More on the Carnegie Hall connection, heard at a lecture at the October 1975 AIO convention in Albany, NY. E. Power Biggs delivered a talk at the closing dinner on the 29th in which he related this story, including passing around a drawing of the original elaborate case design for Carnegie Hall. The organ was complete in the Flentrop shop, and the consultant (who did not fly) got on a ship to come to Zaandam to see it before it was shipped. Isaac Stern heard that the organ would require a hole to be cut in the back of the stage for the windline from the blower. Not knowing details, he determined this would be like drilling a hole in his Stradivarius, so he put a stop to the project and told Flentrop to cease construction. Flentrop was confused and assumed the consultant would have information when he arrived. This all happened while he was en route and he knew nothing about it. The organ was packed up and shipped to the US and, since it could not go to Carnegie Hall, the donor was convinced to give it to SUNY Purchase instead. It went back to Flentrop where the case was greatly simplified for the new location. Flentrop was not happy about it at all.

Updated through on-line information from Paul Marchesano. -- The organ is mounted on a hovercraft and is fully "portable"

Status Note: There 1978.

Designed and built for Carnegie Hall, NYC, but refused by conductors who thought it would ruin the acoustics. On Moveable platform.