Historic Organ

History

 

Bob Hartzell, former president of the California Wine grape Growers Association, is the proud owner of the 2/11 Robert Morton that was originally installed in San Francisco's Castro Theatre. The organ was removed from the theatre by Dave Schutt and Ron Downer in 1962 and later purchased by Charlie Davis of Concord. Davis made several changes to the organ including replacement of the original two-manual console with a three-manual console from a theatre in Provo, Utah.

 

Organ Studio Theatre

 

Hartzell purchased the organ in 1987 and his son, Mark, designed a new building to house the organ. The building, set in the middle of Harmony Wynelands' private vineyard, looks like a picturesque blue and white country barn, but the interior is no barn! It's a wonderful organ studio, 30' wide by 60' long with a 30' high beam ceiling, and is complete with guest quarters for visiting artists.

 

Installation

 

Dave Moreno was responsible for the organ layout and installation. Tim Rickman wired and programmed the Devtronix computer relay and Tom Delay did the tonal finishing. The late Larry Vannucci played the premiere concert in 1990. Since then, the organ has been featured every year at various ATOS events including the highly acclaimed Morton Madness concerts