The UK's leading Digital Church Organ specialist
2025 started with quite a challenge filming our latest Regent Classic instrument at Selby Abbey. The camera resources were once again provided by my cousin whose company Air TV has created ‘Bangers & Cash. Audio skills were from our great friend Ken Blair so the regular team assembled in a very cold Abbey for the…
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It is almost a year ago when I accompanied Dr Joseph Nolan, award winning organist and personal friend, to assist with his epic recordings of the complete works of Alkan at the organ in St Martins Church Dudelange in Luxembourg. A new recording adventure begins This four-night, epic recording challenged us all to the extreme….
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I first set foot in the Sheldonian Theatre in the October of 1973 for my matriculation ceremony, when no doubt I had the pleasure of listening to the Harrison & Harrison pipe organ that was then still in use at the time. Back then, the ‘organ bug’ had not taken hold, so I very much…
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Just 5 minutes after I wrote to Hugh Morris at the RSCM for an update of the programme for his St Cecelia’s day Organ Marathon the office phone rang. At the other end was Roger Wilcox, the new custodian and energy behind a website created many years ago by Steven Smith to publicise and list…
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Across the last weekend in August, composer Matthew Lee Knowles and organist Katia Farn will present “For Samuel Beckett”, the longest fully notated composition ever written for the organ – this will be an entirely unique experience as Heath Street Baptist Church is filled with sound for up to twenty-seven hours in this world record…
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Building on the success of the Director’s Challenge in 2023, The Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) have developed an idea for a focussed, highly visible event to enable them to expand messaging around playing and learning the organ, and the vital role it plays in supporting worship and communities. This “organ marathon” also forms…
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About a year ago, an old university colleague proposed a golf trip to Italy, which I immediately signed up to. It was the perfect reunion excuse for a group of Oxford golfing oldies to get together and enjoy time together. Friends who I had not seen for almost 50 years came in from the USA…
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Life is back to pre pandemic normal. It’s five years since the arrival of coronavirus dramatically changed how the world worked. The impact on all of us was huge. There were some winning changes but for the most part the huge disruption that flowed from lockdowns and fear damaged us all personally and our businesses….
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I recently was back in Wales to join a group of organists to celebrate the opening of Aspire Organs new showroom in Pyle, a small town close to Port Talbot. Tony had carefully refurbished the space to provide a very comfortable and spacious presentation of both new and used instruments, together with a substantial external…
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I normally write this review much earlier in the year. The start of 2025 has been so busy it is not now until early March that I have found the time to put pen to paper and reflect on the major events of the previous year. Launch of Physis+ and the first church installation using…
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Whilst in Luxembourg for our Alkan recording project with Dr Joseph Nolan, we were lucky enough to get a day off to explore the organs around Luxembourg City. As Eglise Saint-Martin was naturally busy on the Sunday we took the opportunity to visit nearby Luxembourg for lunch and do a little tourist activity. All public…
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For nearly 20 years now, I have been fortunate to assist my great musician friend, Dr Joseph Nolan make recordings or concerts on some of the most famous and highly regarded instruments across France and beyond. I have learnt so much by watching a true expert perform and of course been able to sneak onto…
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The RSCM produces guidance on fees and remuneration of Church Musicians. They now invite you to take part to help refresh and overhaul this work. The purpose of this survey is to inform updated guidance on church musicians’ fees to be issued by the RSCM, often known as “RSCM rates”. Church music is of course…
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My day started off badly when the phone rang on the way to work. Our service manager Peter was on the other end to tell me his van had broken down. We were due at Christ Church Northampton later that day to complete the installation of an Envoy 350-FV and his van contained the plinth…
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The organ world by nature is bound to be served by small companies. This applies equally to the pipe organ sector and the digital side of the industry. Many of these suppliers may only be single worker entities earning a modest living from their specialist knowledge and skills. A few grow to be more significant…
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Late in 2023 we were asked to visit Christ Church Cathedral and advise on options for an instrument to replace the Quire pipe organ that was on loan from Martin Renshaw. The main west end Rieger organ, a versatile instrument of great beauty which was commissioned in the 1970s, accompanied the Cathedral Choir which was…
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It scary to realise that almost 5 years have passed since I was at All Hallows Church in Hargrave concluding this installation just a few months before the pandemic hit. Local organist Nicholas Pollard achieved what is quite a rare feat obtaining permission to install a large 3 manual instrument in a relatively small church….
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My first visit to Southwell Minster was a surprise visit for my 50th birthday to play the Screen Organ there. My 40th birthday had seen a visit to Salisbury Cathedral and my 60th went unmarked, which must mean my 70th is coming up next year and must be a very auspicious venue indeed! Time will…
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After the last two years working with Ralph Allwood and the Trinity Laban Choir at the Old Royal Naval Chapel (ORNC) in Greenwich, we once again returned to St Margaret’s Church in North Oxford for a filming session concentrating exclusively on organs. Showcasing the Ensign range of new Physis Plus organs recently launched in the…
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It’s probably about 4 or 5 years since Anna Lapwood came to our attention as a prolific user of social media to present her enjoyment of the organ in lots of guises and locations. Our first meeting with her occurred just before lockdown in 2020 when she purchased in the nick of time her first…
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One of the great joys of working in this business is the variety of people and locations we get to meet and visit. On that score it would be hard to beat St Mary’s Church in Beverley on both measures. Many will associate Beverley with the better known Minster but if you ever find yourself…
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The final delivery from Italy in 2023 included the final instruments making up the Ensign Organ Range which replaces the Chorum models based on sampled sound. A few days later we had our trusted photographer lined up to take the images needed for the web site and hard copy literature. The new models are designed…
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To encourage more musicians to take up the organ and existing organists to develop their skills and grow their confidence, the Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) has relaunched Church Music Skills (Organ). This programme could be a great tool for our customers, or anyone who might be interested in learning to play this fantastic…
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2023 has been a very encouraging year. The effects of the pandemic seem now to be truly over with our important church customer market back at full throttle. Possibly even at an elevated rate as the high cost of repair of pipe organs seems to be tipping the decisions in favour of a lower cost…
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