Gary Bieck Residence Organ

Gary Bieck Residence

Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin

3/18 Wurlitzer

Gary Bieck’s long-time dream of acquiring a residence pipe organ came to fruition in the spring of 1996, with his purchase of a 2/5 Wangerin organ. The music room previously had been used as a commercial flower shop that was attached to his home, which had formerly been a milk dairy. The original Wangerin organ was installed unenclosed in the music room. Gary became fascinated with the Wurlitzer theatre organ when he heard one that was installed in another Dairyland member’s home. Gary then decided to build a pipe chamber to accommodate a larger organ. Gary constructed a chamber that is 16 by 24 feet, with a 14-foot ceiling. Gary wanted to put together a true theatre organ, and in August of 1999 a Style “D” Wurlitzer became available. In very short time, additional Wurlitzer chests began appearing in the pipe chamber and the organ began to grow. The Wangerin organ was sold to another private individual.

The 3-manual 18-rank Wurlitzer now playing at the Bieck Residence began its life as a 2-manual, 6-rank “Style D” Wurlitzer Opus 1700. Originally the instrument was installed in the Grand Theatre in Malone, New York. In 1929, it was removed and reinstalled in Cortland, New York and was again moved and reinstalled in Geneva, New York in 1932. Ultimately Charles Schubert bought the instrument for a home installation that never materialized. In 2000, the instrument (without console) made it to the home installation of Gary Bieck.

At this time, with the organ speaking into the former flower shop, it became apparent that for acoustics and the growing number of people attending concerts, a larger music room was needed. In May 2000, the music room was enlarged and now measures 22 x 43 feet. The organ has continued to grow, and as pipe work becomes available it will ultimately be complete at 19 ranks.

Main Chamber
Open Diapason / Diaphone
Concert Flute / Bourdon
Flute Celeste II
Clarinet
Saxophone
Violin
Violin Celeste
Quintadena
Kinura
Orchestral Oboe
Salicional
Salicional Celeste
Vox Humana
English Post Horn
Trumpet (Style D) / Trombone
Tuba Horn
Tibia
Horn Diapason
Xylophone
Glockenspiel
Tuned Sleigh Bells
Piano
Chimes
Chrysoglott (2)
Toy Counter & Traps