School Organ

[cornetdeschats]

I'm involved with a school which has no tradition of choirs, apart from the one I've just started, and no religious foundation, but which has expressed an interest in installing a (redundant) organ in the theatre (a large room with smooth surfaces which should suit a II/P.) I'm very interested in taking this on, but what would be the most eloquent arguments for installing such an instrument, and if anyone has any experience on doing things 'on the cheap' (sincere apologies to our hosts but this is the sine qua non) what advice might be given?

 

Thanks!

[JohnR]

I'm involved with a school which has no tradition of choirs, apart from the one I've just started, and no religious foundation, but which has expressed an interest in installing a (redundant) organ in the theatre (a large room with smooth surfaces which should suit a II/P.) I'm very interested in taking this on, but what would be the most eloquent arguments for installing such an instrument, and if anyone has any experience on doing things 'on the cheap' (sincere apologies to our hosts but this is the sine qua non) what advice might be given?

 

Thanks!

 

In a school situation I think the verstility of the organ is something worth emphasising. We had a second hand pipe organ at the High school I attended. While it was great to play organ music and religious music on it, many other things also got played to great effect such as suprisingly effective renditions of tracks by various pop and rock bands! It was a school after all, not a place of worship. The organ was installed in the school as a self help project (before I atteneded the school) and although the quality of most of the work wasn't professional it was that bad either, and at least the organ had found a home and got heard by many who had never heard a pipe organ before.

 

All I can advise is that you ideally need someone on board who knows their was around a pipe organ even if they're not going to be doing much of the physical work. The rest of the team need to be enthusiastic and be able and willing to learn. No one needs to be good at everything as long as the required skills are present somewhere in the team. Issues such as pipes off speech and regulation could be dealt with professionally at a later stage. A fairly comprehensive (please excuse pun re schools) plan also needs to be drawn up.

 

I hope this helps.

 

John R

[peter ellis]

If it's a school that doesn't require liturgical versatility or a specialist instrument for a particular genre then I think your task may be a little easier. It may be possible to find a redundant organ that would work well without the need to make many (if any at all) tonal additions. I'd still counsel the school to get either a reputable organ builder (or competent amateur with a track record of good work) to do the installation.

 

The school I teach at, which is a Catholic foundation with a large chapel, had a two manual Norman and Beard donated five years ago but it spent four years in crates while money was found for additions and installation. I can't publicly name the college but I'm happy to send you a link in a PM.

 

Strangely enough I was looking up the village organ I started my playing on the other day. Look on the NPOR - West Vale Baptist Church - I get the feeling they'd give it to you if you volunteered to take it off their hands.

[Tony Newnham]

If it's a school that doesn't require liturgical versatility or a specialist instrument for a particular genre then I think your task may be a little easier. It may be possible to find a redundant organ that would work well without the need to make many (if any at all) tonal additions. I'd still counsel the school to get either a reputable organ builder (or competent amateur with a track record of good work) to do the installation.

 

The school I teach at, which is a Catholic foundation with a large chapel, had a two manual Norman and Beard donated five years ago but it spent four years in crates while money was found for additions and installation. I can't publicly name the college but I'm happy to send you a link in a PM.

 

Strangely enough I was looking up the village organ I started my playing on the other day. Look on the NPOR - West Vale Baptist Church - I get the feeling they'd give it to you if you volunteered to take it off their hands.

 

Hi

 

The West Vale organ will need a lot of work - even in 2004 the choir was unplayable, the rest of the instrument had a good sound in the church. It's an organ worth saving.

 

Every Blessing

 

Tony