A local church in the UK is set to benefit from the installation of a 
state-of-the-art pipe organ later this year.
St John’s Church in Berkhamsted is set to be the beneficiary of the £400,000 instrument, which will be tailored specifically to produce the best sound to fit the building’s size and shape.
The organ will replace the current well-worn century-old instrument which is set to be scrapped and its useable parts sold, the Hemel Gazette reports.
Construction will begin immediately on the 1,913 pipes that will make up the new instrument before builders spend nine weeks installing the organ’s network of pipes, followed by four weeks tuning each of them.
The largest and deepest-sounding pipe will be 16 feet long and the smallest, most high-pitched pipe just a couple of inches.
By September, the new instrument will be in full working order and
the church plans to hold a dedication mass on November 20th.
And the man given the honour of playing the instrument will be Nicholas King, director of music for St John’s, who has over 50 years playing experience.
Having won an organ scholarship to Cambridge University’s Trinity College at age 18 he soon became director of music for Hemel Hempstead School before taking on a role as the chief examiner for Trinity College.
But he insists that he is still learning the finer techniques of playing the instrument.
“I have always known I wanted to get into organ playing, choir training and church music,” he explained to the news provider.
“Each pipe has to produce a satisfactory blend with all the others, so it can be played well whether the church is full or empty.”
The current organ, which is 104-years old, was last played in a concert on January 8th this year, with Mr King and two sopranos performing work by the classical greats to celebrate the New Year.
state-of-the-art pipe organ later this year.St John’s Church in Berkhamsted is set to be the beneficiary of the £400,000 instrument, which will be tailored specifically to produce the best sound to fit the building’s size and shape.
The organ will replace the current well-worn century-old instrument which is set to be scrapped and its useable parts sold, the Hemel Gazette reports.
Construction will begin immediately on the 1,913 pipes that will make up the new instrument before builders spend nine weeks installing the organ’s network of pipes, followed by four weeks tuning each of them.
The largest and deepest-sounding pipe will be 16 feet long and the smallest, most high-pitched pipe just a couple of inches.
By September, the new instrument will be in full working order and
the church plans to hold a dedication mass on November 20th.And the man given the honour of playing the instrument will be Nicholas King, director of music for St John’s, who has over 50 years playing experience.
Having won an organ scholarship to Cambridge University’s Trinity College at age 18 he soon became director of music for Hemel Hempstead School before taking on a role as the chief examiner for Trinity College.
But he insists that he is still learning the finer techniques of playing the instrument.
“I have always known I wanted to get into organ playing, choir training and church music,” he explained to the news provider.
“Each pipe has to produce a satisfactory blend with all the others, so it can be played well whether the church is full or empty.”
The current organ, which is 104-years old, was last played in a concert on January 8th this year, with Mr King and two sopranos performing work by the classical greats to celebrate the New Year.