The Founding of the IOHIO
Beginning in the 1980s, a growing national awareness and appreciation of historic organs led to restoration projects all over Mexico.
In Oaxaca, eight organs were restored, reconstructed, or repaired during the period 1991 – 2003; five of these projects were financed by Banamex (Banco Nacional de México) thanks to the initiative of philanthropist and music lover Alfredo Harp Helú. Yet once restored, these beautiful instruments were rarely heard after their inaugural concerts and within a short time, began to show signs of deterioration from lack of use.
Besides this, local organists in general preferred to play electronic organs, since the characteristics of the antique instruments - meantone temperament, lack of pedals, and a single 45 note keyboard with a short octave - limited the musical options of the modern liturgy, weddings, and other church celebrations. But for those organists passionately interested in early music, the Oaxaca organs offered a rare opportunity to play and hear historic repertoire on relatively authentic instruments.
The co-founders meet and begin to organize concerts.
One of these was Edward Pepe, a specialist in the historic organ repertoire and co-founder and co-director for many years of the Westfield Center for Early Keyboard Studies. By chance he had been spending time in Oaxaca and was interested in playing the organs. Pianist and harpsichordist Cicely Winter had been a resident of Oaxaca since 1972 and had organized community service projects while raising her family. Through the work of her husband, archeologist Marcus Winter, she was familiar with issues related to the protection of the national heritage. Although she was somewhat familiar with the early music repertoire through her harpsichord studies, she knew nothing about organs. Finding herself faced with unexpected new musical opportunities, she focused on learning how to play the organs with Ed’s guidance. Susan Tattershall, restorer of the Tlacochahuaya organ, was an indispensable support during the early years of the IOHIO.
We organized a concert in San Jerónimo Tlacochahuaya on February 5, 2000.
The invitation was largely by telephone or word of mouth and we were stunned by the response. Some 500 people attended, including Don Alfredo Harp and his wife, Dr. María Isabel Grañen Porrúa. The audience filled the church, to the point of sitting on the floor, and by the end of the concert was on its feet, shouting with excitement. People were clearly anxious to hear the organs, which in most cases they had only read about. After this initial success, we couldn’t wait to organize more concerts on other restored organs.
The IOHIO is officially established.
It was evident that this energy needed to be channeled into a formalized project. Don Alfredo offered office space in the Museo de Filatelia (MUFI) and support for operating expenses of a project directed by Ed and Cicely. And so it was that in the summer of 2000 el Instituto de Órganos Históricos de Oaxaca A.C. (Asociación Civil or non-profit, referred to as the IOHIO, pronounced YOYO)) was created based on the combined experience and complementary skills of these three people.
Organists are drawn to Oaxaca to play the organs.
As the word spread about the initial success of the IOHIO and its growing network of support, organist friends, excited about the opportunity to play Iberian-style baroque instruments, began to appear in Oaxaca. Before long, these individual concerts were expanded into an International Organ and Early Music Festival, which since 2001 has attracted nationally and internationally renowned artists and has become a highly anticipated and prestigious event.
Our second initiative was to protect, conserve, and document the unrestored organs.
Non-functioning instruments continued to be at risk of destruction, especially when the local people did not realize that the old piece of furniture in the choir loft was once a musical instrument, let alone have any memory of its sound or historic value. Therefore, the IOHIO, with the support of the Oaxaca Regional INAH office, began to schedule regular visits to these organs in order to document their historical and technical characteristics and to oversee their cleaning and conservation. With this, our project grew to include a non-musical dimension.
The IOHIO evolves and flourishes.
In 2004, we established the IOHIO Music Academy to teach piano and organ to private students (their fees helped support the project) and to young people from villages with restored organs (without charge). Over the course of four years (2004 – 2008), nearly 100 students took piano lessons.
Also in 2004, Edward Pepe left the IOHIO to work as an independent researcher and concert organist, while Cicely continued to direct the project.
The Instituto de Órganos Históricos de Oaxaca A.C. is a non-profit organization (Asociación Civil or A.C.).
In 2017 the IOHIO became financially independent and is currently supported by private donations, but still collaborates with the Alfredo Harp Helú Foundation Oaxaca (FAHHO) on various projects. It functions in collaboration with the National Institute of Anthropology and History (Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia or INAH, the Mexican institution which oversees the protection of the national heritage), officials of the towns with organs, ecclesiastical authorities, directors and researchers in Oaxaca archives, cultural institutions of the municipal and state governments, and organists, musicians and scholars in Mexico and abroad. The IOHIO’s activities are supported by a Board of Advisors which includes renowned organists, organ builders, musicologists, and historians.