Work with Us

Find out more about our small team of professionals, dedicated to the craft of organ restoration. The professionals who work for Spencer Organ Company enjoy many benefits, including paid holiday and vacation time, health care and a retirement plan. We also have a passion for fostering sustainability and strengthening local economies.

Job Openings

PIPE ORGAN RESTORER AND SHOP FOREMAN

Spencer Organ Company, Inc. of Waltham, MA, is looking for a full-time organ restorer and shop foreman with at least 5 years experience in the pipe organ industry. Person will have skill in organ restoration and be responsible for overseeing workflow in the shop. Other duties will include some out-of-town removal and installation work. We are a small shop looking for a person who is enthusiastic and good-natured, works easily with others and is willing to do a wide variety of organ restoration tasks. SOC provides many benefits including paid holiday and vacation time, health care and a retirement plan. Compensation will be determined upon skill and experience level. Please contact Joseph Rotella for further information.

GENERAL ORGAN RESTORER/WOOD WORKER

Spencer Organ Company, Inc. of Waltham, MA, is looking for a full-time organ restorer and woodworker. Person will have skill in woodworking and general hands-on craft skills. Duties will include general restoration work and some out-of-town removal and installation work. We are a small shop looking for a person who is enthusiastic and good-natured, works easily with others and is willing to do a wide variety of organ restoration tasks. SOC provides many benefits including paid holiday and vacation time, health care and a retirement plan. Compensation will be determined upon skill and experience level. Please contact Joseph Rotella for further information.


Our Workshop

Depending on the scope of a restoration, we may bring either the entire instrument or only certain assemblies back to our shop in Waltham, Massachusetts. As part of our commitment to sustainability, to reduce environmental impact, the company operates a high-efficiency vehicle fleet and obtains part of its electricity from solar panels.


Our Team

Spencer Organ Staff: Joseph Rotella

Joseph Rotella, Founder and President of Spencer Organ Company

Joseph is the founder and president of Spencer Organ Company. While completing a degree in music at Boston University, he apprenticed with renowned pipe organ restorer Nelson Barden and Associates. In 1995, he founded Spencer Organ Company, Inc. He has an extensive knowledge of electro-pneumatic pipe organs with a specialization in Skinner and Kimball instruments. Joseph is also very active in business sustainability and economic relocalization efforts, which are described in more detail on the About page.

Spencer Organ Staff: Erik Spooner

Erik Spooner

Erik has been involved in pipe organ restoration for the past 12 years with the Spencer Organ Company. He has had the distinct pleasure to work with many of the great performers and technicians in this field during this time where he has learned the intricacies and nuances between the different makes of the instruments and different “vintages.” Erik spends much of his time in the company making replacement parts and applying them to the restored components. Between this, some electronics/wiring work and generalized project process maintenance he finds his days to be filled, but never too much to try to share information to those interested in those things organ and beyond. When not restoring pipe organs Erik can be found writing and performing his own music as well as collaborating with other musicians and artists. He enjoys reading/researching many different things as well.

Spencer Organ Staff: Aravinda Ananda

Aravinda Ananda

Aravinda has been working for Spencer Organ Company part-time since 2006. She runs the office for the company, sometimes assists with on-site work, and has been leading some of the company’s sustainability efforts. In 2012, she designed and initiated the first (and now annual) SOC Green Summer Challenge – a program that engages employees in a number of activities that enhance their personal sustainability and well-being. Aravinda holds a master’s degree in environmental management and is working on her first book about shifting humans’ relationship with the living world.

Spencer Organ Staff: John Kennedy

John Kennedy

John has done work for Spencer Organ Company for over a decade. His primary work for the company focuses on refinishing, pipe work and making of pneumatic pouches. John lives in Grafton with his wife Mary Anne and son Douglas. He has a love of architecture, the outdoors and being with his family.

Spencer Organ Staff: Martin Near

Martin Near

Martin Near began working at the Spencer Organ Company in 2007, having begun his career in organ restoration as an apprentice in the workshops of Timothy Fink, John Bishop and Nelson Barden & Associates. Today, his time is divided between pipe restoration and tuning. In addition to his work for SOC, Martin is a freelance countertenor, specializing in Early Music, and is a core member of Blue Heron, a Boston-based vocal ensemble devoted to Medieval, Renaissance and early-Baroque music. He began his musical studies at the Saint Thomas Choir School in New York and went on to study Classical Composition at the New England Conservatory in Boston. Musical matters aside, Martin is the proud father of a four-year-old, is fatally dependent on morning coffee, and a fan of the Detroit Red Wings.

Spencer Organ Staff: Joshua T. Lawton

Joshua T. Lawton

Joshua is an active organist, pianist and choir director in the Boston area and has worked with and for Spencer Organ Company since 2008. Though focusing most extensively on pipe restoration, he has engaged in mechanical and onsite work, including electro-pneumatic components, wood restoration and console repair. Other interests include hiking, canoeing, recycling and renewable energy.