Triumphs & Trials of an Organ Builder
Virgil Fox (continued)
As Virgil Fox's organ neared completion, we realized
that the instrument would be of interest to the dealers
who would be attending the upcoming 1977 sales
seminar. I asked Mr. Fox how he felt about our showing
the new instrument to our dealers. He was not only
enthusiastic about it but he wanted to participate. So,
we set up the organ in a remote place in the factory.
We wanted to surprise everybody. We didn't tell anyone
that Virgil Fox was personally going to demonstrate the
organ at the Seminar. At the appointed hour during
the Seminar, we ushered the dealers into the factory in
front of the draped console. Shortly thereafter we
unveiled the Virgil Fox touring organ to the approving
applause from our audience. As we pretended to begin
the demonstration, Virgil Fox came stomping in
shouting, "Don't touch that organ! it's mine!" There
was an instant eruption of cheers at the sight of Fox
himself racing down the aisle to claim the keys and
stops of his very own touring organ. It was a moment
few organ enthusiasts could ever forget.
With his new Allen Organ, Virgil Fox gave his first
public concert on October 1, 1977, at Hackensack High
School in New Jersey. In the next few years, until his
untimely death on October 25, 1980, he gave at least
sixty performances on his travelling Allen. He played
wherever people wanted to hear him-Macomb,
Illinois; Saranac Lake, New York; Wolf Trap; Academy
of Music in Philadelphia; Washington, D.C.; Brooklyn
College; Saratoga, New York; and Victoria, Texas, to
name a few.
Fox used a special truck to transport the organ to
his many concert sites. On one of these trips, the truck
was involved in a bad accident in New Mexico. Let's
let Virgil tell us about it himself by referring to the
following replication of a letter I received from him
about the incident.
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