Building the ‘king of instruments’ in York

Monday 6th June 2022, 2:00pm - 3:00pm 29-31 Coney Street
Playing an organ in York.

Description

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart famously stated in 1777 that to his ‘eyes and ears the organ is the king of instruments’. You may know that most of the churches and chapels in York contain (or have contained) at least one pipe organ (York Minster had two from 1863 until 1904!), but did you know that many of these instruments were built by local craftsmen? Over four-hundred and fifty organs were constructed in York by sixteen separate organ-building businesses during the nineteenth century alone. Discover more about this specialist industry with Dr Maximillian Elliott and find out who was (and is!) responsible for building ‘the king of instruments’ in our musical city!

 

Dr Maximillian Elliott is currently serving as Music Secretary at York Minster and as one of the Diocese of York’s two Organs Advisers. Having graduated from the University of York with a first-class BA in Historical Archaeology in 2013 and an MA with distinction in Historical Archaeology in 2015, Max then spent five years researching and writing about the organ-building history of York for his PhD. Max is an active member of the York & District Organists’ Association (serving as its President from 2017 until 2019) and Assistant Director of Music at two historic churches in the city – St Olave and All Saints, North Street.

 

Visit www.yorkorganhistory.co.uk for more information. 

Booking information

This event is open to bookings and walk-ins.

Location

53.958698856503, -1.0836288184199