Peachtree Corners Resident Creates Beautiful Music

"Making beautiful music" means something a little different to Phil Parkey than it does to most of us. Though he has years of training on piano and organ, his forte is not playing them, but rather designing, building, and refurbishing them.

More specifically, Parkey is the President and Owner of Parkey Organ Builders, builders, renovators, and repair technicians for pipe organs all over the southeast for the past 16 years.  All told, Parkey has been working as a professional in the pipe organ industry for over 20 years.

Parkey’s instruments are of the quality to have been featured on “Pipe Dreams," a program on American Public Media, which includes programs such as “A Prairie Home Companion®” and  “Marketplace®”

Parkey first gained interest in the inner workings of the pipe organ in Winston-Salem, NC as a child, when the church his family attended purchased a new instrument. His family moved to Asheville, where Parkey earned a degree in Management and Administration from the University of North Carolina at Asheville.  

Then Parkey moved to Atlanta in 1989 to pursue his passion as a professional tuner and service tech, where he developed a reputation for the beauty of both the sound and appearance of his instruments. Parkey left the company he was working for in 1994 to open his own business, which has flourished in that time.

By his own reckoning, Parkey has installed nearly 100 new instruments, and has renovated or repaired  well over a thousand. Local instruments include those at St. Mark’s United Methodist Church in Atlanta, Living Grace Lutheran Church in Tucker, and Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Marietta.  Parkey is an active member of the American Institute of Organbuilders and the American Guild of Organists.

Parkey understands that the needs for each organ is as individual as the room in which it’s built, and the person requesting the organ. Each organ has its own unique qualities, and must satisfy the needs of many in terms of its tonality, warmth, and variety or sounds.  

As such, the process of building an organ for a customer involves considerable dialog to determine what qualities and characteristics are desired for the instrument. This involves knowledge of the room size and acoustics, location of the instrument, tonal requirements, and musical goals of the church/institution.

Arguably as important as the sound of the organ, obviously, is the appearance. These majestic instruments can be breathtaking in appearance, and the unique aspect of each one is just as considerable. Therefore, it is just as important to know what parts of the organ will be visible to the congregation/audience, the nature of the present architecture, and how to construct the instrument for easy maintenance accessibility.

While Parkey has embraced his gifts with pipe organs, he keeps his hands in other hobbies as well. He is an avid automobile collector and enthusiast, having worked for 10 years in service and parts in the automobile industry. While that avocation provides him additional relaxation and joy, the hum of a perfect engine is no match for the beautiful music he provides for numerous churches and other institutions.

Parkey's shop is located at 4519 South Old Peachtree Rd. Peachtree Corners, GA 30071