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A reason to celebrate again!

Wonderful news from Christchurch

Wow! A FREE concert, every year!

Thanks to the generous support of the Christchurch Town Hall venue management company, Vbase, the June 1st concert in town hall (the ‘Curator’s Concert’) will become an annual event, FREE to the public and promoted by the Friends of the Christchurch Town Hall Organ Trust. This year’s concert happens to be the major event of an Organ Festival arranged by the New Zealand Organ Association which brings organists nationwide together over Queen’s Birthday weekend each year. 
Organ curator Martin Setchell will introduce and play a programme of entertaining music featuring arrangements for organ:  Starwars (John Williams), Sabre Dance (Khachaturian), Vocalise (Rachmaninoff) as well as more traditional organ music by Bach, Gigout and Louis Vierne (Carillon de Westminster, anyone?). Make the most of this huge step forward in the life of the organ in our Christchurch town hall by coming along. Bring a friend or two, and introduce them to this superb instrument! 
Time: 1.10pm, Monday June 1st, 2020. Details about admission (no reservations possible, but tickets from Eventbrite will be necessary. Seating will be strictly limited)

Out-of-print CD competition prize

Martin Setchell's "Bonbons for Organ", recorded in 2001, has long been out of print and unavailable. But thanks to the efforts of an indefatigable organ lover who unearthed this unused copy, we decided to offer it as a prize for this month's competition.  When first released, Bonbons for Organ spent many weeks in  the Classical Top 10 charts in New Zealand, making it to number 3 at one point, which was highly unusual for a classical organ CD. Grab your chance to own a copy by entering the competition, where you simply have to find a hidden quote in a completed jigsaw puzzle, and send it to us on a completed form from our website. Ends March 31st, so skedaddle! 

2019 opening concerts still online
The re-opening concerts that filled the town hall in Christchurch to capacity are still online for you to revisit and enjoy. The lunchtime concert itself begins after about a 17 minute delay due to the difficulty of cramming the audience in, so either be patient and watch the slideshow or move the video along manually. Fond memories for us all. Click on the image above for the link.

Maverick music maker

Meanwhile, with all our fingers crossed, we hope that the scheduled concert of exciting 'maverick' organist Cameron Carpenter and the NZSO will be going ahead on March 20th. It's hard to predict anything with certainty but so far it still looks good and audiences at the Christchurch Town Hall for this concert will be in for a treat. For details visit the NZSO website.
Verdi Organ Album

New from OUP:
Verdi organ album


Verdi's Grand March from Aida is one piece often requested at Martin's concerts. This is just one of the 12 pieces he has arranged for organ and appears now in a new volume published by Oxford University Press. Now you can play your own March from Aida!
See more and sample some pages at the OUP website here

NEW: Free shipping worldwide!
Another in the wonderful world of freebies! FREE SHIPPING for CD "Resounding Aftershocks" and "Organs and Organists: Their Inside Stories" anywhere in the world! The longed-for plan to bring you these two items with free shipping has been a while coming, but it's here now. So start shopping! You could be in for a long term indoors or isolation, so will need all the reading and listening material you can get.
Available from www.pipelinepress.com while stocks last.

From the Swellbox

  • 20-second handwashing? Brahms can help! Watch here (Thanks to Esther in Germany busily scrubbing her hands for this)
  • I can't skate, don't want to skate, don't even like watching skating. But THIS, I melted at and was mesmerised. Unbelievable. And a timeless song.
  • Lists of anything are irresistible. 10 Beautiful choral compositions on Musicnotes.com - are a starter for you to compare and see how many you would agree with. And besides, we need all the sweet music we can get. My own addition to this list would be Edgar Bainton's "And I saw a New Heaven." Other offers, anyone?
  • What can I offer in these troubled times for the ranks of organists and general church musicians toiling away? I think this tee-shirt just about does it, and it could be yours...
Sorry - have to dash. The little lions want their breakfast. Don't forget to mark June 1st in your diary for the free organ concert! And enter the competition - you could just win.

Cheerful noises for now,

Jenny
 
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