The UVAGO is excited four our Pipe Organ Encounter (POE) this July which will involve 30 youth ages 13–18. This unique program offers an immersive experience in learning about, playing, and appreciating the pipe organ.
For this program we are excited to welcome guest Artist Isabelle Demers. The public is welcome to join us for her concert on Thursday, July 23, 2026, at 7:30pm in the BYU Music Building Concert Hall.
For more information on the 2026 POE https://uvago.org/2026-pipe-organ-encounter-poe/
Organs identified by James Welch, Mike Carson, Blaine Olson, and many volunteers
We, the compilers of this website, have been unaware of the locations of many pipe organs in our area, so we decided to assemble a list of the pipe organs in Utah County and share it with the Utah Valley Chapter of the American Guild of Organists (UVAGO), because that is where many organists go to get information about organs.
One of the goals of UVAGO is to help all organists, including those who aren’t members of the Guild, increase their abilities to serve in the churches where they play. While most chapels have good electronic organs, most organists are intrigued by “the real thing”—a pipe organ—and the opportunity to play and perhaps practice on one.
As a committee we have been gathering data about these organs for the past six months, from interviews with many local organists, personal knowledge, and listings gleaned from the online database of The Organ Historical Society. Eventually, we realized that our list was incomplete and/or inaccurate, with numerous discrepancies in many cases.
Furthermore, we have been surprised to find out how many pipe organs there are in the Utah Valley—79!—more than we initially thought. With our onsite visits and with the help of many other individuals, including organists, organ enthusiasts, and the Operations and Maintenance Division in the Meetinghouse Facilities Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we now feel that we have an excellent working list of the pipe organs, the buildings where they are located, and the essential details (builders, model and opus numbers, number of manuals, ranks, etc.), including photos, of each organ. Some of the information will change as the pipe organs are refurbished and rebuilt, which has already been the case of several instruments on our list.
We invite you to become part of the project. Please report errors, omissions, or needed additions, using the contact information on the Utah Valley Pipe Organs website: https://sites.google.com/view/uvpipeorgans/home.
We hope this project will increase interest among organists, resulting in more training and cultural activities in the venues that house these unique instruments.
Sincerely,
Mike Carson
Blaine Olson
James Welch
Music teachers are invited to learn resources about introducing children to the organ, including Organ First! Nora Hess, a member of our chapter and an adjunct faculty member in organ at BYU developed this innovative curriculum to teach elementary-aged children how to play the organ as their first instrument without any prior music training. Nora introduces OrganFirst! in this video filmed for the 2020 AGO National Convention. For more information about the OrganFirst! curriculum, see Nora’s website.
At the February 26, 2021, Zoom workshop, Heidi Rodeback, Jack Stoneman, and Mike Carson discussed methods for embellishing hymns. Specifically: how to embellish a sacrament hymn, how to find and use a last-verse harmonization, and how to solo out the melody.
Levente Medveczky served as Cathedral Organ Scholar from December 2015 until August 2017 and was a dear friend of many of us at the Cathedral. He passed away on 24 February 2019, just over a week after he turned 28.
A Memorial Service for Levente will be held in the Cathedral of the Madeleine on Tuesday 9 April 2019 at 7:30 PM. Some of his teachers, friends and colleagues will share memories and pay tribute to Levente through performances of organ music.
The site’s purpose is to provide help for organists in planning their music for church service from a list of available hymn arrangements and accompaniments that DeeAnn Stone began to compile in 1993. The site now has many more resources and helps added to it from the time the site was first launched on March 17, 1999.
For the 20th anniversary of the Resources for LDS Organists website on March 17, 2019, DeeAnn updated and compiled a larger list of arrangements for hymns and free accompaniments called a “Resource List for Organists: Arrangements and Accompaniments of Hymns in the LDS Hymnal.” This is a larger list than what appeared on the website in 1999. With the addition of the newer arrangements, the list became so large it became too time consuming to upload each title to the site with all the links. So DeeAnn combined the old and new lists into a 459-page eBook for people to purchase to use whenever they want.
The PDF eBook can be purchased at Resources for LDS Organistsfor $25. There are three other purchasing options, too, if organists don’t want to buy the entire eBook. (A hard copy isn’t available, however, because of the length of the eBook, making it too expensive to print and mail.)
While at Resources for LDS Organists, be sure to see other information and helps for organists, especially the links to videos created by the National AGO to aid new organists in learning how to play the organ, as well as more videos from other sources.
There’s also other information at the website that would help organ students and new ward organists (plus helps for Primary Music Directors). Enjoy!
Levente Medveczky (1991-2019) passed from this life on Sunday, February 24, 2019, just eight days after his 28th birthday, from an aggressive form of colon cancer. He will be remembered as a gentle giant, a masterful organist, and a friend to all, who gave the greatest, most loving and healing bear hugs! He will be greatly missed by his many friends and family and especially by his fiancée, Hannah.
Levente had a bright and promising future in the organ world. At the time of his death, he was a master’s candidate on a Jerome L. Greene Scholarship at Juilliard, studying with Paul Jacobs. Originally from Budapest, Hungary, he received his early training in the studio of Zsuzsa Elekes at the Béla Bartók Conservatory. In 2017 he received a bachelor’s degree in organ studies at Brigham Young University, under the supervision of Dr. Don Cook. With a love for sacred music, Levente served as an organ scholar at the Cathedral of the Madeleine in Salt Lake City and then as interim director of music at the Church of Incarnation in New York City until the time of his illness.
Christ the Lord Is Risen Today (modulation from C to D)
Love at Home
These items were compiled and donated by Bona Belnap, Parley’s wife, and Claudia Johnson, a former student of Parley’s.
The American Guild of Organists (AGO) Committee on Continuing Professional Education (CCPE) commissioned concert organist Frederick Hohman to author and present a series of 30 video music lessons, with the goal of helping pianists of intermediate achievement to make a successful transition to the pipe organ when leading music in worship. The series is entitled LESSONS FOR THE NEW ORGANIST. The series of 30 videos is scripted by Hohman, with oversight and input from Dr. Don Cook, the current Councillor for Education at AGO, and by Dr. Sharon Hettinger, the current Director of AGO’s CCPE. The series offers a graded series of lessons, where Hohman is seen in a variety of contrasting venues throughout Michigan and Indiana, with spaces ranging from small to large, and with organs of several types of design. The entire 30-lesson series, which was completed in April 2017, may be seen on the AGO’s YouTube Channel.
There are several organ-related activities for all ages coming up this year. Click on the links to see if there is something you or someone you know might be interested in attending.
Pipe Organ Encounters, for Youth 13-18
1. South Dakota, June 11-16. Early registration until April 1. BrochureWebsite
2. San Diego, CA, July 16-22. Early registration until March 31. BrochureWebsite
3. Hartford, CT, July 16-21. Early registration until April 15. Brochure Website
4. Winchester, VA, July 23-27. Early registration until May 1. BrochureWebsite
Pipe Organ Encounters Advanced, for Grades 9-12
1. Birmingham, AL, June 25-30. Early registration until March 1. BrochureWebsite
2. Seattle, WA, July 23-28. Early registration until April 1. Brochure Website
Pipe Organ Encounter +, for Adults
San Antonio, TX, June 25-30. Registration until June 1. Brochure Website
Pipe Organ Encounter Technical (Organ Building), for Ages 16-23
Atlanta, GA, July 9-14. Early Registration until April 15. Brochure Website
Bach’s Organ World Tour, with Quentin and Mary Murrell Faulkner, Germany, July 17-28. Website
Pipedreams Historic Organs of France Tour, with Michael Barone,
May 23-June 4. Website
