Organ Historical Trust of Australia

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Organ Historical Trust of Australia
FoundedMay 1977 (1977-05)
Type National peak body for pipe organ preservation and conservation
Location
  • Australia
Area served
Australia, New Zealand
Key people
Steve Kaesler OAM (Chairman) [1]
Website www.ohta.org.au

The Organ Historical Trust of Australia (OHTA) is a national organisation which works towards:

Contents

Origin and foundation

Historic George Fincham organ at St Mary Star of the Sea, West Melbourne, Australia's largest 19th-century instrument still intact Star of the Sea Organ.jpg
Historic George Fincham organ at St Mary Star of the Sea, West Melbourne, Australia's largest 19th-century instrument still intact

OHTA's establishment in 1977 took place in response to a period following World War II when several significant organs in Australia were either destroyed completely (for example, the Grand Organ erected in 1880 by George Fincham [4] [5] and Son [6] in the Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne, Victoria [7] }, significantly altered (for example, the organs of St. Andrew's Anglican Cathedral, Sydney, New South Wales, [8] St. John's Anglican Cathedral, Brisbane, Queensland, [9] the 1926 J. E. Dodd [10] organ of St. Francis Xavier's Catholic Cathedral, Adelaide, South Australia [11] and the Pilgrim Uniting (originally Congregational) Church [12] organ, [13] also in Adelaide), or left temporarily or permanently disused while being replaced with electronic or digital organs (for example, St. Joseph's Catholic Church, Newtown, New South Wales, [14] and St. Mary's Anglican Church, Kangaroo Point, a suburb of Brisbane. [15] )

On 13 May 1977, a public meeting was held in the Chapter House of St. Paul's Anglican Cathedral, Melbourne, and OHTA was formed. At the time, the organisation was conceived as a means for extending the work of the National Trust of Australia. In 1978, OHTA was incorporated under the Victorian Companies Act 1961, directed by a Council made up of representatives from each State of Australia, [16] and offering membership to all members of the general public. [17]

OHTA is registered with the Australian Government as a Registered Charity recognizing its status as a not-for-profit cultural organization, category: Advancing culture. [18]

See also

Organ Historical Society, a similar organization in America

References

  1. ↑ "ohta.org.au Council". Archived from the original on 13 January 2011. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
  2. ↑ Collins, Irma H. (2013). Dictionary of Music Education. Scarecrow Press. p. 212. ISBN   9780810886520. OCLC   931079657.
  3. ↑ Bush, Douglas Earl; Kassel, Richard (2014). The Organ: An Encyclopedia (2nd ed.). London: Routledge. p. 381. ISBN   9781138791466. OCLC   920748288.
  4. ↑ Henwood, John (1972). "George Fincham (1828–1910)". Australian Dictionary of Biography . Vol. 4. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN   978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN   1833-7538. OCLC   70677943 . Retrieved 29 August 2025.
  5. ↑ "GEORGE FINCHAM". Archived from the original on 25 February 2013.
  6. ↑ "A Century plus of Fincham organs". Archived from the original on 31 August 2007. Retrieved 30 August 2010., includes a listing of all the organs built by this company in the period 1864–1994.
  7. ↑ See http://www.ohta.org.au/organs/organs/Exhibition.html. According to this website, the organ, with 4 manuals, 70 speaking stops and 4,726 pipes, was shown as No. 20 in the list of the world's largest organs at that time.
  8. ↑ http://www.sydneyorgan.com/SACorgan.html and http://sydneyorgan.com/SACHistframes.html)
  9. ↑ http://www.ohta.org.au/organs/organs/BrisbaneAngCath.html and http://www.stjohnscathedral.com.au/community/music/organist_and_choirs.html Archived 24 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine . Both websites report on major alterations being undertaken on this instrument in the period 2009-2010 following the organ's enlargement and electrification in 1972.
  10. ↑ Naylor, Bruce (1981). "Josiah Eustace Dodd (1856–1952)". Australian Dictionary of Biography . Vol. 8. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN   978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN   1833-7538. OCLC   70677943 . Retrieved 29 August 2025.
  11. ↑ "St Francis Xavier's Catholic Cathedral, Wakefield Street, Adelaide".
  12. ↑ "Home". pilgrim.org.au.
  13. ↑ "Pilgrim Uniting Adelaide".
  14. ↑ As this website shows, the organ there is unplayable – see http://sydneyorgan.com/StJosephsNewtown.html. A Rogers analog organ has been in use there for several years.
  15. ↑ For a history and description of the instrument, Queensland's oldest pipe organ, see http://www.saintmarys.org.au/organ.htm Archived 3 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine . In this case, several attempts, the last being in 2007, have been made to raise sufficient funds for the organ's restoration or alteration, without success. This church is currently using an Allen digital organ which was purchased in 2008 – see http://www.saintmarys.org.au/music.htm Archived 3 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine .
  16. ↑ "OHTA Council". ohta.org.au. Archived from the original on 16 July 2007.
  17. ↑ "Membership". ohta.org.au. Archived from the original on 29 August 2007.
  18. ↑ "Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission: Organ Historical Trust of Australia" . Retrieved 18 June 2022.

Detailed information about the Organ Historical Trust of Australia is available in its own website .

An archive of documents and other material covering the period from the founding of the Organ Historical Trust of Australia in 1977 is held at The University of Melbourne .

Additional written and photographic material is held within the State Library of New South Wales – see An archive of documents and other material covering the period from the founding of the Organ Historical Trust of Australia in 1977 is held at The University of Melbourne .

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