Dobson Pipe Organ Builders

The company was founded in 1974 by Iowa native Lynn A. Dobson, who served as President and Artistic Director until his retirement in February, 2020, when long-time colleague John A. Panning assumed ownership.

In 2013, Dobson completed a new mechanical action instrument for Merton College Chapel, making the firm one of a very few American organ builders to send its work to England.

[6] The four-manual organ under construction for St James' Church, Sydney, Australia, at the time of the conflagration was a total loss and the company personnel were reported to be “heartbroken” by the devastation.

[8] Dobson continued operations and resumed construction of the Sydney organ in rented workshop spaces while its new building was designed and built.

[11] The firm resumed operations at 200 North Illinois Street with an instrument, Dobson’s 100th new organ, for the Curtis Institute of Music being the first constructed in the new workshop.