Professional musician and Okemos resident Les Jorgensen doesn’t remember talking about pop music or fashion while growing up. His father, Owen Jorgensen, MSU professor emeritus of music, incited philosophical discussion and historical debates, he said.
These discussions are one of the things Les Jorgensen always will remember about his father. Owen Jorgensen, 81, died from congestive heart failure Aug. 7, 2009.
“He wasn’t the kind of guy you could just have a cup of coffee with, you’d have to talk with him about some high-end philosophy, or history or classical music,” he said.
Owen Jorgensen was born in Detroit on June 10, 1928, and was a lover of music from a young age, with his favorites being Bach and Chopin, Les Jorgensen said.
“He told me that he heard classical music as a child and immediately loved it,” he said.
Owen Jorgensen attended the University of Michigan in 1947 and studied piano. He worked as a piano technician across Michigan until 1960 when he became a piano technician at MSU.
“He much preferred working at MSU because he was an academic and he felt right at home with other academics,” Les Jorgensen said.
Owen Jorgensen conducted research about classical piano music and tuning and published three books on this subject: “Tuning,” “Tuning the Historical Temperaments by Ear” and “The Equal-Beating Temperaments.”
He was a renowned pianist who received numerous awards, including the Piano Technicians Guild Golden Hammer award.
When he tuned pianos he would carefully consider the pianist, his colleague and former MSU professor of music Ralph Votapek said.
“Some tuners just tuned pianos,” Votapek said. “He voiced pianos, which means to make all the notes very even and the sound very clear.”
Beyond music, Owen Jorgensen was a lover of philosophy, history, sailing and nature.
His love of nature inspired his move to northern Michigan after his retirement from MSU in 1994.
Former MSU professor of music Tina Votapek worked with Owen Jorgensen for about 40 years and remembers his devotion to every task he encountered.
“He was never satisfied in his work until he had done his best with everything, and he was the same with his teaching and personal life,” she said. “He was a devoted husband, father and friend.”
Owen Jorgensen died after spending one day in the hospital, Les Jorgensen said.
“He truly lived his life until the last day,” he said.
Owen Jorgensen is survived by his wife, Barbara, and his two sons, Les, 60, and Michael, 50. Both of his sons have followed their father’s footsteps working in the music field.
A memorial will be held for Owen Jorgensen at 1:30 p.m. Oct. 21 at the MSU Community Music School, 841 Timberlane St.
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