"Ted" Hauptwerk Organ |
Thiele Residence
Fargo, North Dakota

History of the "Ted" Hauptwerk Organ at the Thiele Residence

 

The RRTOS was first informed in May 2019 that the 3/9 Ted M. Larson Theatre Pipe Organ at Weld Hall, Minnesota State University Moorhead Campus, Moorhead, MN would need to be removed permanently so that the Glasrud Auditorium where the organ was housed within the hall could be renovated.

​

Most of the organ's removal took place in 2023. On May 1, 2023, the console itself was removed from Weld Hall and delivered to the residence of RRTOS member Dylan Thiele in Fargo, ND. On September 17, 2023, RRTOS voted to sell the console to Dylan for $1.00.

​

Dylan and RRTOS members Alex Moe and Allen Moe worked over the next year to replace the relay in the console, and eventually made it a fully functioning Hauptwerk home practice instrument.

​

The 100th birthday of the console was celebrated by RRTOS members on April 26, 2025 and on May 21, 2025, Dylan and the console were featured on a local news station.

​

The console has retained the affectionate name of "Ted," which still pays homage to Ted M. Larson, the late RRTOS member and MSUM Film Department Chair who was one of the persons initially responsible for the organ's installation at Weld Hall in the early 1980s.