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Organ at USM

The concert organ in Corthell Concert Hall is named after Eric Sexton and Howard Davis, men whose vision and efforts have provided the University with a unique musical instrument.

Eric H.L. Sexton, originally from Philadelphia, later from Camden, Maine, was a scholar and collector who had an interest in pipe organ building. After acquiring several electro-neumatic organs, he built two complete pipe organs over a period of several years; a smaller Aeolian organ, and the larger eighteen-rank concert organ. His wife, Beryl Sexton, heard of USM's music education needs and bestowed both pipe organs to the University.

In the fall of 1995, Mr. Howard Davis of Falmouth, who also had an interest in pipe organs, became aware of USM's efforts to restore and install the Sexton organs. Following his untimely death, the Davis Family Foundation agreed to fund the restoration of the concert instrument in his memory. The David E. Wallace & Company Pipe Organ Builders of Gorham has been responsible for the organ's renovation and installation.

University of Southern Maine Organ Faculty:

Ray Cornils