Our Staff

A graduate of Sewanee: The University of the South, Will holds a baccalaureate degree in both General Physics and in Theatre Arts. While preparing for graduation, he auditioned for a role with Children’s Theatre of Charlotte’s Resident Touring Company and afterwards, he toured with them as an actor, dancer, musician, and sound technician for two years before transitioning to work full-time with Cornel Zimmer Organ Builders. His scholastically diverse academic background makes him a proficient woodworker, a progressive engineer, and an avid tinkerer, as well as a keen-eared musician. Born as a son of a Lutheran pastor and an Episcopal priest, Will grew up in and around churches, and is well-versed in the Anglican choral music tradition. Currently, he sings with the Choir of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in uptown Charlotte.

In the summer of 2017, Will volunteered in the set shop of the Springer Opera House where he learned basic MIG welding, a set of skills which broadens the possiblities of mechanical and structural components inside our organs. Through his work in other theatrical scene shops, he learned the payoffs of efficiency in the workplace while maintaining an eye for detail and quality workmanship. Will first started working with us in the summer of 2019, and already he has proven himself a valuable asset. We are immensely grateful to have him on our team.

A graduate of Appalachian State University, Jake Hill holds baccalaureate degrees in both organ performance and sacred music and master of music degrees in organ performance and choral conducting. Currently, Jake serves as the Principal Organist at First Baptist Church of Winston-Salem, North Carolina and has previously held positions at other churches throughout the state including First Baptist Church of Elkin, Trinity Moravian Church in Winston-Salem and Baltimore United Methodist Church in East Bend.

In addition to his duties as a church musician, Jake has also appeared as a guest organist, performing in solo and collaborative capacities throughout the country in notable venues such as the Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina, for the Piccolo Spoleto Festival, Aeolian Manner in Houston, Texas and St. Mary of the Hills in Blowing Rock, North Carolina to name a few. Other performances include collaborating with several academic music programs throughout the state as an accompanist for choirs and musical productions as well as various ceremonies and services throughout the year.

Jake now resides in Charlotte, North Carolina where he joins Zimmer Organs with principal responsibilities focused in sales and proposal design, hearing the needs and desires of clients while working alongside the exceptional group of talented craftsmen, here at Zimmer Organs, to design and build the best instruments possible.

Jeff Keller brings over 25 years of experience to the wood shop. Following a brief apprenticeship in 1997, he went on to work for several millworks in and around the St. Louis area. He has a gifted eye for detail, but with a strong focus on efficiency. Over the years, he has picked up seemingly hundreds of “little tricks” of the trade to make his work faster, more precise, and less strenuous. As such, Jeff excels at the assembly of wind chests, chest framing, and façade work.

Jeff lives with his wife Sylvie in Harrisburg where they enjoy her family’s long history of French cooking, his passion for the guitar, and their mutual love of travelling.

Cornel Zimmer represents the fourth generation of organbuilding in his family. He began working with his father at an early age helping to tune and service organs on school holidays and summers.

He attended the University of North Carolina at Charlotte for two years as an Accounting Major before returning to work as a full time organbuilder at the family firm of W. Zimmer & Sons, Inc. in June of 1981.

Cornel was active with the American Institute of Organbuilders throughout his career and attended most annual conventions, workshops, seminars, etc. He has been a member of AIO since 1984.

In 1984, he spent time as an apprentice voicer at Carl Gieseke & Sohn in Gottingen (West) Germany. While in Europe for an extended period of time, Cornel had the opportunity to visit and study historic instruments throughout Germany and Holland. He also visited several organ builders and their factories/shops in Germany, Holland and Belgium.

Upon his return to the states, Cornel spent the majority of his time at W. Zimmer & Sons in the tonal department participating in the shop voicing of pipes as well as on site tonal regulation of new instruements.

Much to his chagrin, Cornel was also charged with maintaining the books and keeping all the accounting records for the firm. In 1987, Cornel was responsible for the research and purchasing of computers for the company. He learned to excel in many programs ranging from word processing, to spreadsheets, accounting and drawing programs.

In 1990 – 1991 Cornel Zimmer served as the Vice President of the Associated Pipe Organ Builders of America as the representative for W. Zimmer & Sons, Inc.

Cornel spent many years tuning, servicing and maintaining hundreds of pipe organs of all makes and styles in the American Southeast. This was especially important in his formative years as an organ builder. Not only did he learn many good and interesting ways of building pipe organs, he also suffered with the mistakes of others in tonal layouts, poorly executed mechanical systems, sloppy workmanship and limited access.

In June 1992 he left the family firm of W. Zimmer & Sons, Inc. to pursue his own ideas and philosophy of pipe organ building. With the blessing of his father, Franz J. Zimmer, he started his own company, C.A. Zimmer, Inc. (dba Cornel Zimmer Organbuilders) and began the process of formulating his own ideas of tonality and construction techniques which also included digital technology both in console control as well as tone generation. In 1995, CZOB built their current building and purchased the pipe shop from W. Zimmer & Sons.

Since then, Cornel Zimmer has surrounded himself with the best and brightest talent that the organ industry has to offer. Together, they have built nearly 150 instruments, bringing the highest standards of pipe organ building to the world of digital and combination instruments in addition to their lifetime passion for the pipe organ.