FORMER
Ted M. Larson
Theatre Pipe Organ
3/9 Composite |
Weld Hall
Minnesota State University Moorhead

History of the Ted M. Larson Theatre Pipe Organ at Weld Hall, Minnesota State University Moorhead

 

The Weld Hall organ began as a Wurlitzer organ built in 1925 and installed in the Rialto Theater in Buffalo, New York. The organ shifted around from church to church until it was purchased by the RRTOS in 1980 by then President Lance Johnson for $500. 

 

This came to fruition after Lance and Dave Knudtson were asked to play silent films on a piano at Weld Hall (Minnesota State University Moorhead) for teaching film students about the silent film era. After a bit, Lance asked then head film instructor (& RRTOS member) Ted Larson if he wanted an organ to be installed in Weld. Permission was granted and the instrument was set to be installed.

 

Since the original pipework was lost over the history of the instrument, Lance, owner of the Johnson Organ Company, procured several ranks of pipes from various sources and instruments totaling 6 ranks of pipes, which were hooked up to the Wurlitzer console purchased from New York. Some of the procured ranks may have come from the 3/9 church Wurlitzer that RRTOS had purchased in 1979.

 

Lance also procured a glockenspiel assembly and a 1920s-era Aeolian home organ Chrysaglott. All of that added up to a 2-manual, 6-rank instrument that was installed in weld hall in 1981 with a formal dedication being held in 1982.

 

Weld Hall itself was built in 1915 and is currently the oldest extant building on the Minnesota State University Moorhead campus. It was built to replicate a typical theater of the time with a balcony and all. After a renovation in the 1990s the balcony was removed and turned into office space. 

 

On June 14, 1982 a new annual series was introduced by the RRTOS, the “Summer Cinema Series.” This series consisted of silent films shown in Weld Hall and scored on the organ by Lance Johnson and Dave Knudtson. This series continued for several decades until 2018 and ended with the death of Dave that year. A tribute was held for Dave at Weld that summer and was the last public event RRTOS held at the Hall that featured the organ.

 

Other than The Summer Cinema series the organ was used by the film department to teach students about the silent film era and film music and its history with the organ playing a big role in the teaching. It was also used for Halloween silent films in October playing movies like Phantom of the Opera, Valentine's Day movies, and for chapter meetings where such people as "The Incomparable" Hildegarde Kraus, Lance Johnson, Dave Knudtson, Lloyd Collins, Tyler Engberg, Steve Eneboe, Lorraine (Nelson) Jossund, Ryan Hardy, and Alex Swanson played the instrument. In fact, Alex regularly practiced on the instrument in between classes while he was attending MSUM from 2014-2018 and served as RRTOS president at that time.

 

In 1995 Lance led an expansion including a complete revoicing of the instrument, alongside adding a third manual (keyboard) and solid-state relay. The last main improvement was a redo of the tremulant system. He also added 3 ranks of pipes. With all of this the instrument was at its final size; a 3/9, housed in two chambers--Main and Solo.

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In 2000 after the passing of Ted Larson the organ was rededicated as the “Ted M. Larson Theatre Pipe Organ” on July 15, 2002. About 10 years later, the Fargo Theatre Wurlitzer's 1926 Concert Flute was added to the Weld Hall Organ as the Fargo Theatre Organ was undergoing a major expansion.

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The main chamber housed the Violin, Violin Celeste, Diaphonic Diapason, Tuba Horn, Concert Flute,  and the Chrysaglott. The solo chamber housed the Vox Humana, Trumpet, and Tibia Clausa alongside the toy counter (assembly with drums, cymbals, and other rhythmic percussion), the Glockenspiel, and the English Post Horn.

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The beginning of the end for the instrument started in 2019 when MSUM unveiled plans to renovate the hall, with no intention of reinstalling the instrument. Many ideas were formulated as to what to do with the instrument. One idea included donating the instrument to the City of Moorhead, or even installing it into a science museum that was in an initial planning stage, but had not yet been built. A farewell to the weld concert was planned for May 17, 2020 but was canceled due to covid.

 

The instrument sat turned dormant and un-played for two years and only used one time between the last Summer Cinema Series and removal, and that was for a chapter meeting on July 12, 2020. After this meeting the instrument would sit dormant for another two years  

 

After no such luck at relocating the instrument, it was voted to sell the instrument as a whole or in parts on July 11, 2021. Then and there, the instrument's fate was sealed.

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Before the instrument was to be removed there were two ranks that were of interest to the RRTOS. First rank of interest was the English Post horn. This rank was an originally an Oboe revoiced by Lance Johnson, however had a very prominent crack and bright sound better then Post Horn in the Fargo Theater Wurlitzer. This rank was supposedly originally installed in the Fargo Theatre in 1979 and moved to Weld Hall in 2008. The Weld Post Horn was reinstalled in the Fargo Theatre in 2024.

 

The second rank of interest was the Concert Flute. This Concert Flute is a Wurlitzer rank original to the Fargo Theatre from 1926. It's not entirely known when the Concert Flute made its way over to Weld, but was probably sometime in the 2000s or early 2010s.
 

On October 31, 2022 the removal officially began with 4 people; Alex Swanson, Alex Moe, Dylan Thiele, and Jean Hellner. On that day the Wurlitzer was played for the last time with the organ being recorded one last time with the final song appropriately being “We’ll Meet Again.” The first worked completed that day was removing the English Post Horn and its wind chest and the Concert Flute. Each of these was transported to the Fargo Theatre to be stored until reinstallation. The instrument was then put up for sale with no buyers so the decision was made to take apart everything and sell in parts.

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On April 14, 2023 Alex Moe and Dylan Thiele cut cables and removed the driver board rendering the organ unplayable. The rest of the day was preparation for removal with moving around pipes and getting a general plan for removing the instrument.

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The first big day of removal was on May 1, 2023 with a team of 3; Alex Moe, Alex Swanson, and Dylan Thiele. A lot of the large bass pipes were removed from the chambers along side regulators, pipe racking, traps (i.e. snare drum, bass drum, a couple wind chests, tremulants, and the glockenspiel). Everything was laid out on the stage and ready to be moved on day 2.

 

Day 2 was on May 3, 2023 with the same team. The goal was to complete as much work as possible. The first thing done was traying pipes for transport, clearing the chambers of any pipes. Clearing the stage was the biggest priority due to there being an event the next day. All of the ranks were trayed along side the bass pipes and the percussion assembly's except the Chrysaglott were loaded on to a trailer. All of that was taken to Alex Swanson's farm to be stored until a buyer is found or a plan is in place for the instrument. The trash was also dealt with to finish off day 2, only leaving wind chests, the Chrysaglott, and the console for day 3.

 

Day 3 of the removal was on May 30, 2023 with Dylan Thiele and Alex Moe. The goal was to remove everything else that being the console, wind chests, and Chrysaglott assembly, however technical difficulties made it so that the console was the only thing that came out. The console was delivered to the home of Dylan Thiele in Fargo.

 

The only things remaining in Weld from the organ were some wind chests and the Chrysaglott; a bitter-sweet ending for a instrument with so much historical significance to the society. However all is not lost for the instrument.

 

The console as mentioned was taken to RRTOS member Dylan Thiele’s house. There, the key tops were redone and converted into a Hauptwerk instrument. The console is still affectionately named “Ted” after the man who made this instrument possible, Ted Larson.