We maintain, rebuild, and build new pipe organs.
The Tudor Organ
See "New Organs" tab for details
At Hupalo & Repasky Pipe Organs, caring for the organs we are responsible for is a major focus. The San Francisco Bay Area is filled with lovely pipe organs that need regular care to speak their best.
Each member of our team has decades of experience with organ maintenance and organ building.
John Hupalo started his career in organ building in the early 70's and went on to start his own business making organ pipes, and finally expanding into building his own organs, still making his own pipes in our pipe shop.
Bill Visscher has the distinction of being a Master Organ Builder, a title reserved for only the finest, and he is also a fine organist.
Charles Rus has had a hand in organ building and maintenance all his adult life, and has also been organist for churches and synagogues, and also the San Francisco Symphony.
​
We are all dedicated to tune, maintain, restore, renovate, relocate, and build/rebuild pipe organs in the finest fashion.
You can scroll through the site, or use menu items above.
Maintenance and Tuning
Among the 80 or so churches, synagogues, universities, and homes whose organs we maintain regularly are:
​
-
Stanford University (5 organs)
-
Sonoma State University
-
Pacific Union College, Angwin
-
St. Stephen's Episcopal, Belvedere
-
St. Luke's Episcopal, San Francisco
-
Congregation Emanu-El, San
-
All Souls Episcopal, Berkeley
-
All Souls Episcopal, Palo Alto
-
Congregation Sherith Israel, San Francisco
-
First Congregational, Berkeley
-
Holy Cross Catholic, Santa Cruz
-
Calvary Episcopal, Santa Cruz
-
Old First Presbyterian, San Francisco
-
St. Ignatius Church, San Francisco
-
St. John the Evangelist, San Francisco
-
Zion Lutheran, Oakland
Our care for these and other organs includes all aspects of organ maintenance: tuning, fixing dead notes and cyphers, and addressing wind leaks. The list goes on, including all of the electrical systems of the organ.
Beyond that, we also take pipes back to our workshop for more major repairs, sometimes making a new pipe or a whole set of pipes as needed. We have often taken a whole stop of pipes for total refurbishing.
We maintain this lovely Möller/DeCamp 1902 tracker organ at St. John the Evangelist, San Francisco.
​
Charles Rus is the organist for this recording.
Restorations
Woodland, California: new case work, new chests, some new pipe work, MIDI, multi-level combination action, totally refurbished console with recessed castors to make it moveable, and added antiphonal organ in the back.
St. Maria Goretti, Scottsdale, AZ
Rebuild, and new low-profile console
​
Other rebuilds:
-
Paradise Valley United Methodist Church
-
St. Paul Lutheran, Oakland, CA
-
United Church of Christ, Cloverdale, CA
-
University Lutheran Chapel, Berkeley, CA
-
Piedmont Community Church, Piedmont, CA
-
Pacific Union College Church, Angwin, CA
Repurposed Organs
United Church of Christ, Cloverdale, CA
In spring 2003, Janice Hawthorne Timm, Minister of Music, hired Hupalo & Repasky Pipe Organs to rebuild and expand a nine-stop tracker organ originally built by Thomas W. Whalley in 1904. Few of Whalley's organs remain, with one example in the First Congregational Church of Alameda, where Mr. Hupalo restored the pipes. The restoration included new vertical grain Douglas Fir sides and the addition of an 8' Oboe.
On April 22, 2018, the Hook-Rosales organ played its last notes at First Presbyterian Church in Marysville, CA, after decades of music. A few months later, we disassembled organ, carefully removing each piece and pipe, and transported it to Aptos, CA. After a few weeks of reassembly, it now beautifully adorns The Episcopal Church of St. John the Baptist.
The floor was leveled and raised for a proper organ base, and the hand-pumping mechanism was restored for use during power failures. The Whalley is now fully restored and ready for its second century of music and inspiration.
Our Team
John Hupalo
Managing Member
​
"Organ building satisfies
my creative sense."
Steve Repasky
Member
​
“I was fascinated by pipe organs at a very early age and can remember wondering, unlike most musical instruments, why the pipes do not move when the organ is played. I am always awe-struck by the sound, design, and mechanics of a pipe organ.”
Bill Visscher
Master Organ Builder
​
"Pipe Organs are the
essence of Life.”
Charles Rus
Associate Organ Builder
​
"My best friend in High School introduced me to the organ, and it has been a 45-year-long love affair ever since!"
Organs for Purchase
The Worthington Organ
​
​This tracker organ was started by Michael McNeil and finished by
Visscher Associates.​
4 Stop Continuo Organ - $25,000
8' Gedackt
8' Open Wood
4' Principal
4' Flute
Bill Visscher, organist for this recording
1882 Father Willis Organ
​
Rare organ by the premier builder of the Victorian era. Read more here.
Façades
Jacksonville, MO Symphony Hall
​
Façade by Hupalo & Repasky, organ by Quimby Pipe Organs
St. Cyril of Jerusalem, LA
Façade by Hupalo & Repasky, organ by Rosales Organ Builders
New Organs
Zion Lutheran Church, Piedmont, CA, Opus 4
Zion Lutheran Church, Installed
Bill Visscher, organist for this recording
Model of Zion Lutheran
6 Stop Continuo Organ
8' Gedackt
8' Open Wood
4' Principal
4' Flute
2' Octave
II Sesquialtera
St. Mark's United Methodist Church, Sacramento
Christ Episcopal Church, Sausalito, CA
The Tudor Organ
Due to the scarcity of surviving organs from sixteenth-century England, our Tudor-style organ is inspired by the recent work of Martin Goetze & Dominic Gwynn from Nottinghamshire. Their research is rooted in a 1995 rediscovery of an organ's grid, table, and upper boards that once belonged to the collegiate church of Wingfield in Suffolk. Currently, only two of these five-rank Tudor-style organs exist.
In contrast to Goetze & Gwynn's recreation, our organ features metal pipes made from high tin, with the façade pipes being embossed and gilded, while the center façade pipe is painted en grisaille.
The case is crafted from stained quarter-sawn white oak and showcases hand-carved panels of linen fold and Tudor rose designs, inspired by the organ cases at St. Nicholas Church in Stanford-on-Avon and the Parish Church of St. Stephen in Old Radnor, Wales.
The keys are constructed from European pear wood, with ebony sharps. The keyboard spans 40 notes from low F to high A, excluding high G#, resulting in 40 pipes per rank and a total of 200 pipes for the organ. It is equipped with two large feeder bellows to supply wind.
Historically, these smaller yet tonally versatile organs were common during Tudor times. The organ is tuned in Pythagorean tuning and is pitched a fourth above modern pitch, with the following unique specifications:
8′ Principal
4′ Octave
4′ Octave
2′ Super Octave
2′ Super Octave
The Principal is always active, while the other four stops are adjustable via sliders. The organ produces a surprisingly rich sound with a bell-like quality. We hope this organ will revive the extensive repertoire of sixteenth-century English organ music, allowing us to once again enjoy the enchanting sounds of these remarkable instruments. Currently, the organ is installed at the Memorial Church of Stanford, California.