INDIANA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MUSIC RECEIVES GIFT FOR NEW PIPE ORGAN

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- One of the most significant gifts for a musical instrument in the history of the Indiana University School of Music has made possible the installation of a pipe organ, built by Los Angeles-based Rosales Organ Builders Inc., for Auer Concert Hall on the Bloomington campus.

The organ is named in honor of Maidee H. and Jackson A. Seward, without whose financial support the instrument could not have been built to the IU School of Music's exacting specifications. The Rosales organ includes 52 total stops, 3,489 pipes, a four-bell Cymbelstern and a two-pipe Nightingale.

Auer Hall, with its superior acoustics, is especially suited to house the custom-built instrument.

"My family was always devoted to music," said 97-year-old Maidee Seward. "My mother taught music and I was brought up going to the opera. Music has been our life, and it gives me a very happy feeling to know this organ will be in beautiful Auer Hall. I can't wait to hear it," she added.

Rosales Organ Builders Inc., established in 1980, is the premier organ builder in the United States. President and tonal director Manuel J. Rosales became enthralled with the music of J.S. Bach when his father took him to see Walt Disney's Fantasia at age 14. Later, an opportunity to work with a church organ tuner led him to devote his life to organ-building.

Installation of the Rosales organ at the IU School of Music will begin in January 1999 and should take about six months.

(Erik Novak, Office of Communications and Marketing, 812-855-0089 or 812-855-3911, enovak@indiana.edu)

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