A drop-in session facilitated by local historians and through Edge Hill University offered a spectacular display of local history documents and photographs in the Tower Room, with an opportunity for local families to recount their own history. This was accompanied by external and internal flood lighting of the building, with additional images of the town in years gone by, projected as a rolling display onto the walls of the building, as seen in the photographs following:

Look carefully at the photograph; Wayne’s attention to detail is simply spectacular!

In collaboration with West Lancs District Council, and with funding from the Heritage Action Zone, Ormskirk Parish Church formed the venue for a concert by the prizewinning Fairey Band (formerly Fairey Aviation) culminating in a live, big-screen performance of Raymond Briggs’s ‘The Snowman’ on Saturday 2nd December 2023. This was a huge success, played out to a packed audience. At the same time, this year saw the revival of Ormskirk’s Christmas Tree Festival, in which local businesses, schools and voluntary organisations displayed their individually-decorated (and often themed) Christmas Trees along the north and south aisle walls of the church.

Date for your diary

Saturday 9 September

To include an afternoon Masterclass on the organ, from 2:00pm until 5:00pm, given by Dr. John Kitchen, FRCO, MBE and followed in the evening by an evening recital, commencing at 7:00pm, by the renowned Tom Bell.

The Masterclass is provided under the auspices of the Royal College of Organists and sponsored by the Liverpool Organists’ Assocation. Participants may be of any level of playing, and should bring along their own music. Tuition will be under the direction of Dr John Kitchen.

John Kitchen, MBE, Ph.D, MA, BMus, LRAM, FRCO

Born in 1950, John Kitchen’s interest in playing the organ began at the age of 7. Originally from Coatbridge, he was awarded a MA and BMus from Glasgow University before becoming Organ Scholar at Clare College, Cambridge, where he studied organ under (now Dame) Gillian Weir and composition under John Rutter. During this time, he was awarded his Fellowship of the Royal College of Organists. His doctoral thesis was titled “Harpsichord music of seventeenth century France: the forms, their origins and developments, with particular emphasis on the work of Louis Couperin (1626–1661)”.

From 1976 until 1988, he was Lecturer and University Organist at the University of St Andrews. When the department closed, temporarily, in 1988, he moved to the University of Edinburgh, where he became Senior Lecturer and University Organist. He is also Organist to the City of Edinburgh. His especial academic interests focus on early keyboard music and he has recorded the complete works of William Russell (1777-1813) and Johann Ludwig Krebs (1713-1780). For many years, he has also served as Director of Music of Old St Paul’s Episcopal Church, Edinburgh. He was awarded an MBE for his services to music in the 2016 Birthday Honours of the late Queen Elizabeth II.

Tom Bell, GRNCM

Tom Bell moved from Gateacre, Liverpool, to Ormskirk, at an early age. He undertook his primary education at Ormskirk CE Primary School and then attended Ormskirk Grammar School (now Ormskirk School) for two years before moving to Kent. His father was, for a short time, Organist at this church and it was here, whilst at primary school, that he sang in the choir and became interested in playing the organ. Subsequently, studying Organ at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, under Kevin Bowyer, he became a prize-winner. He has recorded commercial CD’s in locations including Blackburn and Durham Cathedrals, as well as St. Bartholomew’s, Armley, Leeds (home of the famous Schulze organ). These have included the complete organ works of Arnold Schoenberg – no mean feat!
Tom is Director of the annual London Organ Day, in which capacity he has worked previously alongside John Kitchen, and Royal College of Organists Director for the North of England, Wales and the Isle of Man, for which purpose he relocated to Lancashire. Previously, he had been Director of Music in churches in Westhoughton, Esher and, latterly, St Michael’s, Chester Square, Belgravia, where one of his predecessors was Sir Arthur Sullivan (of Gilbert and Sullivan fame). He is married with one infant son, has interests in fell-walking, real ale and steam trains! He is very much looking forward to returning to perform on the organ which first sparked his interest in the organ and all that it entails.
He has played recitals at many of the major cathedrals in the UK and, in two recitals at Blackburn, in May, he will be playing two pieces by Olivier Messiaen – L’Ascension and Messe de la Pentecôte.
Tom is a regular columnist in the Organists’ Review. In collaboration with Richard Brasier, he recently led a UK tour for organists hailing from all over the USA, entitled ‘Pipeworks‘. As part of his RCO portfolio, he is heavily committed to introducing ordinary young people from other-than-privileged backgrounds to the sound, music and playing of the organ.

BOOKING

Booking for the Masterclass, either as a participant or as an observer, is via the RCO website; head to:

RCO Courses, Classes and Events: Performance Class with John Kitchen

Booking for the Evening Recital by Tom Bell is via Eventbrite; head to:

PLEASE NOTE THAT MASTERCLASS ATTENDEES WILL RECIEVE FREE ADMISSION TO THE EVENING RECITAL

If there is sufficient demand, we will attempt to secure an early evening meal in one of the local restaurants between the class and the recital; attendees will be approached individually.

LIVERPOOL ORGANISTS’ ASSOCIATION MEMBERS

Liverpool Organists’ Association members who are not attendees at the Masterclass will be admitted to the evening recital at a reduced price; simply enter the Promo Code of which you will have been advised by email to avail yourselves of this opportunity!

Parbold Sing4Fun provided an evening of fantastic entertainment for a large gathering; some local, others visitors. Many people have stopped me since the evening to say how much they’d enjoyed it, and I agree completely. If you weren’t there, I’d hope we’d be able to repeat the experience at some point in the future, albeit with a different programme. But there was, as they advertised, something for everyone. Sincere thanks go to all the individual members of the group, including, of course, their Leader, the irrepressible Jo MacRae, and their fantastically adept accompanist, Nigel Hill. And, of course to the members of the congregation of Ormskirk Parish Church who worked so hard on the refreshments and on manning the door! Wonderful stuff!!

Wednesday 25 January saw the official launch of our Heritage Project. As the church building is used infrequently during the week, we are aiming to return it to its original, mediaeval function, as a meeting-place for the whole community. The aim is to make it suitable for use in hosting a wide variety of events. Initially, this would include only those which could take place in the building as it now appears, but the limitations of a building which, despite its immense size, currently has only a limited amount of performance space, are very much appreciated.

To resolve this, we aim to secure funding which would allow us to make some changes to the furnishings of the building whilst maintaining its integrity as a place which reflects the history of the town itself through its architecture, monuments and memorials. This will involve the involvement of an architect with considerable experience of working in such a building, so that nothing of its present character is lost.

We hope to end up with a building which is flexible enough to be able to cover all eventualities. Ideas already mooted by members of the public have included art exhibitions, classical music concerts, rock concerts, dance, boxing matches, food and beer festivals, awards ceremonies, etc. So, if you have any aspirations to put on an exhibition, an awards ceremony, a workshop, a conference or congress, or anything else, if this takes off, you’ll be able to do it in the surroundings of a beautiful and historic building, reflecting a new dawn in the history of our town!

Please do let us know your thoughts and suggestions!

The builder of the organ currently in Ormskirk Parish Church was one William Denman, a former apprentice of Robert Postill of York, who himself had previously looked after the old organ in Ormskirk. Postill had been a major player in the organ-building industry based in York, had rebuilt the organ in Durham Cathedral and built one for the chapel in Blenheim Palace, and had also built a number of instruments around our area, including St John’s, Burscough Bridge, Westhead Lathom St James and what is now Lord Street West URC in Southport. Denman would have worked with him on these and this is the most likely reason for his being appointed to build the new organ in Ormskirk.

Dr. Max Elliott, a former President of the York and District Organists’ Association, completed his PhD thesis on the organ builders of York and has presented a fascinating and detailed online discourse on the life and works of William Denman to that Association, which can be found on YouTube, and which is included here with his permission.

Please do have a look! It can be found by clicking the link below:

Mark Jones, who hails from the neighbouring parish of Aughton Christ Church, has recently gained the Associateship of the North & Midlands School of Music (ANMSM) in Organ Performance. Mark is a pupil of Dr Colin Porter, who regularly plays the organ at Ormskirk Parish Church for funerals and who travels to Ormskirk Parish Church to teach him.

Mark tells us:

“I recently became a member of North and Midlands School of Music. A few days after my fourteenth birthday, I sat the Associate Diploma in Organ Performance, at Ormskirk Parish Church in Lancashire. I was quite nervous, as this was my first organ exam. Chris Pilsbury, the Academic Registrar, tried to put me at ease and talked me through the assessment process.

The church was very cold and I had to warm my hands with hand warmers in between playing my pieces of music. At the end Chris discussed the music with me and told me that I had passed. I later received an encouraging report from him.

I wouldn’t have achieved this without Dr Colin Porter (Chairman, NMSM). I started organ lessons with Colin when I was eight years old, as an organ student with a bursary from the Lythgoe Fund of the Liverpool Organists’ Association. I couldn’t reach the pedals then. I’ve grown a bit now. Colin has been a great encouragement to me and an amazing teacher.

I hope to do the Licentiate Diploma in the future.”

The assessment took the form of a recital at an appropriate level of difficulty. Mark’s programme included the following pieces, with a short viva voce with the examiner at the end:

• March of the Priests (from ‘The Enchanted Flute’) – W A Mozart, arr. Dr CWP
• Prelude in D from ‘L’Organiste Moderne‘ – L J A Lefebure-Wely
• Tuba Tune – C S Lang
• Air & Gavotte – S. Wesley
• Prelude & Fugue in E Minor (_{BWV 533}) – J S Bach
• Andante – T Mee Pattison
• Allegro – T Mee Pattison

I am hoping that Mark will be able to perform a recital at the church at some point in the future.

Mark recorded his performance, which is available on YouTube at:

Please note that, due to precautions being taken to slow the spread of the current Coronavirus outbreak, the Church of England has suspended all formal public services indefinitely, in support of social distancing measures.  We hope to be back to normal as soon as possible!

Once again, the Ormskirk Occasional Singers, under the baton of former OPC Organist, Michael Kelsall) treated us to a memorable evening of musical delights!  Punctuated by audience-participation with seasonal hymns, the programme included a number of very familiar items, as we as some not so familiar.  This consisted of:

• Adam lay ybounden
• Gabriel’s Message
• Cherry Tree Carol
• And the Glory of the Lord (Messiah)
• For unto Us a child is born (Messiah)
• Angels’ Carol
• O Holy Night (solo)
• Angelus ad Virginem
• Sans Day Carol
• Star Carol
• Up, good Christen Folk
• Wassail
• What Cheer
• Rejoice and be Merry
• Tomorrow shall be my Dancing Day
• Masters in this Hall
• The Christmas Song
• Jingle Bells
• Storke Carol (duet)
• The Twelve Days of Christmas
• We Wish you a Merry Christmas

What appeared to be a very long programme was entirely mitigated by the high performance quality throughout the concert.

Michael Kelsall (above) also played an organ solo; no mean feat given that his music was so tattered that each page was completely loose; a page-turner’s nightmare (as I soon discovered!).  The concert was well-supported and we look forward to future visits by the choir.