Be sure to check out the SOA Events page to find out about future organ recitals

Check out the Organ Recitals page – more exciting events planned for 2010-2011

RCO Raise Your Game! Day, Ipswich, 13th March 2010
STUDENT REPORT
On Saturday 13th March, 18 keen young organists gathered in St Mary le Tower Church in the centre of Ipswich to take part in an RCO Raise Your Game! inspiration day, which was organised with the help of the Suffolk Organists’ Association.  The day began with spoken introductions from James Parsons, Head of Student Development at the RCO Academy, and Dr Michael Nicholas, Director of Music at St Mary le Tower, and a musical introduction from William Saunders, Assistant Director of Music at Ipswich School.  He demonstrated the excitement that the organ could bring by playing Toccata on Von Himmel Hoch by Garth Edmundson.  It was then time to depart to the Royal Hospital School in Holbrook.  Peter Crompton, the Director of Music, demonstrated his amazing four manual instrument, built by Hill, Norman and Beard, which we were then privileged to experience for ourselves.  Some of the students had never played an organ before, and had brought piano music to try out.  Peter Crompton helped them to adapt these pieces to suit the organ, whilst also aiding more advanced organists in the pieces that they had brought with them.  After lunch, we had a WOOFYT (Wooden One-octave Organ For Young Technologists) workshop in the Recital Hall of the new music school at RHS.  Jeremy Sampson led us in various rhythmic exercises, before we all operated the WOOFYT together, showing us how the sound of an organ is produced.  It was now time to head back into Ipswich and to visit the Christie cinema organ at Castle Hill URC.  Richard Hills showed us the differences between the church organ and the cinema organ (including tuned and untuned percussion stops and “double touch” key action).  We all enjoyed experimenting with lighter repertoire, on an instrument that was new to us all.  After tea, again at RHS, most of the students shared a piece that they had worked on during the day with an audience of parents and members of the Suffolk Organists’ Association in the school chapel.  Later in the evening, Nigel Ogden, presenter of BBC Radio 2’s The Organist Entertains, performed a programme of light music, showing the incredible variety of different colours that could be gleaned from a “classical” organ.  This was a fantastic end to a brilliant day, which was much enjoyed by the young organists present.

Nicholas Freestone, Organ Scholar at Ipswich School and St Mary le Tower Civic Church

Work commences on the Cathedral organ on 11th January 2010. The instrument will be out of action for a year while Harrison and Harrison install the new organ. The organ will incorporate pipework from the previous instruments by Norman & Beard and Nicholson. It will speak primarily to the west, but is also designed to accompany services in the quire. Two organ cases will be provided, in accordance with the architect’s intentions: the main case in the transept facing west towards the nave, and a smaller case for the Choir Organ overlooking the quire, where the console is also situated.
The new specification can be seen by clicking here
Information about the appeal can be seen by clicking here

Saturday 13th March 2010
Ipswich. Raise your Game!
 
An RCO Workshop for Young Organists.
For organists of all standards aged 9 – 19 with tuition in small, graded groups from Nigel Ogden (BBC Radio 2’s The Organist Entertains), James Parsons, William Saunders (Ipswich School) and Peter Crompton (Royal Hospital School) using organs at St Mary-le-Tower, Ipswich (3 manual Willis/Bower), Royal Hospital School (4 manual Hill, Norman and Beard) and Castle Hill United Reformed Church (3 manual Christe Cinema organ).
The day concludes with an organ recital by Nigel Ogden at Royal Hospital School Chapel, Holbrook, Ipswich – 7.30pm.