Our concert on Sunday 11th October at 2.30pm brings together two very different musical journeys to the console of the Victoria Hall Saltaire Wurlitzer, for an afternoon celebrating both classical pedigree and hands-on organ craftsmanship.
Mark Laflin discovered the theatre organ early, before pursuing formal classical training that took him to the Royal College of Music and to Keble College, Oxford, where he held the post of organ scholar. Years later he returned to his first love, the theatre pipe organ, and has since built a busy concert career either side of that classical foundation. He has recorded two acclaimed albums, at the Tywyn Wurlitzer and the Clayhall Compton, and his playing has featured on BBC broadcasts and on popular organ podcasts, including a stint as resident organist for The Organist Encores.
Robert Balfour-Rowley has that rarest of combinations: a master organ-builder who is equally at home performing. After training as an electronic engineer, Robert moved into organ building and has spent his career maintaining and restoring some of the country's finest instruments - from London's Royal Festival Hall and Westminster Abbey to Watford Colosseum and our own Wurlitzer here at Victoria Hall, on which he has carried out extensive restoration work. Having spent years immersed in the mechanics of these magnificent instruments, Robert is now increasingly returning to the console himself, bringing an organ-builder's insight to every performance.
Together, they promise an afternoon of light and popular music that showcases both the artistry and the engineering behind the Mighty Wurlitzer.
Light refreshments available (for a donation), under stage tours to see the organ chambers with around 1000 pipes and percussions, level access (via a lift) from Lockwood Street. Saltaire station a few minutes walk.
Event venue
Victoria Hall, Victoria Hall, Victoria Rd, Saltaire, Shipley BD18 3JS, United Kingdom, Shipley
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