Recital Hall and the Casavant Organ

In Fall 2008, the new new multimillion-dollar University Center for the Arts will be complete and will open to faculty, staff, students, and the public. The completed UCA will include a Recital Hall where faculty recitals, guest musician appearances, and other choral and instrumental performances will take place.

The new Recital Hall will be the new home of Colorado State University’s world-famous Casavant Freres Organ which was installed at the university in 1968. As the first mechanical-action (tracker) organ built at an American university, the Casavant was constructed in a style adhering to the 17th- and 18th -century North German organ-building principles. It was built by Lawrence I. Phelps, known as one of the world's great organ builders, and was specifically designed for the Colorado State Concert Hall. The organ, valued at more than $750,000, includes 2,079 pipes, a 56-note keyboard, a 32-note pedalboard and 34 stops. The sweep of the organ's pipes fill the entire north wall of the hall - the tallest pipes reach 19 feet. The design and quality of the Casavant organ has earned Colorado State an international reputation as the keeper of one of the finest organs built in the 20th century.