Bishop to dedicate new pipe organ at St Andrew's Church

The organ will be dedicated by the Bishop as part of the main service on Sunday, February 26, at 10am which will we attended by TV presenter Pam Rhodes, and all are welcome to hear it used for the first time.

On Saturday, March 4, an inaugural recital will be played by internationally renowned organist, Paul Derrett. Tickets for the concert are available from the church centre office, as are season tickets for a series of concerts and performances to follow.

St Andrew’s Parochial Church Council gave the go ahead for a new pipe organ to be designed and built by Harrison and Harrison of Durham, an organ builders with over 150 years’ experience.

After delivery last autumn, six craftsmen worked over a four-week period to assemble the organ in the church. Once built the organ then had to be ‘voiced’ - or tuned - and another two master craftsmen spent five weeks listening and adjusting the 1,436 pipes in the organ to create the unique sound of the new organ.

A church spokesman said: “This is an instrument that, after thousands of hours of dedicated and specialist work, will lead the worship at St Andrew’s for hundreds of years to come.

“The organ will enhance the worship and concert music-making at St Andrew’s Bedford and will be an instrument of real quality and craftsmanship to be enjoyed for generations to come.”

Harrison and Harrison’s craftsmen only build one brand new organ a year - the rest of their work is restoring and maintaining other organs.