Reconstructed Nineteenth Century Harmonium Returns to Hult Center Stage
A nineteenth century harmonium rebuilt by a local University of Oregon graduate was featured at the Hult Center during Eugene Vocal Arts La Bella Vita concert in mid November, offering audiences a rare listening experience and restoring a piece of musical history to active use. The project underscores the role of local talent and institutional support in preserving cultural assets while raising questions about community access and long term stewardship of historic instruments.
The Eugene Vocal Arts concert La Bella Vita in mid November brought a reconstructed nineteenth century harmonium to the Hult Center, closing the program with works by Italian composer Gioachino Rossini. The instrument was rebuilt by Berend Gildea, a 27 year old University of Oregon graduate who studied pipe organ performance, and was played at the Soreng Theater by master organist Barbara Baird, who taught Gildea during his studies.
The harmonium is a reed based, keyboard instrument that requires the player to coordinate keys, knee levers for volume control, and foot pedals that pump bellows to produce air. That mechanical intimacy gives the harmonium a more vocal and responsive sound than a conventional pipe organ, a quality that shaped the final movements of the concert and offered the audience an uncommon sonic perspective on familiar repertoire.
Gildea rescued the instrument in 2019 after it was nearly donated to a charity, and made it his first major restoration project through his business Harmony River Tuning. The harmonium arrived non functional with a wide range of problems including a half step sharp tuning, inoperative foot pedals, a low F key jammed against the cheekblock, and a non functioning Vox humana reed stop. Repairing the instrument required assessing which fixes were essential for concert use and fabricating parts that are no longer commercially available.
Institutional choices influenced how the harmonium came to the stage. Diane Retallack, executive director of Eugene Concert Choir and its 30 voice chamber ensemble Eugene Vocal Arts, had intended to include a harmonium in the program before finding Gildea’s restoration. A harmonium at the University of Oregon was initially considered, but Baird selected Gildea’s instrument after assessing its condition and accessibility for rehearsal. The fact that the restored instrument resided in a local musician’s home allowed more regular practice than a campus instrument might have permitted.
For Lane County residents the performance illustrates several broader civic issues. Community access to historic instruments often depends on individual initiative and small scale enterprises rather than stable institutional funding or formal preservation programs. Ticket prices for the concert began at $25, signaling an effort to balance revenue needs with public accessibility. The harmonium’s rescue from donation and return to public performance points to opportunities for partnerships between universities, local musicians, religious institutions and nonprofit groups to preserve cultural assets and broaden civic engagement in the arts.
