My 4 manual PHOENIX ORGAN is now 17 months old, and as far as I know is still the only 4 manual electronic organ in the whole of Ireland.  It was recorded in the Church of Our Lady, Moneyglass, Co. Antrim when it was less than one month old, and soundbites are available on the Audio Page.  A free CD is also available if you mail me.  It does need to be recorded again though, because tonally there are many things which have changed for the better since then.  It still has lighted stop control as well, but the (too small) fiddly switches and paper labels have been changed to proper lighted tabs, and there is another new console under construction which will have drawstops (about 130!).  It has been used at least six times in the Waterfront Hall here in Belfast, and has been a significant part of the orchestral texture in broadcasts of Mahler 8, Faure Requiem, Elgar Enigma Variations and most recently Mendelssohn 2.  It has also been used three times at the West end of Belfast Cathedral, and on one of the occasions was to provide an accompaniment to the silent film "Phantom of the Opera" which was superbly played by Donald McKenzie, organist of the Odeon Leicester Square.  It was also installed in Bangor Abbey where it was used for a concert given by a very well known American Organist.  

Up until mid 1999 I was the Northern Ireland Makin representative and below are some links to examples of recent work - all custom organs, no "off the shelf" jobs here.  This custom building is a trend which I will continue with PHOENIX ORGANS as this system has been designed with custom building specifically in mind.  Nobody would ever dream of buying a pipe organ "off the shelf". For those of you with an interest in digital organs in Northern Ireland, here are some more links to projects completed and in the pipeline. There are also many links to other Pipe Organ and Choral Websites on the Links page.

Prior to September 1998, I spent 25 years at the console of Cooke Centenary Church Belfast - a large 3m/97 organ probably best described as being of mixed parentage.  Over the past 16 years I had been gradually rebuilding this instrument in my spare time, which is roughly 30% E F Walcker, 30% Conacher, 10% Wells-Kennedy and 10% my own work.  However, things don't always work out, and a disagreement with the church authorities forced me to relinquish this fine position, but I leave the following information for those organophiles who may be still interested.  By the way, the remaining 20% was in the future, but I doubt that this organ will ever be finished now.


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©SGH Dec 2001 ©SGH Jan 2002