SEWARD — When the new but disassembled Casavant Freres pipe organ was unloaded on the campus of Concordia University, Nebraska in April, Jennette Morrison was there.

“Actually, when the semi arrived, I sat outside the music building. I watched and took pictures. I am kind of a geek when it comes to organs.”

When the instrument, with its lustrous white oak cabinetry and mahogany console, was assembled and toned in the recital hall, she was there.

“It’s not every day you get to see an organ built,” said the Iowa native, a sophomore working toward a bachelor of music degree with a major in parish music and focus on organ.

The school’s search for a new organ, begun in August 2004, culminated in the purchase of a three-manual (three keyboards), 38-rank instrument (a rank is a set of pipes) with more than 2,000 pipes.

Next weekend, the public will have an opportunity to hear the Casavant for the first time.

Jeffrey Blersch, music department chair and university organist, will play the organ Saturday at 7 p.m. and next Sunday at 3 p.m. The concerts are free but tickets must be reserved because the renovated recital hall seats only about 200.

The program will include J.S. Bach’s “Toccata and Fugue in D minor;” a selection by Concordia professor emeritus Charles Ore, and pieces from the late Jan Bender and the late Ted Beck, former Concordia professors and organists.

The organ, built by Casavant Freres in St. Hyacinthe, Quebec, replaces a two-manual, 23-rank Wicks organ installed in 1966. It cost “$750,000 and small change,” said Blersch, who orchestrated the research.

After the school decided to order a new instrument rather than rebuild the Wicks organ, Blersch said, he began by soliciting proposals: “I selected five builders who I thought, No. 1, were at the top of their field and, No. 2, who I thought were capable of producing a stylistic eclectic instrument.”

Casavant Freres is the oldest continuing organ builder in North America. Concordia’s organ is Opus 3868 in the company’s history.

Since this was to be a teaching instrument, Blersch said he wanted the broadest range possible. He said organs can be geared for 19th Century French or German baroque, for example, but he wanted an instrument that could play about any piece of organ music “you could throw at it.”

Casavant Freres was one company Blersch put on the list right away because he had played their instruments before. “I was familiar with their craftsmanship and attention to tonal detail, their voicing philosophy and strategies. I like the way they voice the instruments so that the ensembles build perfectly. That is one of the things I have liked about their instruments — they build perfectly,” he said.

Associate Professor of Music Kurt von Kampen, who accompanied Blersch to Quebec to see the organ after it was built, noted, “The workmanship and the attention to detail — it’s close to perfect on Earth.”

The university has a treasure trove of 12 practice organs in the basement of the music center — the envy of any music department, Blersch said. “But the thing we have never had on our campus is an artistic performance organ,” Blersch said.

Now it does.

There are about 15 students majoring in music with organ as their primary instrument and another 10 to 15 students for which the organ is the secondary instrument, Blersch said.

Blersch said he’s considering opening summer camps to maximize the Casavant’s use and encourage more students to try it.

“As an organist, there is nothing more exciting than playing on a truly beautiful instrument. It just gives you a sense of rewarding satisfaction,” Blersch said.

Chas. Chaveriat, a sophomore from Wisconsin who is pursuing a bachelor of music in education, played the new organ this past summer.

“The piece I had chosen to play that night really brought out what I consider some of the more beautiful soft tones in that hall. I honestly felt shivers go up my back.” he said.

Reach Joanie Cradick at dc34702@alltel.net.