St Albans Organ Theatre
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2020 Concert Diary - booking online or at the door
Christian Cartwright and Stephen Foulkes
Theatre Organ Concert
Date: Saturday 14th March 2020
Admission: £12.50
Commencing at 7:30pm doors open at 7pm
You can buy your tickets at the door on the evening or purchase them online by clicking here
Christian is one of the younger generation of organists who is not only interested in playing, but also in the intricate restoration of these fine historic instruments.
Along with his brother, Christopher, he is completely renovating a Christie organ.
He was taken to the Ballroom at Blackpool Tower at an early age and from around the age of three he started playing a keyboard. He then progressed to an electronic organ and eventually used a vintage Compton 357 Melotone.
Stephen was born in 1972. Like many other younger organists of today, he started playing the organ at the age of seven. This was after first going to hear and being inspired by Phil Kelsall at the Wurlitzer of the Blackpool Tower Ballroom. While studying music with the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, he passed Grade 8 at the age of 15. He subsequently went on to achieve his diploma from the London College of Music.
Simon Gledhill
Date: Saturday 11th April 2020
In 1982 Simon entered & won the Northern Young Theatre Organist of the Year competition. Nigel Ogden, presenter of BBC Radio 2's The Organist Entertains, was in the audience, and invited him to make some recordings for the programme on the BBC theatre organ at the Playhouse Studio in Manchester.The broadcasts resulted in a flurry of concert offers, and Simon has since performed at all the major theatre organ venues in Britain.
Howard Beaumont
Date: Saturday 9th May 2020
International recording and concert organist, Howard was born in Halifax, Yorkshire. At the age of seven he commenced with piano tuition, later graduating to the organ. He learned the art of demonstrating organs during the late 1960's from Jerry Allan, Bill Skidmore and Harold Smart. He soon turned fully professional and toured the country in Cabaret. He later entertained passengers aboard Luxury Cruise Liners in the U.S.A.
Richard Hills, F.R.C.O.
Theatre Organ Concert - Patron of the Organ Theatre.
Date: Saturday 13th June 2020
Our patron's concert starts at 7.30 pm but please come earlier at 5.00 pm and enjoy the visiting mechanical organs, sandwiches, cakes and other attractions outside in the driveway before the concert. Let's hope for good weather.
Richard Hills is one of the very few musicians truly to have bridged and mastered the divide between the world of the classical organ and that of the theatre organ. Having commenced classical organ studies at Rochester Cathedral, he became Organ Scholar at Exeter College Oxford. Further organ scholarships followed at Portsmouth Cathedral and Westminster Abbey.
Mark Laflin
Date: Saturday 11th July 2020
Mark has been interested in the Theatre Organ from an early age. After classical organ studies as a teenager, Mark was educated at the Royal College of Music and the University of Oxford where he was organ scholar at Keble College He studied with several well-known organists along the way and continues to perform and enjoy the classical organ repertoire.
Dr. Kevin Morgan, F.R.C.O.
Date: Saturday 8th August 2020
Kevin began playing the piano at the age of three. He became a music scholar at his school and was awarded many national prizes. At the age of nine he started playing classical organ and two years later he played his first service in Salisbury Cathedral.
He studied music extensively in London, Durham, Oxford and Cambridge and holds Bachelor, Master and Doctorate Degrees.
Keith Beckingham
Date: Saturday 12th September 2020
Keith has been entertaining audiences in the UK and around the world for over 50 years. Following an audition with Joseph Seal in 1958, Keith played at the ABC/Regal Beckenham followed by a stint for Granada Theatres billed as 'the wonder boy organist'. He made his first BBC broadcast from the Granada, Tooting followed by broadcasts from the Granada cinemas at Harrow, Clapham Junction and Kingston upon Thames. For over 25 years Keith worked for the Hammond Organ Company.
Silent Films Accompanied by Piano
Date: Saturday 10th October 2020
After graduating from the Guildhall School of Music, Keith turned professional, and toured for seven years with the jazz-comedy band, "Levity Lancers" in which he played piano, trombone and tuba. From the early 1970's, he has given regular ragtime concerts at London's South Bank, both as a soloist and with small groups.
He will be accompanying a selection of silent films on the Weber Grand piano.
Robert Wolfe
Date: Saturday 14th November 2020
Robert Wolfe is recognised as one of the world's leading interpreters of the Theatre organ. Acclaimed for his sheer artistry, renowned for his musicality, he is without question one of the top British organists. At the age of sixteen, he became the youngest musician at that time to join the team of organists at the Tower Ballroom, Blackpool. In 1981 he was invited to inaugurate the Wurlitzer installed at the Thursford Collection, near Fakenham in Norfolk and remains its resident organist.
Date: Saturday 12th December 2020
Our Christmas Concert with a 'non-alcoholic' warm punch on arrival and mince pies during the interval
Chris Powell has firmly established himself as one of the UK's premier 'entertainment organists' as well as a truly international ambassador in the field of electronic and theatre organ music. Born in Manchester in 1971, he emigrated to New Zealand with his parents when just two years old. Returning to England at the age of five, while growing up in Lancashire saw him pursue his love of music with piano and organ studies.
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