Martin Pasi was born in 1953 in the ancient city of Bregenz, the capital of the Austrian province of Vorarlberg which since the Middle Ages has clung to the eastern shore of Lake Constance.   He grew up on theMartinsgasse in Bregenz’s medieval Oberstadt, where the Pasi family home still stands in the shadow of Bregenz’s most identifiable landmark, St. Martin’s Tower.  In school, Pasi prepared for a career in business, but soon realized that, like his woodworker father, he was meant to work with his hands.  He began an apprenticeship in 1976 with Rieger Orgelbau in nearby Schwarzach, where he learned all aspects of organ building including voicing.  Following the European regimen for training organ builders, Pasi also enrolled in the Instrumentenmacherschule in Ludwigsburg, Germany, attending a three-month period of instruction each year.   At the end of the four-year period of apprenticeship, organ builders must pass an exam to receive “journeyman papers” (Gesellenbriefe), after which they continue to work in the shops of recognized organ builders.  At the end of the three-year journeyman period, an organ builder who wishes to own his own shop and to train apprentices must enroll in the Instrumentenmacherschule for an additional year, during which he is expected to build an entire instrument on his own.

Pasi chose to remain with Rieger, and voiced organs in Australia, Africa, Europe, and throughout the United States.  In 1981, he permanently settled in the North America, working first with Dan Jaeckel in Duluth, Minnesota and from 1983 to 1986 with Karl Wilhelm in Montreal, Québec.   While installing a Wilhelm organ in the Pacific Northwest, Pasi met David Dahl and Paul Fritts in Tacoma, Washington.  He then joined the firm of Fritts & Richards as pipe maker, adopting the style and methods cultivated by American pioneer John Brombaugh, in particular, the making of pipes of a high-lead alloy. 

He opened his own shop in 1990, briefly working with Halbert Gober, and bringing on master woodworker Markus Morscher with whom he has built 29 organs.   As Pasi garnered contracts for larger organs, he was faced with having to expand his crew.  By this time, he was known for encouraging young European organ builders to gain experience in his shop as journeymen.  Several aspiring young organ builders worked in the Pasi shop before returning to Europe to complete their study to be master organ builders, bringing home with them a style and technique of pipe making not known in many parts of Europe.

In 2023, Pasi Organ Builders laid to peaceful rest its work of 33 years, incorporating its personnel, equipment, and tools into the new firm of Saint John’s Abbey Organ Builders.