Acerca de
RE-HOME AN ORGAN
COULD YOU RE-HOME AN ORGAN?
Pipe Up believes many places would benefit from having a re-homed pipe organ. Places like...
-
Community centres
-
Schools, libraries, museums and art galleries
-
Churches with electronic organs, pipe organs beyond repair, or none
-
Bars, nightclubs, restaurants, wedding venues or even big houses
-
Holiday homes in converted churches and chapels
If you are involved with places like this, why not consider bringing a new dimension to the space by filling it with the distinctive sound of organ music?
HOW TO RE-HOME AN ORGAN
First, assess the space concerned and the use you want to put the organ to. Is it for public use, or will it be played an organist? What sort of music do you want to play: cinema, classical, romantic?
How much space do you have? Many unwanted organs are about 2.5m wide 2m deep but (like “Henry”, once we think a house organ) need 4.5m of headroom, which is clearly an important factor.
Second, have a look at what’s available. You can do this by:
-
Looking at Pipe Up's list of organs looking for new homes.
-
Going to the Institute of British Organ Building's searchable database of such organs.
-
Talking to organ builders, who sometimes know of such instruments or even have some in store. Many of these builders are listed on the IBO site.
Third, think of the costs and timescale. Most unwanted organs are offered by themselves free of charge, but the re-homer usually has to bear expense of removing an organ, often up against a deadline.
Getting a commercial organ builder to do everything can be straightforward but will cost anything from [£5k- £10k] for a Henry-sized organ.
Pipe Up can bring these costs down massively by using its expertise and volunteers – but for community centres, churches and similar public venues only, as there must be some public benefit. (We are considering setting up a trading subsidiary to rehome organs into commercial spaces.)