See and hear the restored organ at Sydney Town Hall

Sydney Town Hall organ

When it was installed in 1890, Sydney Town Hall’s Grand Organ was the largest in the world and described as the ‘finest organ ever built by an English organ builder’. Today, it continues to enthral organ lovers and audiences.

The splendid tone of the Organ thrilled concert goers for decades and organists applauded its mechanical attributes. However age began to weary the Grand Organ, leaving music lovers dissatisfied with its performance. By the 1960s, the tone of the organ was becoming tired and unfashionable and it attracted criticism for its ‘noisy pipes, noisy action and a curious lack-lustre tone’, one critic going so far as to describe it as a ‘monstrous bag of wind’. Eventually, In October 1971, it broke down necessitating a full scale restoration. For almost ten years, Roger Pogson supervised the laborious task of cleaning the dirt-clogged pipes and restoring the mechanism, action and console.

Finally, the Grand Organ was re-commissioned on 11 December 1982 at a gala concert featuring the City Organist Robert Ampt (appointed 1978) and the ABC Sinfonia. The restoration was finally completed in 1992 when the Grand Organ’s decorative casing, completed with gilding, was reinstated as part of the restoration of Centennial Hall.

The Grand Organ is currently being fully documented and a management strategy developed to keep this important musical instrument in prime playing condition. In addition to this work, a major cleaning program to clear accumulated dust from nearly 9,000 pipes has also been undertaken.

restoration work

The grand organ that has thrilled audiences since 1890 has recently been thoroughly cleaned, repaired, documented.

The restoration has been no easy task – it has taken almost five years, involving Australian and international experts. Stretching back behind the organ's majestic facade are 8672 pipes, the smallest of which are no more than 10 centimetres in length and three millimetres wide. The largest – the old wooden pipes at the back – are about 60 centimetres thick and more than eight metres tall.

A UNIQUE day out for Grown-Ups.....

INVITATION - Please help spread the message

Here are the early fact about a trip from Muswellbrook to see the organ and enjoy a FREE recital on the fantastic ORGAN at Sydney Town Hall 

* Date - Friday 10th August 2015
* Venue - Sydney Town Hall
* Transport - Bus size to be confirmed subject to response
* Cost of Recital - FREE
* Transport Cost to be confirmed
* Meals and Refreshments - at your cost
* Bookings - at the Upper Hunter Conservatorium of Music (Email - admin@uhcm.com.au , Telephone - (02) 6541 4888, Fax - (02) 6541 4999,  Postal Address - PO Box 816 Muswellbrook NSW 2333), website - http://www.uhcm.com.au

* We hope to have an EXCLUSIVE Guided Tour of the Organ/Town Hall

following the recital
* Departure time from Muswellbrook - approx. 7.00am
* We need to be at the Town Hall by about 11.45am
* We will have a "comfort stop" on the way

Sydney Town Hall organ

If you are interested in this very special tour, keep an eye out for updates and booking details.

Jeremy Fisher from the UHCM (who has a passion for Organ music) will accompany us to Sydney and will share some of the secrets of the Organ with us on our way to Sydney.

Please spread the good news and tell your friends.