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May 2016 June 2015 2014 September The service will be at 2.30pm 26/10/2012. for Carlo. 29th August 2012 The Memorial service for Carlo will be held at Pershore Abbey on 26th October We don't have proper time yet, but expect it to be either late am ( Noon) or most likely 2.00 or 2.30pm. This will give people time to travel from all parts of the country. It is anticipated that the "new" touring organ - the Q370 will be used during the service. The actual cremation is tomorrow - 30th August at 3.00pm, but is a private service. 16th August 2012 There will be a Memorial Service for Carlo in Pershore Abbey sometime in the next 14 days. As soon as a date is agreed we'll publish it here. 11th August 2012 A deeply sad day for the organ world. We lost Carlo Curley a matter of a few short hours ago. He had been unwell this last week and he died late this afternoon. Abinger Organs were privileged to have known him, to have worked with him. I remember the "Ally Pally" days in the late 1970's. The unloading of that enormous 4 manual drawstop with 7 MOS I systems and massive sub bass cabinets with 36" speakers. having to drag it out of the container with a chain attached to the back of our Mercedes van. Pushing the console across the floor of Alexandra Palace and the sheer weight breaking floorboards. Carlo arriving by Cadillac being driven up the center (what ever made me type it in the american way !! I'll leave it as a tribute to Carlo) of the auditorium. The really early days at Kingston before Ally Pally, when he entertained my children ( one of whom is now Elizabeth Arkwright of Allen Organs), by playing for them - yes "for" them...encouraging that love of music with that sheer exuberance that epitomised the man. I know that he inspired Elizabeth, not for gain, just because of his deep love of what music is and means to people. Little did we know then, that some 35 years later, one of those children - my Son, Simon, would take an organ out on his own for Carlo to play at a show at Milford Haven in Wales, in July 2012. Most recently, he kindly opened our installation at St Nicholas, Thames Ditton , his old Touring Organ, the Q345. despite pain he played better than ever. His harmonies in the Dvorak were simply stunning - such depth of feeling, he truly was the master. I will miss him , such a great person, such talent, words cannot express the loss we all feel here. Carlo, we loved you and we will miss you deeply. May/June New Portative from Allen. It's a speaker array that sits on top of almost any instrument, with 4 channels of HR speakers. Has pipe front. All new 3 manual drawstops ( except for the Q300) have lots more channels and new tone generation system. L226 has become L227, new 3 manual stoptab with more audio channels. Recording session for new music from Will Todd. Being performed in St Paul's on 5th June. CD out 4th June - do buy it, you can pre-order it on Amazon. We were bowled over with his music - it is fresh, exciting, everything that good 21st Century music ( not just church / classical) should be. I am reassured that such creative talent is still with us. Unfortunate loss of John Birch - we had the privilege of working with him since the 1970s. He was trying to play Saint Saens 3 professionally once for every one of his years. He was keeping a note in the front of his own ( well thumbed) copy of the organ part. I hope he achieved his wish and that someone may send it to the Guinness Book of Records. we lost a living connection with Elgar when JB passed on - I remember him standing up to a conductor with the line "well Elgar told me....." Like the late Richard Hickox, we'll miss you JB Very busy 6 months - not had time to update website. Completed installations / modifications in Somerton, Roehampton, Nice new Allen in St Peter and St Paul, Over Stowey ( pretty little church) Worthing, plus home installation in Heathfield and various secondhand sales. Hires continue with major orchestras - advance bookings for Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations - recording of Mahler II using very large 3 manual Allen. Allen now have a 3 manual to show with quad interleaving. Expect some new stuff this May. looking back at the history of major changes - 1982 saw ADC replace the MOS I and MOS II series, 1992 saw the introduction of MDC 2002 saw the Renaissance - so what's going to happen in 2012 ? The month of May will reveal all. August 2011 Installation at Basingstoke of new Allen.Extra speakers on an existing installation in North London. Prome rehearsals. Recording with the BSO to mark 100 years this year - piece of music by Percy Whitlock - organist at Bournemouth Pavilion in 1930s. CD will come out in a few months. A new part / upgrade from Allen 910-3116. It seems that the on/off switches on early digital organs ( 1971 - 1979) have given problems after 35 - 40 years. Allen feel they should have lasted longer and there is an upgrade ( for 40 year old instruments). Should give 50-75 years of trouble free use !!! Would any other manufacturer do this ? You can still have the original part, but this is an improvement !! We are impressed. July 2011 Degree season again ! Proms rehearsals start this month. Completed installation of new Allen L9 at St Edmunds School near Hindhead. New speakers into Cranleigh Catholic Church ( Christ the Redeemer of Mankind) Big removal and reinstallation of Heritage III in Upper Norwood. Will try to load in pictures. Had to be stripped and craned up into West End Gallery. Sounds exceptionally good. Lat month had opening recital / show Carlo Curley at Sandhurst. Must say that quad interleaving is the future. Will write more soon.
January 2011 Last minute installations before the VAT rise ! Bad weather, but everyone had their organ arrive on time - all hires went smoothly despite the snow. Provided an organ for Brent Cross Shopping Centre 18/12/2010 for surprise "Hallejulah Chorus" from Messiah. At 11.00am about 250 "shoppers" suddenyly started singing to organ accompaniment. It's on YouTube. I'll find a link Job with the YMSO early January - Degree Ceremonies and shows at the Barbican coming up. 1st November 2010 Been very busy, so News section has been overlooked. 2 new models from Allen ...a 2 manual and pedals proper drawstop organ with 32' Pedal. £14950 inc VAT...probably the cheapest moving drawstop organ with 32' Pedal on the market right now. Can have external speakers. Also a 3 manual version for £19950 inc VAT. Again, amazing value for moving drawstops, internal speakers. We're just about to take delivery of one for stock. 20th July 2010 Two new organs from Allen. A drawstop 2 manual and pedals with divisional pistons, 32' Pedal stop, internal speakers, full 10 years parts 5 years labour guarantee. UNDER £15000 INCLUDING VAT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Three manual drawstop , again internal speakers, less than £20,000 inc VAT. Firm prices being computed as I write. July is degree ceremony month - we've been travelling up and donw the country. Still keeps us out of mischief ! Loads of installations - Guildford, Brighton, Dorking, Reading, etc ... all to get completed by end of August. May 2010 Sorry this has been so long waiting to be updated. Just read an interesting book - see We've provided organs for London Sinfonietta ( Varese "Equatorial"), Crouch End Festival Chorus (Janacek Glagolitic Mass) We've recently been to Snape Maltings at Aldeburgh ( lovely venue in the sunshine), Barbican, rehearsals at Henry Wood, the list goes on and on. Christian Resources starts again 11th/12th/13th/14th May. Contact us for free tickets. Carlo Curley will be holding classes on 12th/13th May at 11.30am and 3.30pm each day. Again, contact us for tickets and invites. He will help with registrations etc - you'll be able to ask him direct questions and he'll do his best to answer everything !! Sales to Gordon's School, Woking, Barking Methodist Church, a private residence in Rainham, Kent, plus big drawstop into Bournemouth, New orders for Colchester, Brighton, Guildford. October 2009 Looks like we'll have a brand new Allen Q285 to add to our hire fleet. It's a 2 manual and pedals drawstop - almost Swell Great Pedals from the big Carlo Curley Touring 345. Sub and Super Octave couplers ...etc. More info as it happens!! September 2009 Installations in Bristol, Horsham, Bury St Edmunds, Farnborough, Cranleigh !! Two three manual Allens and three two manual Allens Very busy month. Hire work with LPO / Mahler II ( Such a stirring piece !) Recordings. Just had bookings for the CLS ( City of London Sinfonia) in October - series of concerts as Memorial to the late Richard Hickox - and they'll be playing Elgar Music Makers, Holst Hymn of Jesus and Ralph Vaughan Williams. The world lost a force for good when Richard died - so much music - so much pleasure to people. Sorry if I sound a bit emotional - but its a pleasure and priviledge to be involved in the Memorial Concerts. Barbican October 15th and Swan Theatre High Wycombe October 18th. August 2009 Proms season - rehearsals for different bands. Also Aldeburgh Festival. The NYO performed Respighi "Roman Festivals" just before their Proms show. If those young people are the future of our industry, then it's going to be in safe hands. They played brilliantly and the young organist ( I think her name was Cathy) was very calm and professional. They are a credit to us all. July 2009 Concert at Chichester Cathedral for Carlo Curley with the Allen 345. Goodness that organ sounds good ! We've heard all sorts over the years - I used to think the Rodgers 965 was fantastic, but this 345 on just single audio ( 10 channels) was something else, and so easy to set up. Despite the heat,he played to a packed house, which in these recessionary days is excellent. Duet with the Cathedral organist was brilliant. Recording session with Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. Naxos Records. Serebrier Symphony No 1, conducted by the composer Jose Serebrier. June 2009. Yehudi Menuhin School for hires twice this month ! Lovely Hall and an easy Get-in !!Allen organ used at the National Pilgrimage at Walsingham. May 2009 We manned the Allen stand at CRE Sandown and were fortunate to have Carlo Curley for all four days. He came along, played , met friends and customers and sold his CD's and DVD's. An excellent four days, great fun. Orders for two 3 manual Allens and 2 two manuals - arriving in August, more details soon. 30th April 2009 Opening Recital at Putney Methodist Church Recorded some more hymns for our MIDI Assistant - world's first - MIDI files on a USB stick. MIDI Assistant costs £1169 inc VAT . We'll have it on show at Sandown Park CRE in May. Contact us if you'd like free tickets for the show. March/April 2009 Recording of Mahler II with the Philharmonia Orchestra at Watford using an Allen 345 and nearly 20 speaker cabinets - exciting! Installation of a three manual drawstop Allen in Godolphin and Latymer School, Hammersmith. Installation of a CF2a in Northumberland Avenue Methodist Church, Bury St Edmunds. Sorry we're a bit short on secondhand organs right now - the whole trade seems a bit short of good secondhand stock. January 2009 Apologies that the news has not been updated recently. December saw a new Q300 go into St Paul's Church, Onslow Square, a new L321 into Putney Methodist Church. Installation at St Leonards, Horsham. ( Opening recital 28th February 2009, contact us for details). Concerts with the National Youth Orchestra, LSO plus lots of Carol Concerts. Big Organ Extravaganza at Buriton, Near Petersfield 20th September 2008. Most of the new Allen models will be on display. Jonathan Hope will be playing at various times during the day. Tea and Coffee facilities all day plus loads of free parking.Two halls open - one containing a five manual drawstop organ, pipe organ, a collection of barrel organs dating from 1805 and a massive collection of working valve radios. All open for the day - just contact us for tickets. Contact us for details Many of the new Allen organs now have 150 hymns - pre-recorded and stored in the instrument's memory. They can be easily and simply recalled. Excellent for emergencies ! The new MIDI Assistant uses USB sticks to store data and we are assured that you can get 450 hymns on a stick ! Quad voicing - English (Willis), French ( Cavaille Col), Baroque and American Classic are now standard features on all Protege and Quantum organs. The Chapel series have just single voicing ( alterable) as standard - you can pay extra for the quad voicing.The Factory are now supplying instruments without Chimes - in each case the American version with Chimes is being changed to an 8' Reed - no cost. June 2008 Apologies to all that the News column has "fallen behind". We had a very successful CRE at Esher in May. This week we took orders for 2 new Allen Organs - both L4 models - the 2 manual and pedal Allen with quad voicing ( English, French, Baroque and American Classic), all for £7000 inc VAT - surely has to be the bargain instrument at the moment. Fantastic sound and full Allen guarantee. Organ Hires - LSO for Mahler and Strauss Alpine Symphony. But it's not all big well known names. Last Sunday a Memorial Concert for the late Richard Coulson, in the lovely Menuhin Hall at the Yehudi Menuhin School. "Elijah" - Sad loss - but it reminds us that it's really all about the music isn't it ? Good music matters. New Allen's - do contact us if you'd like information. We now have everything in pdf format. New Chapel range starting at about £5000 inc VAT. Superb new CH15 at £10868 inc VAT with 32' pedal stop, internal speakers, 2 manuals and pedals and full piston action ( divisionals as well as generals). We're impressed. New Protege series and more voicings on the big Quantum drawstops. Very few price rises. Easter : Large Allen 345 ( English console) in Southwark Cathedral, London.Visit to Frankfurt a great success. Learned about new MIDI products - potentially very useful for installations coming up. Saw what the competition are doing. There's going to be some exciting information over the next few months - can't say more now, but watch this space ! February/March 2008 Hires : In the next week, we have Allen Organs out on hire with the following people : 1) Royal Albert Hall for "Tosca" 2) Royal College of Music 3) Barbican for the LSO 4) Avanti Television ( Welsh speaking "Songs of Praise" programme 5) Guildford Cathedral .....we feel rather privileged to be supplying all these places in so short a time . Busy week ahead Sales: New Viscount installation at New Cross next week . An Allen installed in a private house in Sevenoaks. Plus order for a 3 manual drawstop Allen to St Paul's Onslow Square. We're off to Frankfurt 11th March - more news after that. February 2008. It's been a while since we updated this column. Christmas period we were very busy as usual. January saw us recording with the LPO, the Saint Saens Organ Symphony with the BSO , as well as normal jobs like splitting an organ in half for a customer to get it installed in a pretty cottage locally. This month we've just done the Glagolitic Mass ( Janacek) with the LSO in thre Barbican and today Simon is taking our drawstop Allen Q300 up to the Sage at Gateshead. Sales this month include an organ in a private residence in Hull, a replacement instrument for a past customer where the Church had a fire, plus demonstrations of new Allens in the South East - more news as it happens ! September 2007 The new diffusers from Allen work really well. Our tests indicate that this will enable us to meet the forthcoming EU regulations regarding noise at work , when it comes to orchestras. This has been a problem looming, which nobody wanted to address. Basically we'll need to use more cabinets, but no single cabinet will put out more volume than the law will allow. This is causing us to rethink our hire fleet, since no other manufacturer ( as far as we are aware) can do this. All the Proms jobs went well - bookings now coming in for Christmas ! August 2007 Proms concert - Varese "Equatorial" using our Allen MDS-46. Plus rehearsals and show with Academy of St Martin in the Fields - Faure Requiem.- they used our new QLF 315 with the latest diffusers on the speakers. These are great because they break up the sound so it's no longer directional and it will enable us to comply with the upcoming EU noise at work regulations.More information next month New 3 manual moving drawstop Allen Q 300 ( first one ) arrives mid August. If it's good we're thinking of putting one on our hire fleet. Happy holiday if you're going away - lets hope weather improves soon ! July 2007. Shows with the LPO at Royal Festival Hall. "Stephen Sondheim's "Sweeney Todd" - we thought it was terrfific performance. Outside concert at Leeds Castle and Eltham College. Various weddings etc this month on the hire front. New 30 note pedalboards from Viscount are excellent - if you're looking for a small, cheap home practise job, they're worth playing. June 2007 We've reached outdoor concerts season again ! LSO performing Elgar "Dream of Gerontius" in the Barbican, using one of our Allen's 30 note pedalboards for Viscount Organs arrive this month - definite ! May 2007 We helped represent Allen organs on their stand at the Christian Resources Exhibition at Sandown Park. Lots of visitors - considerable interest in the new Quantum models.. Allen seminar. New 3 manual drawstop will be QL300. No price as yet, but it's got moving drawstops, same number of stops as a QLF315, so it's going to be affordable ! Internal speakers or up to 5 external speakers ( 4 channels plus sub bass). More details shortly. But you read it first here !....Also expanded audio capability on smaller organs - eg 4 channels on a C2. Plus a whole new range with 2 channels per stop. Totally custom built... no prices yet, but apparently a 30 stop 60 channel organ was shown at the seminar yesterday.....Wow. Look like built in MIDI record /playback facilities also coming even storage on a memory stick - this means they'll have USB ports. More details as we hear ourselves. New Q 300 will be £19950 + VAT - with Allen wood keyboards, very neat layout . April 2007. New Viscount Prices - up by more than we expected: New Prestige 20 with 30 note pedalboard and 31 stops / general pistons only, £6200. Prestige 40 now £7000, Prestige 50 now £8000 Prestige 60 now £8800, Prestige 70 £10500 Prestige 80 £11200 Prestige 100 £16200 and the new moving drawstop Prestige 100 £22000. New Canticus 50 £9300 with 30 note pedalboard and Canticus 50 £9500. Accupipe expander becomes £1750 New prices for Vivace :Vivace 10 - brand new single manual console organ £1950 inc VAT. Vivace 20 £2900, Vivace 30 £3600 ( de luxe £4000) Vivace 40 £4200, Vivace 50 £4900 Vivace 60£5100 Vivace 60 de luxe £6000. All inc VAT. 30 note pedalboards now expected May... We went to Frankfurt. (Fell in love with a rebuilt Steinway ! some folk in Poland rebuilding them - stunning workmanship .... but we sell church organs. There is prototype Rodgers - small 2 manuals and pedals with divisional and general pistons. A new Rodgers A778, plus moving drawstops as a Factory option on the Viscount Prestige 100. Photos will appear shortly. More work with the National Youth Orchestra. We used our new Allen QLF315 for Respighi - wow was that loud. Nice comments from one of our existing customers. March 2007. Frankfurt Trade Show 28th - 30th March, the occasion every year when Viscount release new products or updates etc., along with all the other major manufacturers. We'll be there. Concert with the LSO coming up - Mahler II at the Barbican - gorgeous music ! Residence organ installed near Dorchester. New Allen into All Saints Dedworth near Windsor. Installations to do in Ash and New Cross, plus very busy with hire work - Easter is coming !. Our new QLF 315 arrives next week. February 2007. A concert to raise money for the Prince's Trust at the Barbican. . Busy month. Concerts with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and LSO. January 2007 : Hires in Cardiff, Harrogate, Derby, Worcester as well as London's Barbican Centre and recording sessions ast Cadogan Hall. The miles have clocked up this month ! Also rehearsals and show with the National Youth Orchestra - if you haven't heard tham live - make the effort to go to one of their concerts - you won't be disappointed. Frankfurt Trade Show is coming up at the end of March. We expect some new models and perhaps some changes to existing ones. More information as it appears. December 2006 : We have ordered a new three manual Quantum organ from Allen, for our hire fleet - it should be with us February / March 2007. Allen kindly loaned us one to try out for some Carol Concerts and it was a resounding success! November 2006 : The move of a five manual organ !!
Last week we undertook to move a five manual drawstop organ. The only problem being - it had to come out of a first floor window ! Working within the new HSE regulations meant building a scoffold tower and ramp so it came down safely. Here are some more images - yes it got down in one piece
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