The Mineralogy of Pipe Organs: Science, Sound Art, and Aging Instruments

Guest Speaker: Jenny Bower

After two thousand years as the Western “king of instruments,” the popularity of pipe organs is waning. With connections to early environmental health risks, the ivory trade, colonialism, and industrialization, the organ represents the quintessential machine of the Anthropocene. In this lecture we will engage the complex history of the organ through a material investigation of its component parts, using mineralogy, historical science, and biology as tools. Special emphasis on Vermont’s own local organ history will be woven throughout the talk.

Sponsored by: Vermont Complex Systems Center, and City of Burlington