£950,000 lottery award for Royal Festival Hall organ
17 June 2010
The restoration of the Royal Festival Hall organ gets green light© Morley Von Sternberg
The Heritage Lottery Fund has awarded a grant of £950,000 to Southbank Centre towards the restoration and reinstallation of the Royal Festival Hall organ, it was announced today.
The 1954 Grade 1-listed Harrison & Harrison organ was taken out in 2005 in preparation for the restoration of the Royal Festival Hall; when the Hall reopened in 2007, only one-third of the instrument was replaced. The completion and reinstallation of the remaining two-thirds - with almost 5,000 pipes of the organ's full complement of 7,710 - will be the final piece of the jigsaw in the architectural centrepiece of Sir Leslie Martin’s concert auditorium.
Harrison & Harrison will carry out the work, which is expected to be completed in time for the organ's 60th anniversary in 2014.
A complementary community learning and engagement programme will enable people of all ages to experience the organ for free. These will include an organ scholar placement, free monthly recitals in partnership with the Royal College of Music and Royal Academy of Music, and provision for two new apprentices to work with Harrison & Harrison.
Southbank Centre chief executive Alan Bishop said:
'I would like to thank the Heritage Lottery Fund for their significant contribution to the full restoration of the great organ of the Royal Festival Hall for the next generation. This is a major boost ahead of our fundraising campaign, which we will launch in September, announcing how the public can also support the completion of the organ project.'
