Along with exploring Dunedin’s pipe organ heritage, the festival will highlight young players from around the country — the rising stars of the organ.
The Dunedin Organ Festival will feature three public concerts.
Visions of Heaven
The first will be City Choir Dunedin’s "Visions of Heaven" concert tomorrow, from 5.30pm at St Paul’s Cathedral.
While celebrating Matariki with heavenly-themed choral music by Edward Bairstow and Edgar Bainton, the concert will highlight the versatility of the mighty St Paul’s cathedral organ both in choral accompaniment and as a solo instrument. Christchurch-based organist Jeremy Woodside will accompany the choir, conducted by David Burchell and Mark Anderson.
Also featured will be three contemporary pieces inspired by the stars, by Eriks Esenvalds (accompanied by tuned wine glasses) and New Zealand composers Chris Artley and David Hamilton, plus Joseph Haydn’s celebration of celestial creation The Heavens Are Telling The Glory Of God.
Organ solo pieces on heavenly themes will be played by Woodside and young organists Sea-am Thompson and Max Toth.
Tickets via eventfinda and Beggs MusicWorks.
Pipes at the Port
The festival’s second concert will be "Pipes at the Port", in which Dunedin city organist Burchell, Woodside, Micah Xiang and Sea-am Thompson play the recently-renovated historic Iona Church organ, will be held on Saturday, from 2pm, at Iona Church in Port Chalmers.
For added variety, Burchell will be joined by a string quartet to perform music for organ and strings by Handel and Mozart.
The organ in Iona Church has an unusual history.
Part of it dates from 1854, when it was installed in the chapel of Sherborne School in Dorset, England.
Between this date and its arrival at Iona Church in 1929, the organ was enlarged and modernised. It was also displayed at the 1924-5 British Empire Exhibition at Wembley to demonstrate its then state-of-the art mechanisms.
The organ has recently been renovated and moved within the church as part of the Iona restoration project.
Admission by donation (cash only) at the door.
Festival Finale
"Norma" the Dunedin Town Hall organ will feature in the Festival Finale on Sunday, from 2pm.
Burchell, Toth and Xiang will explore the many musical moods of "Norma "through four centuries of music — from J.S. Bach to Naji Hakim via Cesar Franck, Charles-Marie Widor, Percy Whitlock and New Zealand’s John Wells.
Installed at the town hall in 1929, "Norma" is a rare surviving example of an early 20th century symphonic organ, in which conventional organ sounds are combined with orchestral tone colours and percussion.
Admission by donation (cash only) at the door.
For more details visit dunedinorganfestival2024.com
