Materials

• The body of the pipes were created with hand cast glass of Spectrum Glass Company made in Washington state, U.S.A..
• The red, white and blue glass were created by the Bullseye Glass Company of Oregon, U.S.A..
• The base windchest of the instrument was created with black walnut wood of Virginia, U.S.A..
• The windchest has glass access panels, created of float glass.
• The keyboard controller was also built of black walnut wood of Virginia, U.S.A..
• The solder came from Organ Supply Industries of Erie, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.. 

A note from the artist:

"What is not too obvious is, that the cloudy glass parts are made of single large sheets, so the cloud patterns wrap around the pipe feet and the bodies similar to matching veneer on furniture. If one piece cracked, we cut and prepped an entire new section!"  -Xaver Wilhelmy

Although the pipes are glass, they are structurally quite strong.  They are not delicate, but that does not mean they should be abused, just treated with the same respect and delicacy that one would with tin-lead pipes.  As with any organ pipes, they should be handled only with cotton gloves.  There need be no fear that touching one will result in shattering glass, or that shipping them would result in a crate of expensive broken glass.  The rigorous research and development process yielded strong durable pipes with all the luminous qualities of fine hand crafted art glass.  They've already been from East coast to West and back again, so traveling in a box truck has proven to be a safe mode of transport.

Certified Pipe Organ Builder Xaver Wilhelmy

Xaver Wilhelmy trained as a pipe organ builder at Rieger-Orgelbau in Schwarzach, Austria, continued his education in Ludwigsburg, Germany, then joined Fehrle en Roeleveld Orrelbouers outside of Johannesburg, South Africa.  He then joined Taylor and Boody of Virginia, U.S.A. and now works with Geshenke of the Virginia, U.S.A..  Wilhelmy has worked on pipe organs around the world and has brought many old gems back to life including the pipe organ at Old Post Chapel in Arlington National Cemetery.

• Wilhelmy won the Austrian Creativity Competition for work related to Art, Music, and Architecture in 2006 for his work creating the first glass organ pipes in the world.
• Xaver Wilhelmy has also trained as a piano builder, a guitar maker, as well as a stringed instrument builder including violin and cello.

Wilhelmy currently lives with his wife and dog in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.  His business website is www.Geshenke.com.