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Stand shoulder to shoulder with the generous people of New Plymouth who have funded the Taranaki Cathedral Pipe Organ over the past 150 years – Donate today and ensure this magnificent instrument retains its central place within the cathedral and community.

 

#1 Make A Direct Donation via online banking (or at your local bank) to:

Taranaki Anglican Trust Board 15 3942 0846740 01

Put ORGAN as a reference and we’ll make sure your donation goes directly and specifically to our Organ Restoration Fund.

 Donations of $5 or more are tax deductible – simply email donate@taranakicathedral.org.nz and we’ll give you a tax receipt.

 

#2 Donate Via Give A Little

Visit www.givealittle.co.nz/cause/taranaki-cathedral-pipe-organ-donate   

(Give A Little deducts 5 percent of anything we raise with them, so it is better for us if you donate directly as above).

 

 

Learn A Little More About What We’re Doing

For more than 150 years Taranaki Cathedral Church of St Mary has been filled with music from its Pipe Organ.

 

While the cathedral is closed (and we raise the money needed for structural earthquake strengthening work) it’s the perfect time to refurbish this impressive $1.4 million instrument.

 

We need your help to raise $246,000 to ensure Taranaki Cathedral’s Pipe Organ continues to sing for future generations.

 

A Concert Hall Within A Cathedral

While undertaking the structural earthquake strengthening work required to reopen Taranaki Cathedral, we are seizing the opportunity to make interior modifications and create a more flexible space where people can gather, not only for worship, but for  live performances where our Pipe Organ will have a starring role.

 

Taranaki Cathedral Church of St Mary’s Pipe Organ

Pipe Organs are unmatched in the range and complexity of sounds they can produce. Coupled with their ability to hold a continuous tone, they have a power other instruments can’t replicate.

 

Taranaki Cathedral Church of St Mary’s Pipe Organ is valued at more than has a detached console, three keyboards, 8 couplers, 30 pedals, 31 stops, more than 1,700 pipes and is valued at more than $1.4 million.

 

More Than An Instrument of Worship

For more than a century and a half music lovers have been delighted by the transcendent music produced by St Mary’s Pipe Organ.

 

As well as sacred music, our Pipe Organ is particularly suited to Classical, Romantic and Baroque compositions.

 

 

The annual performance of Handel’s Messiah, starring our Pipe Organ and the Ars Nova choir, is a beloved Christmas tradition for music lovers throughout Taranaki.

 

Taranaki Cathedral’s current Director of Music, Christopher Luke, is a wonderfully accomplished organist who has played all over the world from St Paul’s Cathedral in London to CITY in China and from all eight of Australia’s capital cities to Paris, France. He is looking forward to getting back behind his beloved Pipe Organ and playing for parishioners and the public alike.  

 

A History Of Community Support

Since the very beginning the people of New Plymouth have valued Taranaki Cathedral’s Pipe Organ. The money to build, ship and install the organ (£330 in 1864) was fundraised in the community, as have been the costs for the many extensions, alterations and refurbishments the  Pipe Organ has undergone over the years.

 

1864                 Bishop & Starr of London build original single manual organ to Archdeacon Govett’s specifications.

 

1892-96            Organ converted to water power and upgraded to have 15 stops, 572 pipes and two manuals.

 

1892                 Extensive alterations undertaken. Organ now has 1400 pipes, 32 stops and is second largest in New Zealand (after Christchurch Cathedral’s).

 

1905                 Third manual (pneumatic action) added.

 

1927                 The manuals are converted to electro-pneumatic actions.

 

1968                 A substantial $6,000 refurbishment by George Croft & Sons (Auckland) including electrifying the actions and adding an entirely new console.

 

1985                 Major cleaning and repairs, a 16 foot pedal trumpet added.

 

A Taonga For The Future

The $246,000 refurbishment of Taranaki Cathedral’s Pipe Organ will ensure that future generations of locals can continue to enjoy this wonderful instrument.

Filed under Cathedral Life \ Cathedral Remediation Work