California Musician Wins Free Portable Organ
July 14, 2009
Winning isn’t everything, but it certainly made Frank Uranich’s day.
Out of the hundreds of visitors who came by the Rodgers Instruments Corporation booth at the 2009 National Pastoral Musicians conference, Frank was the lucky individual who won the drawing for a free portable organ. The longtime Director of Music and Worship at Saint Agnes Church, San Francisco, says he doesn’t remember ever winning anything before. If so, the C-190 organ that will soon be delivered to his home in Daly City, a few miles south of San Francisco, put a perfect end to that streak.
Frank says he fell in love with organ music early, learning to play on a Hammond organ. Among his favorites are hymnody, improvisation and classics. At Saint Agnes, he plays a pipe-digital combination instrument that was personally built by Allen Harrah, former president of Rodgers.
The C-190 is designed for organists who want both classic organ sounds and a selection of orchestral sounds. It’s ideal for home practice, with a headphone jack, built-in speaker system, and an extended 76-note keyboard that allows the C-190 to function as a “virtual dual-manual” keyboard, with individually defined upper and lower sections. Its 43 organ voices include samples from both the Roland and Rodgers sound libraries.
As it has in previous years, the Rodgers free organ contest proved a popular attraction during the NPM convention, held July 5-9 in Chicago. Visitors came to try out the latest Rodgers Masterpiece, Allegiant and Insignia consoles and the brand-new Roland Classic Series, including the compact C-330 two-manual organ.
Rodgers is the world's largest builder of stereo imaged church organs and pipe/digital organs. Rodgers is a member of the Roland Group, headed by Roland Corporation, a world leader in electronic musical instrument technologies and electronic musical instrument sales and manufacturing.
Convention photo courtesy of NPM
Frank Uranich photo courtesy of Saint Agnes Church, San Francisco
