Competitions & Awards
“It Takes a Community to Build a Virtual Pipe Organ”
Torrence/Yaeger VPO™ is the newest player in the field of the contemporary organ. Richard Torrence and Marshall Yaeger, managers and biographers of Virgil Fox, the 20th Century’s American organ legend, have formed a for-profit company under the aegis of a not-for-profit organization, Anchor-International Foundation. Their history includes public relations, advertising, and marketing. For the Rodgers Organ Company, they created a hugely successful touring organ program in 1965, produced “Heavy Organ” for Virgil Fox in 1970, installed a five-manual Rodgers organ in Carnegie Hall in 1974, and marketed the first combination (hybrid) organ (which they named the “Gemini”) in 1975, a project of Rodgers and the pipe organ firm Fratelli Ruffatti. Now it is estimated that one-half of all pipe organs sold in the U.S. are hybrid organs of one form or another.
Torrence & Yaeger introduced Fratelli Ruffatti, pipe organ builders of Padua, Italy, to the U.S. in 1965, and moved its representation to Rodgers when Torrence became director of public relations for Rodgers in 1971. Ruffatti is the leading source of European organs sold in the U.S., and is still often sold through its Rodgers and other music dealerships.
Richard Torrence and Marshall Yaeger were also active in concert management, beginning with the representation of Virgil Fox. When Fox died in 1980, Torrence & Yaeger became pre-eminent in the burgeoning field of special events for fund raising purposes. In 1992, Torrence moved to St. Petersburg, Russia, to serve Anatoly A. Sobchak, Mayor of St. Petersburg, as Advisor for International Projects. Vladimir V. Putin was Sobchak’s First Deputy Mayor for International Affairs, and Torrence worked closely with him on projects for St. Petersburg until 1996.
After the collapse of the Russian ruble in 1998, Torrence gradually moved his center of operation back to New York. Yaeger had continued to run their special events company in his absence, which had included fund raising, film festivals in St. Petersburg, and representation of such companies as Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, E.D. & F. Mann Sugar, Americom, ICN Pharmaceuticals, and other entities wishing to do business in Russia.
In 1997, Torrence & Yaeger founded Anchor-International Foundation for a St. Petersburg-based cardiology project begun by Dr. Ronald Masden, a leading angioplasty cardiologist from Louisville, Kentucky. As Torrence’s center of operation moved back to New York, he became executive director of the New York-based foundation, and became increasingly involved in cultural projects both in Russia and the U.S. The Chairman of the foundation is HRH Princess Michael of Kent.
A long-time involvement with organists and organs led Torrence & Yaeger to investigate a new digital organ that had been created at the request of Dr. Owen Burdick, Organist and Director of Music at Trinity Church Wall Street. 600-feet from Ground Zero, Trinity lost the use of four organs on September 11, 2001. Burdick, with a doctorate in electronic music from UCLA, decided to research groups designing high quality digital organs in order to acquire an interim organ for Trinity. Having discovered one such company, he designed an ideal instrument for Trinity Church. It was dedicated on 9/11/2003, and Torrence & Yaeger were there.
They decided to create a marketing company to represent the company that built the organ for Trinity, and from 2004 to 2009 worked primarily on that project. With success, they organized and partially funded a series of concerts that were produced and webcast by Trinity throughout the world, reaching more than 1,000,000 viewers. They also sold virtual pipe organs to churches and concert halls, and decided in 2009 to bring their own knowledge—and a community of like-minded organists and software designers—to develop already necessary new technology for the VPO.
Cameron Carpenter was the star of the series of concerts at Trinity, and recorded two CD/DVD albums there. The second album, Revolutionary, was released by Telarc in 2008, making Carpenter the first solo organist ever nominated for a Grammy® award. He is now the Artistic Director of the new VPO, and combines international touring with organ and console design. His master’s degree is from The Juilliard School.
Owen Burdick, after seventeen years as Trinity’s seventeenth Organist and Director of Music, is the Tonal Director, and in charge of recording and processing note-by-note captures of ranks of pipes for the new organ company. He has a doctorate in electronic music from UCLA, and studied organ and choral music at The Juilliard School.
Francis Milano, with a graduate degree in organ from the Sorbonne and a master’s degree in electro-acoustics from The University of Paris, is the Technical Director, responsible for advice regarding the acoustics of customer’s sanctuaries and auditoriums, selecting professional speakers for installations, and supervising the building of VPOs. He will also design speakers that are specific for selected organ voices.
Richard Torrence is Managing Director, and Director of Marketing. Marshall Yaeger is Creative Director of Advertising, and responsible for marketing concepts. They have worked together on behalf of organs and organists since 1962.
The sales representatives for TYVPO are emerging as forces of their own, both on behalf of the new company and in their respective music worlds. Warren Hood has just been awarded an honorary doctorate at Eastern Theological Seminary in Lynchburg, Virginia. Warren has been active in churches throughout the Baltimore and Washington areas for two decades, and is a constant source of information and inspiration.
Andrei Dubov has been on the Russian organ scene for several years, and has just been appointed coordinator of the Gnessins’ Academy of Music International Organ Symposium in Moscow. The annual symposium was begun in 2006, and Torrence has spoken at each of them. The Gnessins’ organ department, under Alexander Fiseisky, is exemplary in its training and advocacy for the organ in one of the world’s emerging markets for fine organ music.
Bruce Thigpen of Eminent Technology is consultant on low-frequency speakers, having designed the breakthrough Thigpen Rotary Woofer that is represented for organs exclusively through Torrence/Yaeger VPO.
VPOs are bespoke instruments, and their consoles are built by Southfield Organ Builders, a pipe organ company of Springfield, Massachusetts.
Never in the more than 2,000-year history of the organ has a more talented community been gathered to build organs. Two of the most exciting and controversial musicians in America head the artistic and tonal side of the project. Two of the promotional giants of the organ world head the company. They have gathered the only team capable of building a sustainable organ in the 21st Century.
The first instrument the new company will build is a five-manual touring organ that will be designed by Cameron Carpenter and toured by Slaymaker Special Projects on behalf of Anchor-International Foundation. Richard Torrence is Anchor’s Executive Director, and will oversee the touring organ program, as he did from 1965 to 1976 for Rodgers. Susan Slaymaker is booking director and personal representative for Carpenter, and also represents Burdick as composer and conductor and Alexander Fiseisky and his wife, Anna, as organists and pianist.
It takes a community to build a great virtual pipe organ, promote it properly, and make it available to organists, orchestras, concert halls, and churches throughout the world. The touring VPO will make its debut in the 2011/12 concert season.
For More Information, contact: Amanda Sweet Bucklesweet Media 347-564-3371 amanda@bucklesweetmedia.com
Torrence & Yaeger introduced Fratelli Ruffatti, pipe organ builders of Padua, Italy, to the U.S. in 1965, and moved its representation to Rodgers when Torrence became director of public relations for Rodgers in 1971. Ruffatti is the leading source of European organs sold in the U.S., and is still often sold through its Rodgers and other music dealerships.
Richard Torrence and Marshall Yaeger were also active in concert management, beginning with the representation of Virgil Fox. When Fox died in 1980, Torrence & Yaeger became pre-eminent in the burgeoning field of special events for fund raising purposes. In 1992, Torrence moved to St. Petersburg, Russia, to serve Anatoly A. Sobchak, Mayor of St. Petersburg, as Advisor for International Projects. Vladimir V. Putin was Sobchak’s First Deputy Mayor for International Affairs, and Torrence worked closely with him on projects for St. Petersburg until 1996.
After the collapse of the Russian ruble in 1998, Torrence gradually moved his center of operation back to New York. Yaeger had continued to run their special events company in his absence, which had included fund raising, film festivals in St. Petersburg, and representation of such companies as Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, E.D. & F. Mann Sugar, Americom, ICN Pharmaceuticals, and other entities wishing to do business in Russia.
In 1997, Torrence & Yaeger founded Anchor-International Foundation for a St. Petersburg-based cardiology project begun by Dr. Ronald Masden, a leading angioplasty cardiologist from Louisville, Kentucky. As Torrence’s center of operation moved back to New York, he became executive director of the New York-based foundation, and became increasingly involved in cultural projects both in Russia and the U.S. The Chairman of the foundation is HRH Princess Michael of Kent.
A long-time involvement with organists and organs led Torrence & Yaeger to investigate a new digital organ that had been created at the request of Dr. Owen Burdick, Organist and Director of Music at Trinity Church Wall Street. 600-feet from Ground Zero, Trinity lost the use of four organs on September 11, 2001. Burdick, with a doctorate in electronic music from UCLA, decided to research groups designing high quality digital organs in order to acquire an interim organ for Trinity. Having discovered one such company, he designed an ideal instrument for Trinity Church. It was dedicated on 9/11/2003, and Torrence & Yaeger were there.
They decided to create a marketing company to represent the company that built the organ for Trinity, and from 2004 to 2009 worked primarily on that project. With success, they organized and partially funded a series of concerts that were produced and webcast by Trinity throughout the world, reaching more than 1,000,000 viewers. They also sold virtual pipe organs to churches and concert halls, and decided in 2009 to bring their own knowledge—and a community of like-minded organists and software designers—to develop already necessary new technology for the VPO.
Cameron Carpenter was the star of the series of concerts at Trinity, and recorded two CD/DVD albums there. The second album, Revolutionary, was released by Telarc in 2008, making Carpenter the first solo organist ever nominated for a Grammy® award. He is now the Artistic Director of the new VPO, and combines international touring with organ and console design. His master’s degree is from The Juilliard School.
Owen Burdick, after seventeen years as Trinity’s seventeenth Organist and Director of Music, is the Tonal Director, and in charge of recording and processing note-by-note captures of ranks of pipes for the new organ company. He has a doctorate in electronic music from UCLA, and studied organ and choral music at The Juilliard School.
Francis Milano, with a graduate degree in organ from the Sorbonne and a master’s degree in electro-acoustics from The University of Paris, is the Technical Director, responsible for advice regarding the acoustics of customer’s sanctuaries and auditoriums, selecting professional speakers for installations, and supervising the building of VPOs. He will also design speakers that are specific for selected organ voices.
Richard Torrence is Managing Director, and Director of Marketing. Marshall Yaeger is Creative Director of Advertising, and responsible for marketing concepts. They have worked together on behalf of organs and organists since 1962.
The sales representatives for TYVPO are emerging as forces of their own, both on behalf of the new company and in their respective music worlds. Warren Hood has just been awarded an honorary doctorate at Eastern Theological Seminary in Lynchburg, Virginia. Warren has been active in churches throughout the Baltimore and Washington areas for two decades, and is a constant source of information and inspiration.
Andrei Dubov has been on the Russian organ scene for several years, and has just been appointed coordinator of the Gnessins’ Academy of Music International Organ Symposium in Moscow. The annual symposium was begun in 2006, and Torrence has spoken at each of them. The Gnessins’ organ department, under Alexander Fiseisky, is exemplary in its training and advocacy for the organ in one of the world’s emerging markets for fine organ music.
Bruce Thigpen of Eminent Technology is consultant on low-frequency speakers, having designed the breakthrough Thigpen Rotary Woofer that is represented for organs exclusively through Torrence/Yaeger VPO.
VPOs are bespoke instruments, and their consoles are built by Southfield Organ Builders, a pipe organ company of Springfield, Massachusetts.
Never in the more than 2,000-year history of the organ has a more talented community been gathered to build organs. Two of the most exciting and controversial musicians in America head the artistic and tonal side of the project. Two of the promotional giants of the organ world head the company. They have gathered the only team capable of building a sustainable organ in the 21st Century.
The first instrument the new company will build is a five-manual touring organ that will be designed by Cameron Carpenter and toured by Slaymaker Special Projects on behalf of Anchor-International Foundation. Richard Torrence is Anchor’s Executive Director, and will oversee the touring organ program, as he did from 1965 to 1976 for Rodgers. Susan Slaymaker is booking director and personal representative for Carpenter, and also represents Burdick as composer and conductor and Alexander Fiseisky and his wife, Anna, as organists and pianist.
It takes a community to build a great virtual pipe organ, promote it properly, and make it available to organists, orchestras, concert halls, and churches throughout the world. The touring VPO will make its debut in the 2011/12 concert season.
For More Information, contact: Amanda Sweet Bucklesweet Media 347-564-3371 amanda@bucklesweetmedia.com
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