Organ builders are artisans who specialize in manufacturing, maintaining and restoring organs and the parts used for their construction. They work on-site and in workshops.
Working at the interface of several disciplines, organ builders must master joinery, mechanics, and metalwork, as well as working with hides, plastic materials, electronics and information technology. Organ builders must also have in-depth knowledge of music and acoustics.
Interventions on organs can vary enormously. Organ builders contribute to the design and maintenance of organs, while aslo restoring them.
On the Notre-Dame de Paris site
With its 8,000 pipes and 115 stops, the great organ of Notre-Dame is the largest in France. Miraculously spared by the fire and the water poured by the firefighters to extinguish the fire, the great organ of Notre-Dame was nevertheless damaged by the lead dust raised when the vaulted ceiling collapsed.
During the securing phase, eleven organ builders participated in the dismantling of the cathedral’s great organ in an operation which lasted more than four months. The parts of the organ were removed one by one and stored prior to their restoration.
During the restoration phase, the parts of the great organ are being restored in three different workshops: the mechanical parts in the Vaucluse department, the bellows and the wind chests in the Hérault department and the pipes in Corrèze. The restoration of largest parts, such as the case, will be carried out in the cathedral itself. Once the great organ has been completely assembled, it will take six months to tune it.
How to become an organ builder?
Aspiring organ builders can follow a vocational baccalaureate program entitled "Crafts and Artistic Trades – Organ Builder", which provides training in two specialties: organ building (specializing in the case) and pipe making (specializing in the manufacture of organ pipes).
Only one school in France provides this training: the Ecole Nationale d’Eschau, in Alsace.
In addition to classroom-based lessons, workshop training alongside experienced organ builders is essential in order to learn manual skills and techniques.
