This is an archive of news articles from April 2004. Current news articles can be found here and an archive index can be found here. Information in this archive may no longer be valid.

• 1926 Binns finds a new home
  The fine 1926 three manual Binns of Crosshill Queen's Park Church, Glasgow has found a new home in Chester at St Werburgh's RC Church, Grosvenor Park Road. George Sixsmith were responsible for the new case, console and electro-pneumatic action, but the organ retains its original tonal scheme and windchests, with a few new pedal extensions. The organ in its original home was a magnificent example of Binns' work, combining the luxury of two 16' reeds and a thrilling full organ with a lack of needless duplication, resulting in a versatile instrument of 32 speaking stops. Before and after pictures and stoplists can be found here on the web site of the Glasgow organists' association.
  
  
• New organ at St Martin of Tours, Llay
  St Martin's, near Wrexham, has recently installed a new organ by organ builders Keith Edwards. When their existing second-hand Boggis organ deteriorated, the parish opted to spend the money it would have cost to repair on a new organ based upon good quality recycled pipework. A twenty-two stop pipe organ, with new action, some new chests and refurbishment of all other parts (including the console, pictured right) cost a total of 32,000. The majority of the fluework came from an 1895 Alexander Young (of Manchester) instrument from a redundant Methodist chapel. The reeds and Great Mixture and Twelfth are T. C. Lewis (from Tonbridge Baptist Church), and the Swell upperwork and Pedal Octave were retained from the original Boggis. The specification is given below, and more details of both old and new organs can be found on the St Martin's web site.

  Specification: St Martin of Tours, Llay
  Great Open Diapason Lieblich Gedact Octave Harmonic Flute Twelfth 2 2/3' Fifteenth Mixture (19.22.26) Chimes	8' 8' 4' 4' 2 2/3' 2' III	Swell Geigen Diapason Hohl Flute Salicional Voix Celestes Principal Fifteenth Mixture (17.19.22) Contra Fagotto Trumpet	8' 8' 8' 8' 4' 2' III 16' 8'
  Pedal Acoustic Bass Sub Bass Octave Bass Flute Fagot	32' 16' 8' 8' 16' (Swell)	Couplers Great to Pedal Swell to Pedal Swell to Great (Unison, Sub and Octave) Swell Octave and Sub Octave Great Octave Great and Pedal Combinations coupled

• Armley Schulze 2004 Spring Organ Festival
  Full details have now been published for the festival celebrating the recent restoration by Harrison and Harrison of the famous Schulze of St.Bartholomew's Church, Armley. Events start on the 28th of May at 5:45pm with a demonstration of the organ and proceed to a Grand Opening Recital with Graham Barber and Nicolas Kynaston, including several new works. Other events over the Bank Holiday weekend include buffet suppers, talks and exhibitions at local museums, concerts suitable for younger listeners and a Grand Organ and Orchestra Concert on the Sunday evening. It all promises to be an exciting relaunch for this grand and historic instrument, and you can find out all about the organ, the festival and more on the Armley Schulze web site.
  
  
• Dom Bedos de Celle conference in May 2004
  Marie-Bernadette Dufourcet Hakim is organising an international conference on the great French organ theoretician Dom Bedos de Celle in Bordeaux. The conference runs between the 26th and 28th of May 2004 in Bordeaux. Details and an application form can be found on the conference website, and applications are actively encouraged by the organisers.
  
  
• New Buxtehude society
  The International Dieterich Buxtehude society will hold its founding meeting on the 8th and 9th of May 2004 in Lbeck, Germany. Buxtehude lived for nearly forty years in Lbeck and the 9th of May will be the 297th anniversary of his death there. The new society will be able to plan celebrations of his 300th anniversary in 2007. More details are on the society's new web site at www.dieterich-buxtehude.org which also has a discussion forum.