Organ Studio

Organ Studio group standing in front of organ.
Fall 2025 Organ Studio.

From celeste to en chamade, glorious organ music may often be heard in the University Auditorium. We have a busy year planned, so please check out our events where you can hear UF organists and guests perform! Keep track of the latest studio news by following us on Facebook!

Want to know more about the Andrew Anderson Memorial Organ at UF? The studio prepared a virtual organ demonstration in Fall 2020 — learn more about our fabulous instrument. This historic organ turns 100 in 2025!

What is a “Halloween Spooktacular?” Check out the organ studio’s 2020 presentation! 

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Meet the UF Organists

The University Auditorium Organ

A financial gift from Dr. Andrew Anderson, a St. Augustine physician, philanthropist, and associate of early Florida developer Henry Flagler, provided funds for a pipe organ in 1924 for the newly constructed University Auditorium. Tonal plans were prepared by William Zeuch of Boston’s famous E. M. Skinner Organ Company, which built and installed the instrument in early 1925. The organ was first played publicly on June 7, 1925, at the annual University Commencement Convocation. A musical landmark for its day, the organ was designed and voiced at the height of orchestral-imitative or “symphonic” organ design in this country and is mentioned in reference works such as Orpha Ochse’s The History of the Organ in the United States and Charles Callahan’s The American Classic Organ. Claude Murphree, university organist from 1925 to 1958, performed over 550 concerts on this instrument, and his Sunday afternoon recitals became a campus tradition.

The instrument itself was not given proper care during World War II due to institutional economic conditions. This University treasure was buried behind layers of heavy velour curtains hung in front of the organ to allow theatrical presentations. Immediate efforts were made to rescue the instrument when the Division of Music was established in 1948. 

Willis Bodine succeeded Murphree as university organist in 1959 and instructed the removal of the curtains. Under Bodine’s leadership, the Aeolian-Skinner Organ Company began mechanical and tonal renovations to repair the damage caused by neglected maintenance, but was unable to fulfill the obligations of the contract due to their insolvency. In 1992 the M. P. Möller Organ Company, located in Hagerstown, Maryland, continued the careful work of restoring the organ to its former excellence as a teaching and recital instrument.  

Laura Ellis joined the UF faculty in 2003, becoming the third university organist in the history of the institution. In the fall of 2014, the Reuter Organ Company, located in Lawrence, Kansas, was contracted to provide tonal renovations to the instrument. Twenty-four new ranks of principal pipes were built to revise and enhance the Great, Swell, Positiv, and Choir choruses. Reed pipes in all divisions were rebuilt or replaced. Other stops were rescaled and wind pressures were adjusted. Finally, the entire instrument was re-voiced to achieve a new tonal balance, characterized by abundant fundamental tone and greater clarity. The newly renovated organ was heard for the first time during the Phantom of the Opera, presented by the College of the Arts in January 2015 (see specifications below). 

The UF Pipe Organ Centennial Celebration brought together hundreds of people over the course of 2025 for concerts, lectures, pipe organ demonstrations, and music workshops; a multi-generational group of UF alumni, organists, special guests, the general audience, and everyone in between, all eager to hear the story of the Andrew Anderson Memorial Pipe Organ. Recordings and programs from these celebratory events may be accessed here. 

Specifications of the UA Organ

E. M. Skinner (1925)/Aeolian-Skinner (1970)/ Möller (1980, 1992)/Reuter (2015)

Great

16′ Praestant
16′ Spitzprinzipal (Pos)
8′ Principal
8′ Spitzprinzipal (Pos)
8′ Bourdon
4′ Octave
4′ Rohrflöte
2 2/3′ Twelfth
2′ Fifteenth
II-III Cornet
IV Fourniture
16′ Fagotto (Pos)
8′ Fagotto (Pos)
Tremulant
8′ Trompette en chamade (Bom)

Positiv

16′ Spitzprinzipal
8′ Spitzprinzipal
8′ Holzgedeckt
4′ Prinzipal
4′ Spillflöte
2 2/3′ Nasat
2′ Oktav
1 3/5′ Terz
1 1/3′ Quinte
1′ Oktav
III Mixture
16′ Fagotto
16′ Dulzian
8′ Krummhorn
8′ Fagotto
Tremulant
8′ Trompette en chamade (Bom)

Swell

16′ Bourdon
8′ Montre
8′ Flûte à cheminée
8′ Viole de gambe
8′ Viole céleste
8′ Flauto Dolce
8′ Flauto Dolce Celeste TC 
4′ Prestant
4′ Flûte harmonique
2 2/3′ Nasard
2′ Octavin
1 3/5′ Tierce
IV Plein jeu
16′ Contre hautbois 
8′ Trompette
8′ Hautbois
8′ Voix humaine
4′ Clairon 
Tremulant

Choir

8′ Diapason
8′ Stopped Flute
8′ Unda Maris II
4′ Principal
4′ Flûte Triangulaire 
2′ Principal
2′ Blockflöte
III-IV Mixture
16′ English Horn
8′ Clarinet

Bombarde

8′ Flûte harmonique
16′ Bombarde
8′ Trumpet
4′ Clarion
16′ Trompette en chamade TC 
8′ Trompette en chamade
4′ Trompette en chamade

Pedal

32′ Acoustic Principal 
32′ Contra Bourdon
16′ Contrabass
16′ Praestant (Gr)
16′ Spitzprinzipal (Pos) 
16′ Subbass
16′ Bourdon (Sw)
10 2/3′ Quint
8′ Major Flute
8′ Octave
8′ Pommer
8′ Spitzprinzipal (Pos)
8′ Bourdon (Sw)
5 1/3′ Quint
4′ Choralbass
4′ Blockflöte
2′ Nachthorn
III Mixture
III Cymbale
32′ Contre Bombarde
16′ Bombarde
16′ Fagotto (Pos)
16′ Contre Hautbois (Sw) 
16′ English Horn (Ch) 
16′ Dulzian (Pos)
8′ Trompette
8′ Hautbois (Sw)
8′ Trompette en chamade (Bom) 
4′ Clairon
4′ Chalmeau

Lauren Wittine (BM/Organ Performance
The Andrew Anderson Pipe Organ—a history
Lauren Wittine (BM/Organ Performance ’18)
Read more

    The Music Building Organs

    Kinzey/Bodine

    Tonal Design: Willis Bodine, Jr.
    Organ Builder: Bertram Kinzey, Jr.
    Gainesville, FL, 1972

    The history of this organ dates back to 1970 with a research project on the Acoustical Influences of Casework Enclosing Pipe Organs. Bertram Kinzey, Professor in the College of Architecture, headed this study. The music building was recently constructed and, thus, in need of a few practice organs. This study would not only supply the researchers with an instrument to examine, but the School of Music would receive the organ as a practice instrument. The tonal design was formulated by then University Organist and Professor Emeritus Willis Bodine (UF faculty member from 1959-2003). The instrument consists of 8 ranks and has electric and stop action.

    Stop List

    Grand Orgue
    16′ Basse Conique
    8′ Bourdon A’Cheminee
    8′ Flute Conique
    4′ Prestant
    4′ Flute
    2′ Doublette
    IV Fourniture
    V Cornet
    8′ Trompette

    Recit
    8′ Bourdon
    8′ Flute Conique
    4′ Flute Traversiere
    4′ Douce
    2-2/3′ Nasard
    2′ Quarte de Nasard
    1-3/5′ Tierce
    8′ Trompette
    4′ Clarion

    Positiv
    8′ Bourdon A’Cheminee
    4′ Flute A’Fuseau
    4′ Douce
    2′ Octavin
    1-1/3′ Larigot
    1′ Sifflet
    II Cymbale
    4′ Clarion

    Pedal
    16′ Bourdon Basse
    8′ Montre
    8′ Bourdon
    8′ Flute Conique
    4′ Prestant
    2′ Flute A’Bec
    V Fourniture
    8′ Trompette
    4′ Clarion
    2′ Dessus de Trompette

    No couplers
    Manual compass: 61 notes
    Pedal compass: 32 notes

    Kinzey-Angerstein

    This organ has two manuals with 6 stops over 5 ranks. The instrument has slider chests and mechanical key action. 

    Opus 1, 1974

    Stop List

    Manual I
    8′ Spillflote
    4′ Principal

    Manual II
    8′ Gedackt
    2′ Waldflote

    Pedal
    16′ Subbass
    8′ Pommer

    No couplers
    Manual Compass: 56 notes
    Pedal Compass: 30 notes

    Klug & Schumacher

    Opus 6, 1980

    The history of this organ is a colorful one. In the late 1930s, Claude Murphree, the first University Organist, felt the need for a small practice organ to supplement the large Auditorium instrument. A four-rank Kimball unit organ, entirely self-contained, was purchased and installed in the Florida Union Auditorium.

    In 1960, it was realized that the needs of the Department of Music for organ practice space could not be met if the instrument remained in a location also used for committee meetings, movies, etc. The organ was, therefore, moved to Building “R” during the Thanksgiving holidays and set up in practice room 136. In 1966, the organ was completely overhauled and rebuilt by John Harold Murphy Pipe Organs of St. Petersburg, FL, a subsidiary of the Reuter Organ Company.

    The Kimball/Murphy organ was completely changed and renovated again in 1980 by Klug & Schumacher, Inc. The company converted the organ into a fully functional tracker instrument. Certain parts of the organ (e.g. casework, blower, parts of the console, certain pipes, etc.) would be used in the new organ by Klug & Schumacher. The finished and current organ was installed in June of 1980.

    Stop List

    Manual I
    8′ Spillflote
    4′ Principal

    Manual II
    8′ Spitzprincipal
    2′ Spitzflote

    Pedal
    16′ Subbass
    8′ Gedeckt

    Couplers
    Manual II to Manual I
    Manual I to Pedal
    Manual II to Pedal

    Manual Compass: 56 notes
    Pedal Compass: 30 notes

    Historic Instruments

    The University of Florida School of Music maintains a number of historic instruments that are available for student use:

    Herz Double Harpsichord

    Built for the University of Florida by Eric Herz, Boston, in 1967, this concert harpsichord is in the eighteenth-century English/German style. The double manual instrument has pedal register action and a compass of FF-g3. Manual I has three sets of strings: 16′, 8′, and 4′; Manual II has two 8′ sets of strings. The instrument has lute, buff, and inter-manual coupler.

    Kingston Single Harpsichords

    The School of Music has two Kingston Single Harpsichords:

    UF’s second Kingston single harpsichord is a bequest from the estate of Jeffrey Wyke (BM ’82; MFA ’84). While a student at UF, Mr. Wyke was impressed by the aforementioned Kingston harpsichord housed in the School of Music. After graduating, Jeffrey commissioned the renowned builder Richard Kingston to build a new instrument.

    Often rented by area music ensembles, the School of Music’s Kingston single harpsichord was built for the University of Florida by Richard Kingston, Marshall, NC, in 1980. In the 17th-century Flemish style, the instrument has a compass of BB-d3, two 8′ sets of strings, buffs, and a transposing keyboard. 
     

    Neupert Double Harpsichord

    Recently restored, this harpsichord was built by J.C. Neupert. The instrument was purchased for the Division of Music in the 1950s by Pat Beecher. The instrument has leather plectra, pedal stop controls, and a 16’-8’-8’-4’ disposition.

    Hubbard French Double Harpsichord

    Donated by Mark Goldstein, Ph.D., this harpsichord was built from a Hubbard kit by master craftsman Ron Weigert. The instrument has three ranks of jacks, three sets of strings (two 8′ and one 4′), and one buff stop. The keyboard and lid interior were painted during construction in the manner of Dufour (soundboard) and Vermeer (lid interior). 

    1863 Chickering Grand

    UF’s Chickering grand piano is a straight-strung ‘angel wing’ instrument with rosewood case and 2-pedal action. The piano was built by the Chickering & Sons, Boston, ca. 1863 and was originally sold to J.H. Heidley, Albany, NY, in 1864. The instrument was a gift to UF’s School of Music by Dr. and Mrs. John Koogler in 1997.