UK university gets rid of organ
NewsWe hear that the University of Huddersfield in west Yorkshire has removed the Walker house organ that was gifted to it by Michael Phipps and was placed in the concert hall that is named after him.
The organ has been quietly relocated to St. Wilfred’s church in Ripon.
Its absence means music students at the university have no further access to a top-class organ. There is also talk that Phipps Hall will be repurposed to become a pop music studio.
There is still an organ in the St Pauls Hall.
The University of Huddersfield used to have the best organ facilities in any music department in the North of England.
The university is home to the renowned Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, whose future may be in jeopardy.
Do let us know if you have further information.
pop music studio
but in any case, I would think the university could negotiate access for students to use the organs at local churches as a compromise
According to npor, the university would still have 5 other organs. 2 in music rooms, 2 in St Paul’s Hall and 1 in the recital hall. Whilst it’s sad that this organ is being removed, at least it’s going to a church where it will be used rather than destroyed.
To my knowledge there is only one organ in St Paul’s, which is indeed a magnificent instrument. The two in practice rooms I believe are wheezy at best.
Is the organ in the St Paul’s Hall not still there?
Yes…
Appalling.
Read the comments and learn
Sad condolences over your organic loss, HU! But cheer up..
at least you still have all those beautiful musical memories! If that photo is indeed your old instrument, it must be extra-difficult to lose such a magnificent piece! Castration is always such a life-changing experience!
According to the National Pipe Organ Register and the music department’s website, the University of Huddersfield has at least two or three other organs, so this does not mean that students have no access to a pipe organ unless they got rid of them all at once.
University of Huddersfield still has a splendid three-manual tracker-action organ by Wood of Huddersfield in St Paul’s Hall, the University’s principal concert hall. Organ students are welcome to the department, and there is excellent tuition from David Pipe from Leeds Cathedral.
Absolutely. Plus access to other organs in the very local area by arrangement.
Unless there’s a much bigger story you haven’t mentioned, the University still has a very fine, much more substantial, organ in its St Pauls Hall.
They have an organ in their concert hall don’t they? Not that I like the removal.
Philistia!
I don’t think this in itself would jeopardise the festival. Doesn’t the university also have a larger performance space – St Paul’s Hall which has two organs, a 3 manual tracker organ and a chamber organ?
Er, except the huge and very impressive organ in St Paul’s Hall readily available to students. The one in Phipps was a chamber organ and frankly not in the right acoustic so did not sound great and thus was hardly ever played. It will now actually get some appropriate use so is in a much better place.
Many schools did the same! Then everyone gets shocked when the Talibans do it!
That’s untrue. The University is donating an organ, with an agreement allowing students and researchers to continue to play or give concerts on the instrument. The University still has a larger 3 manual organ set in former church listed building St Paul’s Hall. It also has a practice organ. And relationships with a number of churches locally housing organs. The university has had no organ students in the last few years and the second organ was not being played and was being damaged by the air conditioning in the room at the University. In its new home it will be used regularly for lessons, performances and worship. We are expecting some new organ students this year and still have excellent provision in terms of organs. I am the head of department of music and design arts.
Thanks for putting the record straight and alleviating the feeling of outrage that this mischievous article induced.
Notwithstanding my dismay at the decision to remove the organ from university premises and let’s be honest a two hour drive to Ripon to access it is vanishingly improbable for either student or staff, I am amazed that the university can afford to donate an instrument and presumably pay for it to be professionally moved at a time when austerity measures across the university have resulted in huge swathes of redundancies.
Are you suggesting the removal of this organ is putting HCMF in jeopardy? If so that is a false statement as I cannot remember the last time it featured at the festival, if ever. As for not having a top class organ, again, this is untrue – have you seen the magnificent organ in St Pauls? And also again you are wrong, Phipps Hall is not being converted to a pop ‘studio’. Do you even know what a ‘pop studio’ is? Finally, when you say the organ was moved ‘quietly’ what are you suggesting – we should have made a massive noise about it rather than simply moving it to a space where it is actually much better suited and will get some use? Phipps Hall was never built to house an organ but Mr Phipps made a generous offer after the new building was opened, but it has never really worked out as a practical space for it so the move is perfectly sensible and no-one really loses out. I work in the department.
I suspect that there are other musical education institutions in the North of England that might be better equipped… in Manchester, for example.
The university is perfectly well equipped with regard to organs. The article is ill informed.
What a load of ill informed rubbish. Students at the university have access to a very fine instrument in St Paul’s, a two minute walk from the music department on campus and other organs in the very local area.
So it’s only “an” organ, not “the” organ. The heading needs correction, so that your error does not mislead readers.
A serious number of corrections or retractions need to be made to this article to bring it in line with the truth as outlined in the comments.
When your organ goes, everyone knows.