ. Also there is a Flemish Harpsichord and a Ghent Carillon as well as an Estey Reed Organ from Burlington, VT. Just imagine what can be done with all those instruments at your disposal.
The inscription, inlaid in melted pipe metal on the uniquely designed bench, reads: “Per aures ad animum” (through the ears to the soul.)
Carla and I visited their most recent opus at St. Mary’s on Broadway in Providence, RI in April of 2026.
Our Fundrasing Goal
Any modern pipe organ console costs at least $100,000 and this one is no different, except in its beautiful design and versatility. It has the capability in the future of not only running the Hauptwerk software and virtual pipe organs, but also of being adapted to play the original Austin pipes behind which the speakers will hide. It would become a hybrid organ, sounding both actual pipes and virtual ones. That phase may be a decade or two from now.
No donation is too small, but we will need some substantial ones to meet our goal of having this instrument in place in early 2027. A dedicatory concert will be broadcast on Facebook Live.
Our Goal is $100,000
Please give generously!
