Our Company & People

Andover Organ Company :: Our Company & People
Current and former Andover employees at our 50th Anniversary Reunion in 1998

Andover Organ Company is a group of dedicated artisans who build and restore mechanical action pipe organs. We have built 118 new organs and rebuilt or restored over 550 older instruments. Examples of our work can be found throughout the United States.

Founded in 1948, as the result of the Organ Reform Movement, Andover has played a pivotal role in the preservation of 19th Century American organs and in the construction of historically informed new instruments which inspire players and listeners. In 1959 Andover built one of the first new tracker organs by a US firm since the 1930s. In 1964 we carried out the world's first re-trackerization of an electrified tracker organ.

Along with building, rebuilding and restorations, we maintain over 300 organs throughout the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Southeast - including some of this country’s most historic instruments. With 75 years of experience, we have a reputation for quality work and meticulous craftsmanship.

Andover is a member of the International Society of Organbuilders (ISO) and the Associated Pipe Organ Builders of America (APOBA.) Our principal employees are members of the American Institute of Organbuilders (AIO) and the Organ Historical Society (OHS).

The Board

Ryan M. Bartosiewicz, President
Craig Seaman, Treasurer
Michael W. Eaton, Clerk
Matthew Bellocchio
John Morlock
Felicia Morlock
Robert C. Newton
Jonathan Ross

Staff Profiles

Ryan Bartosiewicz
After assisting us on installations and tunings for several years, Ryan joined Andover full-time in 2012. He has worked on significant Andover restoration projects - Round Lake, NY; Haverstraw, NY; Great Barrington, MA; Charlestown, MA; Nantucket, MA – as well as Andover Opus 118 in Wayland, MA. A skilled tuner and voicer, he has headed Andover’s organ maintenance teams for all the New England states, as well as the Southern States and Upstate New York. Ryan is Music Director/Organist at St. George’s Episcopal Church in Durham, NH. He received a BA in Music from Gettysburg College, where he studied organ with Josephine Bailey Freund. He was awarded an Organ Historical Society (OHS) E. Power Biggs Fellowship in 2011 and an American Institute of Organbuilders (AIO) Convention Scholarship in 2013.

Matthew Bellocchio
Matthew joined Andover in 2003, after having spent 28 years working at other organ companies. He holds a BA degree from St. Francis College, studied architecture at Pratt Institute and served as a church organist in New York and Massachusetts. He has studied historic organs and architecture in America, England, Europe, and Mexico and has lectured on and published articles about organ history and technology. At Andover, he does technical engineering and works on publicity and sales. Matthew is a charter member and Fellow of the American Institute of Organbuilders (AIO). He served on the AIO Board of Directors and as AIO President (2012-2015). A Trustee of the Methuen Memorial Music Hall since 2017, Matthew currently serves as its President.

Helen Casey
Helen joined Andover in Spring 2022 and serves as our Business Manager, Maintenance Coordinator, and HR person. She received an associate degree in accounting from the Community College of Rhode Island and a bachelor’s degree in business management from the University of Rhode Island. After living in California for 10 years, she relocated in 2013 to Boston, where she operated her own Accounting Services business, working as an accountant and consultant for small and family businesses. In 2022, she downsized her company and moved to the more peaceful environment of the North Shore to become our office manager.

Michael W. Eaton
Michael joined the staff at Andover in 1991. He is our resident AutoCAD designer and leads one of our tuning and maintenance teams. Michael specializes in slider windchests and mechanical key actions. He also serves as Clerk for Andover's Board of Directors. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Organ Performance from New England Conservatory, where he studied with Yuko Hayashi and William Porter. Michael has served as a church musician for nearly 40 years in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and North Carolina. He is currently Organist at the historic Church of the Pilgrimage in Plymouth, MA. Michael lives in Weymouth, MA with his wife Katherine and their children Mary and William.

Bejamin Hanson
Ben joined Andover in March 2021 as an apprentice. He currently specializes in the releathering of reservoirs, windchest pneumatics, and wood pipe stoppers. He is also learning many other facets of our craft, including the restoration and repair of 19th century slider windchests. Ben received a Bachelor of Music degree from UMass Lowell in 2020 and has played double bass in classical ensembles and electric bass in rock bands.

Jonathan Ross
Jon joined Andover in January 2003, after majoring in Ancient History at Tufts University. He has had a fascination with musical instruments since early childhood. He became very active in the harmonica community, learning to repair and work on the mouth organ while networking with others in that field. This led him to consider making musical instruments and to take the leap from the humble mouth organ to the grand pipe organ. Jon finds working on the many historic 19th century organs Andover maintains and restores especially rewarding, as it incorporates his two great passions of history and music. He specializes in repairing old pipes and preparing new ones for voicing, as well as working in sales and heading one of our maintenance teams. Jon currently serves as President of APOBA (Association of American Pipe Organ Builders), of which Andover is a member firm.

Craig A. Seaman
Craig came to Andover in 1994. A native of the Oregon coast, Craig received a Bachelor of Music degree in Organ Performance from Oberlin College. After working in electronics manufacturing and receiving a Master of Science in Electronics Engineering from Boston University, he decided to pursue his love of music, and joined Andover. In addition to being General Manager, he specializes in electrical systems design and wiring, and heads one of our maintenance teams. Craig and his wife, Cathie, and their two children live in Tewksbury, MA. He is Organist/Music Director at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Methuen, MA and for several years served as treasurer for the Merrimack Valley Chapter of the AGO.

Vincent Treanor III
Vince became fascinated with the organ at age 15 and trained for seven years with several Massachusetts organ builders and service companies. From 1967 to 1972, he took a hiatus from organbuilding to serve as road manager for the famous rock band, The Doors. He then moved to Los Angeles, setting up, tuning, and maintaining rental harpsichords and portative organs. On a 1999 visit to South Korea, he found that many of the organs there were out of tune or had serious mechanical problems. He established the first fully equipped pipe organ company in Korea and trained eight Koreans in the art of organ building. During the COVID-19 pandemic he closed his organ company and returned home to Massachusetts, where he joined Andover in 2022. He specializes in problem solving and building almost any needed organ part from scratch.

David Zarges
David joined our team of skilled craftsmen in 2000. He has experience as a cabinet maker, building custom wooden furniture, as a model maker for Seth Thomas Grandfather Clocks, and as a pattern maker for ferrous metal castings. Prior to his arrival at Andover, David worked for ten years as an organbuilder with Bozeman Organ Co. David’s responsibilities at Andover include casework, wind chests, consoles, and wood pipe construction. David and his wife, Debbie, live in NH and have three grown children and one grandson. In his leisure time, David enjoys woodcarving, hiking, camping, canoeing, visiting the White Mountains, and gardening.

Latest New Organ
Opus 118, First Parish Church
Wayland, Massachusetts


Latest Rebuild
Opus R55D, St. Paul's Episcopal
Nantucket, Massachusetts


Latest Restoration
Opus R490, St. Anna's Chapel
Newburyport, Massachusetts


Announcements

Free Organ Concert
1893 Woodberry & Harris Organ
Sunday, Nov. 24, at 5:00 PM
Marlboro, MA
Stan Hanson, music director at Saint Stephen Lutheran Church, 537 Bolton Street, Marlboro MA, will play a recital on the church's newly acquired 1893 Woodberry & Harris tracker organ. The 2-manual, 12-rank organ was a gift from Mt. Olivet Lutheran Church in Shrewsbury, which recently closed. Free Admission. CLICK HERE for more information.
Facebook Page Link
Visit our FACEBOOK page to see what's new!
AOC 2018 NEWSLETTER
Now Posted Online
CLICK HERE  to read the online version of Andover's 2018 Newsletter.
Andover Organ Company
Seventieth Anniversary
1948-2018
To commemorate our 70th anniversary, Matthew Bellocchio has written a detailed history of the company, its key people, and its innovative work, which appeared as the cover feature in the June 2018 issue of The Diapason. CLICK HERE to see this illustrated article.
New Katelyn Emerson CD
Now Available for Purchase/Download
September 09, 2018
Katelyn Emerson's stunning recording of our Opus 114 in Baltimore, MD is now available at the ProOrgano website.

CLICK HERE to purchase the CD.

CLICK HERE to download the MP3 version.


New Katelyn Emerson CD
"Inspirations" Preview Video
June 05, 2018

Katelyn Emerson has recorded her second Pro Organo CD album, “Inspirations”, on Andover Opus 114 at Christ Lutheran Church in Baltimore. The album features works by Rheinberger, Buxtehude, Parker, Bairstow, Daquin, Langlais, Duruflé and Lauren. CLICK HERE for the preview video, in which she plays excerpts from the Rheinberger Passacaglia (Sonata 8, Op.132) and Rachel Laurin's Finale, Op.78.


Duxbury Rebuild Featured in
May 2018 TAO Magazine
April 24, 2018
Our recent rebuilding of the 1853 Simmons organ at First Parish in Duxbury, MA is the cover feature article in the May 2018 issue of The American Organist, the national magazine of the American Guild of Organists. CLICK HERE to read the article.
AOC 2017 NEWSLETTER
Now Posted Online
CLICK HERE to read the online version of Andover's 2017 Newsletter.
Rheinberger Organ Sonatas
Bruce Stevens, Organist
Volume 5 Released
July 19, 2017
Raven Compact Discs has released Volume 5 of Bruce Steven's series of the Rheinberger organ sonatas. The disc features three sonatas (No.7 in F minor, No.9 in B minor, No.13 in E-Flat Major) played on three historic American organs: the 1860 E. & G.G. Hook at St. John's Catholic Church in Bangor, Maine; the 1898 Geo. Jardine & Son at St. Peter's Catholic Church in Haverstraw, New York; and the 1868 E. & G.G. Hook at Christ Episcopal Church in Charlottesville, Virginia. CLICK HERE for more information. Andover restored the latter two instruments and cares for all three.
AOC 2016 NEWSLETTER
Now Posted Online
January 01, 2017
CLICK HERE to read the online version of Andover's 2016 Newsletter.
Round Lake Organ
is designated a
National Historic Landmark
On January 11, 2017 the 3 manual 1847 Davis & Ferris Organ in the Round Lake (NY) Auditorium was officially designated a National Historic Landmark by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior. It is the first pipe organ to receive this designation. Andover has maintained the organ since the 1960s.
1906 Jesse Woodberry
Organ Restoration
Lowell, Massachusetts
Andover has been contracted to restore the 1906 Jesse Woodberry organ at St. Patrick’s Church in Lowell, MA. With 3 manuals and 56 ranks, it is the largest organ built by Woodberry, and the largest surviving pipe organ in the City of Lowell. The instrument has been unplayable for nearly a decade. The project will be done in three stages (Console & Choir; Swell; Great & Pedal) over three years, starting this spring, with completion by early 2020.
Opus R-500 Featured in
October 2015 TAO Magazine
Opus R-500, at Saint John's Seminary in Brighton, is the cover feature article in the October 2015 issue of The American Organist, the national magazine of the American Guild of Organists. CLICK HERE to read the article about the rebuilding of the organ.
AOC 2015 NEWSLETTER
CLICK HERE to read the online version of Andover's 2015 Newsletter.
Opus R-205B
Reinstallation Video
In 2013 we restored the 1895 (II/9) Hutchings organ at First Parish Church of Stow and Acton in Stow, MA. A church member made a stop-action video of Jonathan Ross and Andrew Hagberg reinstalling the pipework. Click here to see the video.
More News & Media > >