Church ready to welcome sounds of organ at recital
A city church will echo to the sounds of its refurbished organ as a series of concerts take place.
St Peter's Church in Wolverhampton will be hosting three organ recitals, featuring an international standard organist in Nathan Laube, sub-organist for Westminster Abbey Peter Holder and director of music at St Peter's Church, Callum Alger.
The recitals, which start on Saturday, May 14, will be the first proper chance for the newly refurbished Father Willis Organ to be played to an audience since the refurbishment of the organ, which dates back to 1860, was completed in late 2019.
The work, which cost around £350,000 and took 10 years to raise the funding for, had started in 2018 and was meant to culminate in the series of concerts taking place in 2020, but were postponed due to Covid restrictions.
The Rector of St Peter's Church, Rev. David Wright, said it was the culmination of a long journey and said expectation was high for the recitals.
He said: "It's a real achievement to have this festival taking place as the rebuild began in 2018 and after we had completed the work, we had the series of recitals planned, but Covid got in the way.
"It meant we never really got the chance to celebrate the restoration because it just didn't happen and the level of expectation is really high as we had to think about who we could get to do the inaugural recital on a newly built organ of this historical significance.
"That's why having Nathan Laube here is so exciting as he's internationally renowned and it's quite a coup for Wolverhampton to get someone of his standard to come and play the recital for us."
The three concerts on May 14, June 18 and July 16 will provide this in attendance with the chance to hear classics by Johann Sebastian Bach, Edward Elgar, Felix Mendelssohn and Franz Liszt, with the opportunity for food and a drink after each concert.
Rev. Wright said the concerts were a great chance to hear an historic instrument and encouraged the public to come along and take in a concert.
He said: "The organ is a superb instrument which has a real role in the life of Wolverhampton and has been superbly restored by Michael Farley.
"After the painstaking work, it's now set to be demonstrated to the full breadth of its ability by three very talented organists and I look forward to welcoming people to it."
The concerts are £10 each or £25 for a season ticket for all three concerts and can be booked by going to trybooking.com
