Track and Music Mix for Durham Jordan Student

Fred Mason teaches organ to four students, including Jordan High School’s Matthew Foster, who competes in the 110-meter high hurdles competition. What a combination! Read this article for details and watch a video of Matthew Foster playing.

Llandaff Cathedral Organ Lightning Strike

Ever had damage from a lightning strike? Even with good precautionary planning, it can happen. Read the story from Peter Colins of how badly it can go at one Welsh Cathedral church. Richard Moorhouse is their organist.

“The cathedral has been particularly unlucky, having previously been struck by lightning in 2003. Little wonder that on her recent visit to the cathedral the Queen occasionally looked a trifle pensive.”

At left is pictured the Nicholson organ in the cathedral. Click on the photo to visit the website with more detail and the appeal. The Royal Patron, HRH The Prince of Wales: “The best new cathedral organ since Coventry … it simply must gain its Solo and its completed Pedal organ to take its rightful place at the pinnacle of British cathedral organ-building.”

Szafron to Play at Trinity Church Abbeville, SC

The concert will be at 3:00, May 20 at historic Trinity Episcopal Church in Abbeville, South Carolina. This is an antebellum organ in its original home.

Get more details on this historic organ on the Trinity Church website. “The organ had a long journey before it was installed at Trinity in 1860. It was partially made in England, then shipped to Charleston where the noted craftsman, John Baker, assembled it.”

St Mark’s Organ is Primed for Rousing Evening of Music

Their III/53 stop Walker organ was rebuilt in 2011, and there is £20,000 remaining to be raised. St Mark’s, Church of Ireland, is organizing a concert to raise some of it. To read more about the organ and see other photos, visit their website.

Mundelein Organ Is Restored, Ready to Shine

Read about the Wurlitzer which once played in the Chicago Theatre and now resides in St Mary of the Lake Seminary in Mundelein, Illinois.  Their music director, Linda Cerabonas, plays the extracted keyboards in the photo above. Be sure to view the photos in the gallery with details of the organ.

“The ebony Wurlitzer organ console, which once graced the halls of the Chicago Theater, has been in the auditorium of the Mundelein seminary since 1934. It has been rarely played in recent years, but a group of organ enthusiasts has spent countless hours over the past 16 months attempting to restore it to its original glory. ‘Because of its rich history, we determined it was worth restoring properly,’ said David Rhodes, president of the Chicago Area Theater Organ Enthusiasts.”

Concerts Will Raise Funds to Restore 200-year-old Organ

They’re holding a music marathon to raise £120,000 to renovate the 200 year old organ in Holy Cross Church in Ramsbury. That’s fine and a good effort, but the question for me is why does an organ last “restored” in 1981 need £120,000 worth of work in 2012?

“The parish church’s pipe organ was last restored in 1981 and Frances Lofthouse, one of its organists who is helping to organise the appeal, said: “It has provided wonderful music over the years but is in need of some TLC.”

Read Brenda Suderman’s article on the general trend to avoid organs due to the perceived expense of maintaining them. She interviewed the president of the Winnipeg RCCO Chapter, and the thoughts expressed are varied and thought provoking.

“Once a musical fixture in most Christian churches, the pipe organ is an instrument in decline as more and more churches turn to praise bands as their main accompaniment, explained Fearn, president of the local chapter of the Royal Canadian College of Organists. We have an aging stock of organs and an aging stock of organists. That’s a brutal fact.”

Watch these two videos about a II/24 Steere & Turner (1869) which is dismantled and moved to Cologne. It’s a fascinating move.