Estey Organ Museum

RARE MELODEON DONATION AND DEMONSTRATION
Estey Organ Museum Annual Meeting Plans Special Presentation

Brattleboro, VT, USA, Sept 15, 2003 -- The Estey Organ Museum will be holding its Annual Meeting on September 19, 2003 at 7 pm at the Estey Organ Museum's Engine House on Birge Street. The Annual Report will be presented, plans for the coming year will be discussed, and refreshments will be served. The meeting is open to the public and members of the museum are encouraged to attend.

Following the business meeting there will be a presentation and demonstration of a rare c.1860 melodeon built in New London, CT by Henry Kirk White.

This historic melodeon is the first meticulously conserved instrument on display at the Estey Organ Museum. Its beautiful rosewood case has been conserved by Gilles Gerard of Dummerston. The organ action conservation and reed tuning have been accomplished by Ned Phoenix, founder of the museum, who will play period music on this melodeon and discuss its place in the history of the Estey Organ Company.

>From 1865-1872 White worked in and became the head of the reed department at the Estey Organ Company in its locations at Plaza Park and Birge Street. He then moved to Meriden, CT to co-found Wilcox & White, known worldwide for reed organs that can be played by hand or automatically with player-piano-type rolls.

This melodeon is an important addition to the museum's collections, and not only for its connection to Estey employee history. Cynthia White Nau, donor of this instrument and a Director on the Board of the museum, is a great-grand-daughter of H.K.White. President of the Board, Cynthia Wilcox, is related by marriage to Horace C. Wilcox, the financer of Wilcox & White.

The audience will be invited to play this organ and to see its interior, which includes a unique double swell mechanism.

The Estey Organ Museum is open Saturdays and Sundays through Columbus Day from 1 to 5 pm and is located at 108 (Rear) Birge Street in Brattleboro. Admission is $2, and free for members of the museum.

You can find out more about the Estey Organ Museum by visiting the website at www.esteyorganmuseum.org.

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For further information, interviews, or photos, please contact Christopher Grotke.

The Estey Organ Museum was founded in 2002 as a non-profit organization to celebrate the heritage of Estey Organ Company of Brattleboro, Vermont. The museum will collect, restore, display and feature performances of Estey and other organs. The museum is also dedicated to the preservation, research, interpretation and dissemination of historical information about the company, its products and manufacturing practices, its owners, employees, markets, customers and competitors, and its effect in the context of Brattleboro and American history over time.

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