Now, one of New Zealand's historic instruments, the organ in St Peter's Church, Queenstown, will get a service of its own in time for the church's 150th anniversary next year.
Built in 1874 by John B. West, of Dunedin, it has been one of Queenstown's well-known sounds for nearly 70 years. On Tuesday night the church will host a fundraiser to restore the pipe organ.
Wakatipu vicar Dr David Coles said the "very valuable historic instrument" had been an important feature of the church and top musicians had played it over the years.
It was built for the All Saints Church of Dunedin and was shifted to Queenstown in the 1930s where it graced the old St Peter's church, now located in Omakau. It was then uplifted to the new St Peter's church on the corner of Camp and Church Sts.
Though it still had a great sound, "we want to restore it as far as possible so it's in good working order. These things cost a lot to maintain."
This means dismantling organs to repair or replace lots of leather and piping.
The last time the organ was given a dusting was in 1992 when the church raised more than $50,000 for maintenance. Apart from that it has been virtually unmaintained.
The only major alteration made to the instrument had been the exchanging of the swell horn diaspason and the swell principal.
A summary report of many of the country's pipe organs was documented by John Stiller in 1981, in which he wrote the St Peter's church organ was "one of the finest historic organs in New Zealand. It is most surprising that its existence is almost completely unknown. This excellent organ represents a rare New Zealand example of an almost completely untouched 19th-century instrument."
Its entertainment value will continue on Tuesday with the Three Centuries of Opera in Italian at which Dorothee Jansen will sing with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra.
Miss Jansen has sung at opera houses throughout Europe including the La Scala, Milan, in Paris, Berlin and Amsterdam plus Belgium, England, Switzerland and here in New Zealand.
Tickets can be bought on entry for $20 with all proceeds going to the St Peter's Organ Fund.
