Education
Fesperman attended the University of North Carolina, cutting short his studies to serve in the United States. Navy (1943–1946) during World World War World War II He also studied at the Salzburg Mozarteum in 1951.
Fesperman attended the University of North Carolina, cutting short his studies to serve in the United States. Navy (1943–1946) during World World War World War II He also studied at the Salzburg Mozarteum in 1951.
From 1965 to 1995 he worked at the Division of Musical Instruments at the National Museum of History and Technology, part of the Smithsonian Institution. He earned a Bachelor of Surgery degree from Davidson College (1948) and a Bachelor of Music degree at the Yale University School of Music (1951). In 1955 he was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to continue his studies in Amsterdam, where he met the famous Dutch organ-builder Dirk Andries Flentrop.
Later he was to write a book on Flentrop"s influence in the United States.
He and Flentrop co-authored a paper on The Organs of Mexico City Cathedral, published by the Smithsonian in 1986. He then moved to Boston, where he taught organ at the New England Conservatory and was active both concertizing and recording several organ and vocal works, including Masses.
In 1965, he moved to the National Museum of History and Technology (Smithsonian), staying with that institution in various capacities for the next thirty years. While there, he participated in organ-restoration projects and in the planning and design of new organs for various buildings.
He retired from the Smithsonian in 1995, and died at 76 on June 2, 2001.
Although Fesperman preferred traditional classical organ design, he didn"t always agree with traditional practices. He felt that organs should be installed in the center of the long axis of the building or room housing them, and that "among the worst possible solutions is to divide the organ in chambers on either side of the choir of the church" – although this was common practice before the 1950s. In his 1970 book A Snetzler chamber organ of 1761, he took a positive view of "residence organs" installed in private residences, which were popular in the 18th century and revived in the United States in the mid-1950s.
He supported mechanical stop-action, praising it for simplicity of engineering and advantages it gave the player.