This is an archive of news articles from September 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.

• Organ Building 2004 launched
  Organ Building 2004, the journal of the Institute of British Organ Building, has recently been published. It includes details of many of the new organs and restoration projects undertaken by organ builders in the United Kingdom, along with two technical articles on wind analysis and blower capacity and a full list of accredited IBO members. See the IBO website for more details or to order.
  
  
• Organ studies in L'Aquila, Italy
  The Alfredo Casella State Music Conservatory in L'Aquila, Italy is running its fourth course for organists and "Maestro di Cappella" from October the 11th to the 29th 2004. Guest tutors include Giorgio Carnini (Chamber music of Handel, Haydn and Mozart), Nicolas Kynaston (Organ music of Reger, Liszt, Franck and Brahms), Giancarlo Parodi (Italian organ music of the 19th and 20th centuries), Fernando Stefanucci (Choir conducting), and Francesco Tasini (Ancient Italian organ music) among many distinguished others. Instruments used include several famous 17th and 18th century organs. For more details about this and other courses, see www.conservatoriocasella.it. For both the website and course, some knowledge of Italian is necessary.
  
  
• Bamboo Organ Festival 2005
  Following the programme of cleaning and restoration currently underway by Diego Cera, the famous Los Pios bamboo pipe organ will be the centre of attention in February and March next year. The organ is in St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church, Los Pios, about 30 miles from Manilla in the Phillipines. For more information, see the Bamboo organ website and the Diego Cera website.
  
  
• New release of NDB samples for Gigastudio 3
  Shirokuma has released a new set of pipe organ samples from Notre Dame de Budapest which has taken over two years to develop. The sample library includes over 3000 samples at 48kHz, 24-bit resolution, totalling 22GB of data over 6 DVDs. Some of these samples are of background sound effects permitting simulation of live recordings. For those who can't afford the full set, a compact edition is available, and both versions are also available in Gigastudio 2 format. For more details and sound samples see the NDB website.
  
  
• Be a chorister for a day at Salisbury Cathedral
  Most readers will probably be too old for this, but if you know a boy or girl aged between 6 and 9 who is potentially interested in becoming a chorister, this is an ideal opportunity for them to find out what it's really like. Since the first experience four years ago, over 350 children have joined the Salisbury choir for rehearsal and evensong, as well as the fun and other events associated with life as a chorister. There is no geographical limit - previous events have attracted participants from France and the USA. The date this year is the 20th of November, and applications must be returned by the 13th of November. Further details and an application form can be obtained from 01722 555148 or by emailing s.flanaghan@salcath.co.uk.