Southwell Minster – Organathon!

Organists are getting ready to battle it out for a 24-hour Organathon fundraising extravaganza at Southwell Minster.

Play on! Organists get ready for 24-hour fundraising extravaganza

The stage is set, sleeping bags are at the ready and the time is ticking down for the start of 24 hours of non-stop organ music from 8pm on Friday 29 September to raise funds towards the refurbishment of the Minster’s Quire Organ.

The stage is set, sleeping bags are at the ready and the time is ticking down for the start of 24 hours of non-stop organ music from 8pm on Friday 29 September to raise funds towards the refurbishment of the Minster’s Quire Organ.

This year the Minster’s resident organists will be joined by six local organists, two internationally acclaimed concert organists – and one seven-year-old boy.

George Ball is the youngest organist ever to have played at the Minster and wants to be able to play all over the world.

George, from Mansfield, started playing the piano as a baby, sitting on his dad’s knee and has been learning piano for two years at his school, Ranby House in Nottinghamshire.

It was his teacher, Matthew Wright, who suggested he try the school organ as he likes to play loudly, and now George practises the organ every week alongside the piano.

Said George:

“I love the sound and the power of the organ. There’s not one just but two keyboards. It’s so much fun.”

“And I like it that organs are found in churches and its music calls the people to God,” he added.

George Ball is not the only youngster stepping up to the challenge of the Southwell Minster Organathon. He will be joined by 15-year-old Ben Clarke, who studies organ alongside piano and bassoon at Worksop College in Nottinghamshire. Both these young organists will be playing between 1 and 2pm on Saturday 30 September.

It is the second year that Southwell Minster has staged its 24-hour Organathon for the Quire Organ appeal. It needs to raise £230,000 to give the organ a complete overhaul – including removing decades of dust from within its 3,723 pipes.

The organ is an integral part of the mission and ministry of Southwell Cathedral playing a pivotal role in daily worship and special moments in the life of the community, from baptisms, weddings and funerals to Christmas services.

Southwell Minster has raised over £170,000 through fundraising, grants and donations towards the cost of the overall project – it has £60,000 left to raise.

This year people can support the Organathan in a number of different ways:

• Sponsor an organist or a piece of music
• Pay to play for 20 minutes
• Stay overnight in the Minster – a unique opportunity to sleep in a cathedral, serenaded by professional musicians
• Come to the Grand Finale Concert, 7pm, Saturday 30 September – A Night at the Opera, featuring Southwell’s very own ‘Three Tenors’

Southwell Minster Organathon kicks off at 8pm on Friday 29 September with the battle of the organs by the Minster’s resident organists. There will be a hymn singalong at 2pm on Saturday 30 September and the event will end in style with a Grand Finale Night At The Opera at 7pm culminating with Last Night of the Proms favourites to close the 24-hour event at 8pm.

Find out more and support online here.