Rieger Pipe Organ in the Town Hall, Christchurch, New Zealand
Encore! Encore! Encore!
Bring on October!
Christchurch audiences who love the iconic organ in their town hall are in for yet another musical treat - and guess what? It's free! On Sunday 18 October at 3pm, Christchurch Town Hall organist Martin Setchell will give a FREE public organ concert on the Rieger pipe organ. This replaces the original ‘Music for a Holiday’ concert, scheduled for June 1st (Queen’s Birthday Monday) which had to be cancelled owing to COVID 19. It will provide an opportunity to acknowledge our country’s essential workers during the lockdown. It is the first of what will become an annual Christchurch Town Hall event: the organ curator's concert, promoted by the Friends of the Christchurch Town Hall Organ Trust with the generous support of Vbase, the venue management company. Martin will introduce and play a popular programme in his own inimitable style. Music will include his own arrangement of Bach's Sinfonia from Cantata 29 and Khachaturian’s Sabre Dance, the Berceuse and Finale from the Firebird Suite (Stravinsky), March héroique (Brewer), Scherzo in E major (Gigout), and the Carillon de Westminster (Louis Vierne, born 150 years ago in 1870). Admission will be FREE, but tickets must be booked in advance online at nzorgan.com. A koha is requested. Only a limited number of seats are available on a first come, first served basis. Admission on the day will only be possible if there are any seats left! |
Christchurch Town Hall
organist Martin Setchell 
Buy "Resounding Aftershocks" CD from which Martin chose his programme for the re-opening concerts. Order here.
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Watch the Grand Re-Opening of the Christchurch Town Hall Organ, New Zealand
Presented by the Friends of the Christchurch Town Hall Organ Trust
Two concerts on Wednesday, March 6th, 2019 marked the re-opening of the Rieger pipe organ in the Town Hall auditorium. The video of the evening concert can be viewed from Shipleys audiovisual production website. (A slideshow begins the video, then live event starts about 2 minutes in) Live streaming is still available for both concerts from this link
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"Organs and Organists: Their Inside Stories"
This unique book is the ultimate gift for any musician - or non-musician! 
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There is a great deal of new content and fresh material on nzorgan.com. Coming events and news of the Friends Trust will be publicised here. But we also aim to maintain this site with a compilation of its unique and historic photos, events, and everything else that we followed in the 13 years the Rieger organ was active in the Town Hall before the earthquakes and all that is happening since. As these pages were originally a footprint in time, the narrative text about the installation and opening events are just as they were recorded.
