WILLIAMSVILLE, NY (WKBW-TV) — Moving can be a chore especially if you have a lot of stuff. Ralph Bacha may have a little more than most because of his chosen profession. Ralph is a professional organist. In his Williamsville home he has four organs. Ralph says with a chuckle "I used to have five but I sold one."
His career included stints at Churchill Downs and Shea's. He is the proud owner of a pipe organ built by the Marr & Colton Company around 1927. Ralph says his home was built to house this musical piece of history. Most of the workings of the organ are in the basement. There are two chambers where the pipes are installed, a blower room and all the electronics which Ralph says are "the actual brain to the organ."
The maestro has enjoyed playing and maintaining the pipe organ four forty years. As he gets ready to move from his 6500 sqaure foot home to a 1200 square foot home he says he hopes someone who wants the organ will buy the house. If there is an organization that would like this antique that Ralph recovered from Buffalo's former Roosevelt Theatre, he says he would donate it to them. However, it could cost upwards of a $100,000 or more to have the piece removed from the house.
Ralph says that this is the second largest pipe organ in New York State, second only to the one at Radio City Music Hall.
