Gustavus Article

Hendrickson: Organ Building a Marriage of Subtleties
from the Spring 1993 issue of the Gustavus Quarterly

In 1964, physicist Charles Hendrickson took a quantum leap. He went from watching pupils at Mankato State University to building pipe organs in a rented cannery. That was 29 years and 86 organs ago, and he says he has no regrets about leaving academia to organ building building for fun and profit.

Well, for fun, anyway.

"This is not a highly profitable business, but it keeps us busy." says Hendrickson '57, recipient of this year's Distinguished Alumni Citation in Business. His voice carries a sense of satisfaction, probably due to his credo that the best organ project is always the next one.

Right now, the next project isn't a concern. His eight-employee St. Peter business is working on an organ for a church in Fayetteville, Ark. He just finished one for Grace Lutheran Church in Mankato. "We have 2 1/2-to-3 years worth of work," says Hendrickson, who has
never had to solicit business; business comes to him.

There are only about six major organ firms in the United States and about 100 small operations like Hendrickson's. He takes pride in what he terms a laid-back business with very few rules and no set work hours. That system works, Hendrickson says, because he and his employees care deeply about the finished product, regardless of whether it's a $300,000 new organ or a $10,000 rehabilitation project.

"There are a lot of disciplines involved---architecture, woodworking, music, electrical work, set-up and assembly---and that's part of the fun of it."

Hendrickson's standard operating procedure when he undertakes a church organ project is to delve into its logistics---physical, financial, even spiritual. He asks questions: Does the church have a big or small choir? What is the size of its musical program? Is the church conservative in its use of music or does it tend toward the grandiose?

Hendrickson installs the organs in the churches, then fine-tunes them according to a given building's acoustics. To assure that his work is on the mark, Hendrickson is on hand each time churches hold dedication services for their new purchases.

The organ business hasn't always been so organized for Hendrickson. Nearly 30 years ago, as a talented but relatively inexperienced tinkerer, a Winthrop. Minn. Lutheran minister talked him into building a church organ.

Hendrickson bought some tools, rented space in a vacant Winthrop canning factory, and hired a handful of workers. The following year was an experiment that hooked him on the intricacies of the craft. "It seemed like it took forever [to build that first organ]," he says. "It's one of those situations you look back on and say 'My, wasn't life simple then.'"

Hendrickson's ties with Gustavus run deep. His parents, Roy and Frances Hendrickson, were both members of the class of 1926, and Hendrickson says there was no question about where he and his sister Ann would attend college. "That was pretty well pre-ordained," he recalled, laughing. "My parents were very dedicated to the school."

After completing his undergraduate work at Gustavus, Hendrickson went on to earn a master's degree in physics. He taught for a time at the University of Wisconsin-Superior and Mankato State University but, by his own admission, wasn't the best of teachers. So, when he resigned his teaching post in 1965 to pursue organ-building full time, it was a fairly easy call.

Nearly three decades of experience still haven't made the crafting of an organ easier. Hendrickson says each time he takes on a new project, he must walk the line between artistic license and the art of conciliation when working with church congregations.

"You can't be the lord of the universe. You can't go in there and expect to do your own thing. You've got to figure out how to best suit their needs and budget."

And, of course, suit their need for sweet music, courtesy of an erstwhile physicist who found his true calling.