WORKING IN THE CITY | RICHARDS, FOWKES & CO.
Recently installed at Brown University, this organ includes five stops, 16’ sub bass, an oak exterior, wood and metal pipes with mechanical action, and keys made of bone.
Building the King of Instruments As a fully qualified pipemaker with Richards, Fowkes and Co., Andy Wishart helps to build and repair pipe organs for churches and universities all over the United States and England. Read on to learn more about the work he does to build organs and share the passion he has for his unique craft. BY G R AY B E N N E T T P H OTO G R A P H Y BY T R E V O R LO N G
It’s not every day you meet someone with 40 years of experience building the King of Instruments, but for Andy Wishart, pipe organ building is just another day at work. At 15 years old, Wishart was recruited from his high school in Leeds, England to become an apprentice under F. J. Rogers, and he studied the beginning-to-end organ building process for five years. “Pipe organ building takes patience, dedication, and hands-on skills,” Wishart explains. “My grandfather was a skilled woodworker, so I think some of those qualities are in my blood.” Wishart worked with F. J. Rogers for an additional 15 years as a fully qualified pipemaker, and his work earned him a worldwide reputation. In his early 30s, a handful of organbuilding companies in the United States tried to recruit him, and he was simultaneously offered the opportunity to buy his organ company in England, but ultimately decided against 190 |
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it. It was 2004 when Wishart made the bold choice to move to the United States and accept a job offer from Richards, Fowkes & Co., a small organ building company based in Ooltewah, Tennessee. Today with Richards, Fowkes & Co., Andy Wishart has helped build and repair over 16 pipe organs for churches and universities all over the United States and England. Not surprisingly, these mechanical instruments are extremely complex to build by hand, and having knowledge of the building process is rare. “Time, skill, and fine materials make the instrument come to life,” explains Wishart. “The process is all handmade. Each organ is carefully designed for its location.” Wishart says the process requires thousands of detailed parts, and it can take up to a decade to design, construct, and tune one organ. “The building process is passed down by each generation of organ builders. We use tools that have names
