Houston Christian University

The Builder of the Smith Organ:
Orgues Létourneau Limitée

SmithOrgan_32_foot_Subbass_tallshotOrgues Létourneau Limitée is a recognized leader in organ building.  Founded in 1979, this Canadian builder currently has more than 100 installations located in Canada, England, Austria, New Zealand and Australia, as well as in more than 25 U.S. states.  This company is known for its excellence in all aspects of pipe organ design, construction, restoration and tonal finishing.

From the Létourneau website:

For more than a quarter century, Orgues Létourneau Limitée has developed a reputation for an ability to work in a variety of styles without compromising our objective of providing instruments of integrity and beauty.  Specifically, organists often praise our pipe organs for the beauty and balance of their sound, their responsive mechanical key actions, and the care and attention to detail that goes into each instrument’s construction.

Owned and directed by President and Artistic Director, Fernand Létourneau,  the company remains a sole proprietorship.

Mr. Létourneau’s experience before starting his own company includes working for 14 years for the Canadian organ building firm of Casavant Frères Limitée.  Upon his departure from Casavant in 1978, Mr. Létourneau was the recipient of a grant from the Canadian Council of the Arts to study historic pipe organs in Europe, where he researched the voicing techniques of the builders Arp Schnitger, Gottfried Silbermann, and François-Henri Clicquot.  In subsequent study trips, Mr. Létourneau has studied voicing techniques from the romantic period of organ building, with a special emphasis on the work of Aristide Cavaillé-Coll and William Hill.