Slideshow photos are a few of the pipe organs featured at the OHS 2025 Milwaukee Convention.
Barbara Owen | 1933-2024
Barbara Owen
The Barbara Owen Fund for Education
Sponsored by the Organ Historical Society
Funds from this account will be used to provide free membership for anyone in high school or in a bachelor’s or master’s program studying the pipe organ. Doctoral students are not eligible. Digital memberships will be free for the duration of their studies with proper verification. Contributions to this fund help ensure a healthy, growing membership in the OHS.
2025 Pipe Organ Calendar
OHS 2025 — Milwaukee
Featuring never-before-published convention instrument photos from Milwaukee and the surrounding region.
Photography by Len Levasseur
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Instruments
- A.B. Felgemaker Co. (1902)
- Carl Barckhoff (1890)
- Derrick & Felgemaker (1872)
- Hann-Wangerin (1902)
- Hann-Wangerin-Weickhardt Co. (1904)
- Henry Pilcher’s Sons (1930)
- Hook & Hastings (1881)
- J.W. Steere & Sons (1893)
- Robert Noehren (1966)
- Schlicker Organ Company (1988)
- Steiner-Reck Organ Co. (1989)
- W.W. Kimball Co. (1903)
- Wadsworth & Bro. (1863 & 1893)
- Wm. Schuelke Organ Co. (1879)
- Wm. Schuelke Organ Co. (1885)
- Wm. Schuelke Organ Co. (1892)
OHS 2025 - Milwaukee
OHS 2025
Seated on the beautiful shore of Lake Michigan, Milwaukee is the largest metropolitan area in Wisconsin and the 30th largest city in the United States.
Equally as diverse and even more intriguing is the landscape of wonderful instruments that we plan to showcase during the convention.
Dr. Rollin Smith Research Grant
Dr. Rollin Smith Research Grant
Sponsored by the Organ Historical Society
In support of its mission to enrich public knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of the pipe organ, the Organ Historical Society invites applications for its 2024 OHS Research Grant. An annual Grant of up to $2,000 supports research projects related to the pipe organ — its builders, construction, history, styles, reception, composers, repertories, organists, performance practice, and more. The Grant may be used to cover travel, housing, and other research-related expenses. The Society encourages all interested persons to apply.
The James M. Weaver Prize
Exciting News about the James M. Weaver Prize in Organ Scholarship
A prize to celebrate and foster the scholarly research of pipe organs.
The Three Finalists
Elena Bacquiera, Andrew Johnson, Owen Sammons
A Breath of Fresh Air
Imagine watching a 200-year old organ, broken, tattered, and forgotten coming to life again. Imagine seeing craftsmen and historians working together on a neglected instrument, restoring it to glory piece by piece. Imagine gazing at its transformation into an historically accurate serviceable organ. Now, imagine hearing that instrument played for the first time in generations!
You can make these imaginations come true. Join us as we attempt to create A Breath of Fresh Air for the 1817 Hilbus Cabinet Organ.
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Help support operating expenses of OHS programs and services.
Sustaining Membership
Join Today!
The OHS is pleased to offer a Sustaining Member category. For as little as $10 per month, you can support the OHS grow stronger and more responsive to the pipe organ community. OHS and you – sustaining a lifetime of history.
OHS News
Breaking News
OHS Milwaukee 2025
OHS 2025 Convention Site
Milwaukee is the place to be in August of 2025. The variety of historic instruments is astounding creating a sound palette sure to please even the most discerning appetite. And the food — well, you just have to be here to experience it for yourself.
Pipe Organ Database Gets New Look
After months of work and development, the new interface for the OHS Pipe Organ Database launches Friday, January 26, 2024. The entire structure and technology as well as true relational database protocols make it supremely faster than the current interface. We have tried to make it user friendly and intuitive. We invite your review and comments. ALL comments and updates are sent to the editing team through a contact form and will be handled. Note that the search and filter functions are exactly that– results are filtered live as you type in parameters. Location name, city etc narrow the list of results live as you type. We look forward to this new era of the OHS Database.
https://pipeorgandatabase.org/
The Barbara Owen Fund
The Barbara Owen Fund for Education
Sponsored by the Organ Historical Society
Funds from this account will be used to provide free membership for anyone in high school or in a bachelor’s or master’s program studying the pipe organ. Doctoral students are not eligible. Digital memberships will be free for the duration of their studies with proper verification. Contributions to this fund help ensure a healthy, growing membership in the OHS.
Apply Now!
Upcoming Events
The Tracker
OHS publishes its journal four times a year. The Tracker includes news and articles about the organ and its history, organbuilders, exemplary organs, regional surveys of instruments, and the music played on the organ. The emphasis is on American organ topics of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, and there are occasional articles on European topics. Most issues run 48 pages with many illustrations and photographs.
Dear Friend of the Organ –
A New Opportunity
Think about the pleasure you will receive in offering an OHS membership to a friend or relative. You can share your love of the pipe organ and introduce someone else to the good works of the Society in educating, preserving and chronicling our rich organ heritage and culture. Memberships make splendid gifts. The recipient will receive a subscription to our quarterly magazine, The Tracker, a special gift and all the benefits of membership, including members’ prices on many items in the OHS Catalog.
The OHS Mission Statement
The Organ Historical Society celebrates, preserves, and studies the pipe organ in America in all its historic styles, through research, education, advocacy, and music.
The Organ Historical Society
330 North Spring Mill Road
Villanova, PA 19085 – 1737
(484) 488-PIPE (7473)
mail@organhistoricalsociety.org