News

Dear ODOA member

Several items on this week's update, in date order, so please read to the end.

1. Trip to Buckland and Faringdon, this Saturday 27 April
Details in last week's email. Start at St Mary's Buckland at 11.00am. Andrew Williams adds: Please note that at All Saints, Faringdon, the main church door will be locked, but you should follow the path round to the left and enter at the side door there. Full details  are  given in last weeks Notices -  Friday 19th April 2024.

2. ODOA Summer lunch payments 

Payment for the Summer Lunch on 18 May should be made to Keith, please. The cost is £32.50 and menu details are in last weeks Notices - Friday 19th April 2024. Online payments are preferred:

Account name: Oxford & District Organists' Association

Sort code: 20-85-73

Account number: 70683418

Cheques should be made payable to ODOA and sent to  Keith Lambert, 7 Chandlers Close, Abingdon OX14 2NN

3. Proposed Thirty First Annual European Organ Study Tour to Lübeck and Stralsund, Thursday 5th to Tuesday 10th September 2024.

Arrangements for a tour to visit and play the organs of Lübeck and Stralsund in Northern Germany are well advanced. The Jakobi Kirche in Lübeck has three historic organs.  Lübeck is also well known for J.S.Bach’s visit to meet and hear Buxtehude at the Marienkirche who played the Totentanzorgel which was sadly destroyed during an air raid in March 1942. The Hanseatic cities of Stralsund and Lübeck are noted for organs built by Friederich Stellwagen (1603-1660) including the Marienkirche in Stralsund which we shall visit and play.

Arrangements are planned to be similar to the 2023 tour to Groningen where we make our own way to Hamburg on Thursday 5th September from where we shall hire cars to drive to Lübeck and where we shall stay that evening. Late Friday afternoon we shall make our way by car to Stralsund where we shall be based over the weekend returning to Hamburg via the Ladegast organ in Schwerin Cathedral on Tuesday 10th September.

Accommodation will be hotels with one night in Lübeck and four nights in Stralsund.   We will hire cars at Hamburg airport with four people per car.

We plan to stay in or near the old city in Lübeck and in central Stralsund for the remainder of the trip.  Average hotel costs are approximately £130 per night including breakfast at current prices (April 2024). 

Car hire including fuel will be around £300 per car shared by four or five if there is space.   Meals will be extra although we may try and go for an all-inclusive rate including evening meal at the hotels, if available,  as that worked well in Groningen.

As with previous continental tours there may be some expenses we need to share related to arranging access to the organs.

Fuller details can be found here.

In order to proceed with arrangements, please do let Bryan (bryanalmond10@gmail.com)  and John (jb@positifpress.co.uk)  know if you are interested in joining what promises to be a most enjoyable tour,  ideally by Friday 10th May.

Dear ODOA member

There are two dates for your diary this week: a three-organ opportunity next Saturday 27th April,  and a reminder about the Summer Social on 18th May.

1. Saturday 27th April: We have the opportunity to visit organs in the Faringdon area. Andrew Williams, who has organised the trip,  suggests the following timings:

• 11.00 St Mary's Buckland to 12.00 or 12.30

• 12.30 Lunch at The Lamb in Buckland or Crown or others in Faringdon. (The lady at The Market Café, in Faringdon,  says they could reserve a table for us, if requested. It is in a perfect spot ½ way between All Saints and Blessed Hugh churches.)

• 14.00 to All Saints, Faringdon

• 15.30 to Blessed Hugh, Faringdon, ending 1630.

Details of the organs may be found here: https://npor.org.uk/survey/A00498 (St Mary's) and https://npor.org.uk/survey/N09931 (All Saints). Blessed Hugh does not (yet) have an entry in NPOR but Andrew tells us that 'This organ is by Martin of Oxford, 1888. It is a gem, probably untouched since then, except that I had John Bailey restore it in about 1970.' 

Travel: The S6 bus from Oxford/Swindon goes every 20mins, stopping at Buckland and Faringdon.  St Mary's is a 5-minute walk downhill from the Buckland Turn stop on A420, first stop after Mollies from Oxford.

Cars can also park at Buckland Turn in the layby on the left towards Gainfield, or on the right, road down to Buckland, and you can take the bus to and from Faringdon. All Saints is 2 minutes away uphill from the main Faringdon bus stop. Blessed Hugh is a similar distance in the opposite direction. Ecofriendly, and free for those with right passes! There is also car parking near St Mary's, and 2 car parks in Faringdon (first 2 hours free), and around town.

2. Our Summer Social event will be lunch at The White Hart Hotel, Dorchester, on 18th May.

This was an excellent event last year, and the food was very good and the surroundings are lovely.  The menu is attached: please send your choices to me as soon as possible, so that we can pre-order.

To encourage more musicians to take up the organ, and existing organists to develop their skills and grow their confidence, the Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) has relaunched Church Music Skills (Organ).

Students can learn at their own pace from anywhere in the world, with no specific time commitments, and gain a certificate from the RSCM.  You can find out more in this short presentation CLICK HERE and on the RSCM website CLICK HERE.

Our next event is on Wednesday 17 April, in two parts: we hope you will come to one or the other, or both.

At 12 noon, the Oxford Town Hall lunchtime recital will be given by Rosemary Evans, whose admirably symmetrical programme includes four pieces from 'An Oxfordshire Organ Book'. ODOA played a part in relaunching the recital several years ago, and it would be lovely to have your support. Admission is £6.50, including tea, coffee and biscuits. You are welcome to bring a packed lunch too.

From 2 pm to 4 pm, we are visiting the organ of the chapel of Harris Manchester College (IIIP 41; Gray and Davison, 1923; John Nicholson, 1930; subsequently rebuilt or overhauled by NIcholson and Co, most recently in 2008). The case features 33 diapason pipes elaborately decorated by William Morris.

We are asked to arrive at the front door to the college, on Mansfield Road. The visit will include a short tour of the college, and tea and biscuits.

Saturday 26 October, 10:30am to 1pm at St Peter’s Church, Wolvercote, OX2 8AQ. Come and try the organ. Oxford and District Organists’ Association present an opportunity for pianists and keyboard players age 10 to 18 try out their music on the St Peter's pipe organ under the guidance of Malcolm Pearce, FRCO, former director of music at Magdalen College School. £12 for non-members, free to young ODOA members. For booking and further information please contact peter.stutfield@gmail.com or telephone 01865 876848. 

Saturday 20 July, 11am to 4pm at St Peter’s Church, Wolvercote, OX2 8AQ. Aspiring Organists’ Workshop. The day is mainly aimed at late starters, village organists, those who play for services when no-one else steps forward and who may have had no formal organ tuition. Malcolm Pearce, FRCO, of the Oxford and District Organists’ Association, will be on hand to offer guidance on congregational accompaniment and organ voluntary repertoire. £20 for non-members, £10 for ODOA members. For booking and further information please contact  peter.stutfield@gmail.com or telephone 01865 876848. 

Dear ODOA member

In this week's email there are only three items.

1. The funeral of our long-standing member Martin Ball is to be held at 2pm on Friday 5th April, in Beckenham Methodist Church (Bromley Road, BR3 5JE). For a map of the area see the church website:       https://www.beckenhammethodistchurch.co.uk Gloria Toplis writes: Beckenham is a crowded place and there is no parking at the church.   The church itself is quite small so we recommend arriving early.  There is a carpark nearby, opposite the Anglican church, but payment is via RingGo, as is payment for parking meters in the Bromley borough.  Some roads immediately around the centre of Beckenham have parking restrictions, and where parking is free it is difficult to find a vacant place.  If you would like to attend, let me know and I will put you in touch with Gloria for advice.

2. Would anyone like a keyboard-playing engagement for a parish communion on 7th April / 10:00am at Holy Trinity,  Headington Quarry? https://www.hthq.uk/

Fee £50 + expenses.  3-4 hymns,  and a straightforward mass setting. No choir,  and a reasonable digital keyboard with “organ-simulator” / no pedal division.

If anyone is interested please contact : vicar.hthq@gmail.com

3.  On Saturday 27th April we plan to visit churches in the Faringdon area. Our member Andrew Williams reminds us that there are several places available for lunch, including The Lamb in Buckland, and others in the centre of Faringdon, very close to All Saints and Blessed Hugh, such as the Faringdon café, the Faringdon Market café, Sadlers, and Costa. There is also another Costa next to waitrose on the A420.

Dear ODOA member

In an effort to avoid filling your inboxes with mails, I am collating various bits of information into one Friday email. Today's mail has 4 sections.

1. The Summer Lunch. Following last year's successful event, Bryan Almond has once again booked The White Hart at Dorchester for lunch on Saturday 18th May.  Please put this date in your diary - May feels a long way away but we will need to organise menu choices and payments. Link to menu. Let me know if you wish to attend (last year's event was excellent) along with your menu choices. Instructions about payment will follow soon.

2.  We have had an interesting request from Mary McKnight. She writes:

Dear Oxford Organists, I wonder whether a member would like to help at an event please? Oxford Town Hall is hosting the British Association of Oral and Maxillofacial surgeons  annual meeting. The President is a friend and colleague and I am helping on the social side of the programme. We are both consultants at the JR and the evening dinner would be made if we could have a short selection of popular classics. The hall should be full of mostly UK surgeons and  a small selection of International colleagues. There would be some funding for this. If you can help, that would be fantastic. 

If you would like to help with this, please contact Mary directly by phone on  07985905075 or by email at: mcknightmary501@gmail.com

3. On Monday 11 March we held our latest Zoom event, a presentation and discussion on Repertoire led by Committee member Simon Galloway. This was a wonderful evening with music by Buxtehude, John Campbell, Liszt, Franck, Petr Eben and Rheinberger, and included sound and video recordings as well as scores. This is a link to Bryan Almond's presentation on Liszt.

4. Finally, I'd like to remind you that time is running out for payment of subscriptions. We use your subscription to act as permission for us to retain your contact details under GDPR regulations. After March, if you are not on the membership list, I have to remove you from the email circulation list. Many thanks to all those who have paid already - it makes the job of Keith (the Treasurer) much easier.

Dear ODOA member

You are invited to join us at a Zoom presentation led by comittee member Simon Galloway on the subject of 'Repertoire'. Members will tell us about the challenges and pleasures of particular pieces, why they chose them and which performances they recommend.

The Zoom invitation is below. Please note that although the invitation says the meeting starts at 7.45 pm, the presentation will begin at 8.00pm. (The extra 15 minutes is to allow everyone to join and for the ironing out of technical issues.)

For further information contact: oxfordorganists@gmail.com

Student Organ Recitals: Zihan

For the next in our series of Sunday recitals by young organists, we’re delighted to welcome Zihan, a chorister at St Giles, Oxford. Zihan holds a Scholarship from the Dr Martin Clarke Young Organ Scholars' Trust and recently achieved his Grade 8 organ with Distinction. He will be playing an exciting programme of music by JS Bach, Frescobaldi, Remondi, and Mendelssohn.

Admission is free.

Zihan is an ODOA member, and I am sure he would welcome our support.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3o2wmxw0f8U

 Programme

G Frescobaldi (1583-1643), ‘Bergamasca’, Fiori Musicali

J S Bach (1685-1750), ‘Vivace’, Trio Sonata VI

Bach/Vivaldi, Concerto in D minor

R Remondi (1851-1928), ‘Allegro moderato’, VI Grandi studi per sola pedaliera

F B Mendelssohn (1805-1847), ‘Con moto maestoso’, Sonata III

Dear ODOA member,

This is a reminder that our next online Zoom event is TODAY. It will be a presentation given by Dr. Philip Kaye  at 8pm entitled 'It's Never Too Late: The Journey to FRCO and its Council'.

 Philip studied music at Oxford University and was organ scholar at Lincoln College. He continued his studies with a D Phil, on the influence of English music on mainland Europe between 1380-1440. Following his doctorate, he held a research fellowship at Worcester College whilst completing a modern edition of the sacred works of Gilles Binchois (1400-1460). Philip then moved away from academia and trained as a chartered accountant and chartered tax advisor. He was a partner at Deloitte, one of the big-4 professional services firms for nearly 25 years. In 2019, as he approached retirement from Deloitte, he set himself the challenge of passing the ARCO and then FRCO, having played the organ only sporadically since his Oxford days. He completed the FRCO in early 2022 and has since been co-opted onto the Trustee Council of the Royal College of Organists.

 Please do join us for what promises to be a very interesting presentation. The Zoom invitation is below. Please note that the meeting proper will start at 8.00 pm - the time from 7.45 is to enable the presenter to finalise technical issues.

 Best wishes,

Bryan

Dear ODOA members

This series of concerts caught my eye in the weekly update from Christ Church Cathedral: I have copied their text but have no further details of subsequent concerts.

We’re delighted to welcome our Cathedral Singers Organ Scholars, Robert and Edward, to give the first of our organ outreach concerts, which are taking place across the next four Sundays at 1500. They will be presenting an exciting and varied programme, including Dietrich Buxtehude’s Toccata and Fugue in F (BuxWV 157) and Jean Langlais’ thrilling setting of the Te Deum. The recital is free and all are welcome to attend. 

Philip studied music at Oxford University and was organ scholar at Lincoln College. He continued his studies with a D Phil, on the influence of English music on mainland Europe between 1380-1440. Following his doctorate, he held a research fellowship at Worcester College whilst completing a modern edition of the sacred works of Gilles Binchois (1400-1460). 

Philip then moved away from academia and trained as a chartered accountant and chartered tax advisor. He was a partner at Deloitte, one of the big 4 professional services firms for nearly 25 years. 

In 2019, as he approached retirement from Deloitte, he set himself the challenge of passing the ARCO and then FRCO, having played the organ only  sporadically since his Oxford days. He completed the FRCO in early 2022 and has since been co-opted onto the Trustee Council of the Royal College of Organists.