Chapel organ rebuild programme 2008
26 Feb 2008
SCHOOL ORGAN REBUILD PROGRAMME REACHES FINAL PHASE
Work is about to start on the final phase of a £220,000 rebuilding programme for Solihull School’s 40-year-old chapel organ. The instrument has been returned to the co-educational independent school and re-assembled following a six-month overhaul by organ specialist Nicholson’s of Worcester at its Malvern workshop. Improvements have included the installation of new soundboards, the replacement of the wind system, the renewal of the electrical control system with a computerised transmission, and the refurbishment of the console.
The final phase of the two-year project, to start later this month (February), will involve refitting and fine-tuning the organ’s 2,500 pipes. The project has been designed and led by Paul Hale, cathedral organist and rector chori at Southwell Minster and a Solihull School pupil from 1964-1971. He was the first of a long line of world-renowned organists, including David Briggs, John Butt and Ian Simcock, to have trained on the organ. Paul said: “We have reached the stage where the structure of the organ has been renewed and is now being connected to the wind supply. The next stage will involve each pipe being regulated for tone and volume before being fine-tuned – a long and painstaking process that will be carried out at a rate of around 150 pipes a day.” He added: “When the re-instatement is complete, the organ’s tone will be better, all mechanical background noise will have disappeared, and it will be more comfortable to play and easier to maintain.”
Nicholson’s of Worcester built the original organ in 1966 from a 19th Century Nicholson incorporating parts from a cinema organ gifted to the school by Lord Rank.
Phillip Griffiths, Headmaster, commented: “The chapel organ is at the core of our musical aspirations and its rebuilding will ensure that we maintain our proud reputation for public performance and producing world-class organists. “To help celebrate the refurbishment we will be offering an organ scholarship from this September to enable a talented young musician to train on the instrument and follow in the footsteps of those world-renowned organists that were educated at Solihull School.”
Solihull School Headmaster Phillip Griffiths and Cathedral Organist and former pupil Paul Hale admire the refurbished console of the school’s chapel organ, which is undergoing a £222,000 rebuild
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