Internationally renowned organists to play at Selby Abbey’s free lunchtime concerts

  • This is the fourth series of FREE lunchtime organ recitals
  • Internationally acclaimed organists will perform on the restored Hill organ
  • Series will raise money for Selby Abbey’s celebrated organ and recital programme
  • Every Tuesday at 12.30pm from June 26th until July 31st
  • Two additional special concerts on 14th August and 14th September 2018

Selby Abbey in North Yorkshire will again host a series of organ recitals this summer following the success of the three previous series – an estimated 1,000 people enjoyed the 2017 series.

Internationally renowned cathedral and concert organists are taking part to play the Abbey’s four manual 58-stop organ, made for the Abbey in 1909 by William Hill. The restoration of this masterpiece was completed last year, thanks to a successful appeal.

This year, as always, the summer concerts are free. There will be a retiring collection to support the Abbey’s celebrated Hill Organ and these recitals. A commemorative 54-page concert programme can be purchased for £5.

The roof restoration appeal

The Selby Abbey Trust has launched a £3 million appeal to restore roofs and gutters at the abbey. Recent inspections confirm that failing lead on the roofs and multiple cracks in the gutter systems and asphalt covers are allowing water into the building through damaged and eroded masonry, much of it medieval. Therefore, stonework repair, guttering and roofing restoration are all urgently required.

The 950th Anniversary Roof Appeal has been launched to raise these funds. The abbey was founded in 1069 and its 950th anniversary will take place in 2019 during the lifetime of the Roof Appeal.

This year's recitals

This year the series will feature works by Liszt, Reubke, Mozart, JS Bach, César Franck and others. The programme is:
26th June - Aleksandr Nisse The Carmelite Church Dublin
3rd July - Ashley Grote, Organist and Master of the Choristers Norwich Cathedral
10th July - Robert Sharpe, Organist and Master of the Choristers York Minster
17th July - John Scott Whiteley, Organist Emeritus, York Minster
24th July - Daniel Cook Organist and Master of the Choristers Durham Cathedral
31st July - Michael Overbury, International Recitalist Newark

Two additional concerts

14th August - Christopher Too, aged 17, organ scholar, Ampleforth Abbey

14th September at 7pm ‘The Battle of the Organs’ – D’Arcy Trinkwon and John Scott Whiteley will play the Regent Classic Organ and the Abbey’s own Hill organ in a special evening concert.

About the Hill organ and the new recordings - now available on CD

Now the sound of the Hill organ is back to its best, as it was when its international reputation was established in the 1960s by Fernando Germani. Many famous organists have played it but it was the three iconic LP recordings in the early 1960s by Italian maestro, Fernando Germani, which brought the organ its global recognition. Three new CDs recorded on the Abbey’s famous Hill Organ are now available including (5***** Choir & Organ) ‘Beautiful Bach’ with Michael Overbury, and a new CD of Liszt, Thiele, Brahms, Raff and Reubke played by John Scott Whiteley organist emeritus of York Minster as well as the best of Germani’s iconic recordings now digitally re-mastered on a new (‘Critics Choice’) CD to high acclaim. Furthermore, critically acclaimed DVD recordings by John Scott Whiteley, D'Arcy Trinkwon and Joseph Nolan playing in Selby Abbey are on sale with all the new CDs in the Abbey bookshop and at www.selbyabbeyorgan.co.uk.

All profits from the CDs and DVDs will go to the organ’s upkeep.

Selby Abbey Lunchtime Organ Recital: Aleksandr Nisse, The Carmelite Church Dublin