Wednesday, June 16th, 2010

When  Lincoln Center started its multimillion dollar renovation in 2006, one of the first things to go was the massive pipe organ in Alice Tully Hall (Broadway at 65th).  Now, fans of the instrument can rejoice, as crews started to bring the back into the building this week, according to The New York Times‘ blog.  The 19-ton organ, which includes 4,192 pipes, came back on two semitrailers with smaller pieces first.  The second truck came second, carrying the organ pipes and entering the building on 65th, where the stage entrance provided a more direct route and easier turns into the hall.  The pipes were carefully laid on the floor of the orchestra level, between rows of seats, so as not to dent the soft tin/lead alloy.  Finally, the wooden pipes and console were brought into Tully via the loading dock on 66th.  The organ was a personal gift to the hall from Alice Tully, built in 1974 and inaugurated in 1975.  During the renovation of the hall, it was located in storage facilities near Saratoga Springs, being cleaned and rebuilt.  Now that the pieces are in place, the reinstallation of the organ will take weeks… events are not scheduled at Alice Tully Hall until July 12th, and the first performance on the restored organ is not planned until November 16th.  Read more about the return of the pipe organ at The New York Times.

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Tags: Alice Tully, Alice Tully Hall, Organ, Pipe Organ