Author: Melanie Plumley

Newly published: The new 417 page hardback book ‘Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, Organ Builder of Paris: The British Connections’ is now published by BIOS. It has been written by Gerald Sumner and pre-orders are now being despatched. It can be ordered for posted despatch at this page which also has links to order the many other publications…

29th November 12:00 for 12:30 at the Grosvenor Chapel, 24 South Audley Street, London W1K 2PA. As we look forward towards marking the first fifty years of BIOS in 2026 all members, wives, husbands, partners and friends are invited to gather and begin the celebrations! Cost will be £50 for a three course lunch, including…

BIOS, the RCO, the Society of Women Organists, the IBO, the IAO, and others will be supporting the Heritage Open Day at Reading Town Hall on Saturday 13th September. William McVicker, Andrew Scott, Bruce Buchanan, Nicholas Thistlethwaite and Tom Bell will all make varied contributions. There will be a masterclass, and also an opportunity for…

The June meeting of the BIOS Council approved five new Historic Organ Listings. Morville, St Gregory, c 1855 Holdich [N04753]: Grade II An organ by Holdich from c 1855 that contains historic pipework and includes a rare, intact example of a Holdich Diaocton. Grade, Cornwall, St Grada & Holy Cross, 1885 Brewer & Co [D00797]: Grade…

BIOS will be celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2026 with a residential conference in Oxford from 9-11 April. The topic of the conference will be “The Global British Organ”. We warmly invite proposals for individual papers and themed round-table discussions, as well as other types of presentation (including 30-minute lecture-recitals, venue permitting), on any relevant…

St John’s Church, 12 St John’s Street, Chichester PO19 1UU Saturday 7th June: Opened in 1813, St John’s Chapel is a rare surviving example of a Georgian proprietary chapel retaining most of its original early nineteenth century features. Proprietary chapels were a solution to the problem of insufficient capacity within existing parish churches to meet…

Saturday April 12th 2025 – 10.30 for 11.00 The morning featured talks entitled ‘Wills, Willis and St Monica’s Care Home, Westbury-on-Trym’ with William McVicker and Owen Woods charting the history and technical detail of what was the Wills family house organ. In addition Ds Bertjan van de Lagemaat, Minister of the Dutch Church, provided a…

The BIOS Historic Organ Sound Archive (HOSA) continues to grow. The latest addition to the YouTube collection is the 1755 Snetzler organ now at Clare College in Cambridge and restored by the William Drake company. (NPOR A01068). Dr Anna Steppler plays music by Eliza Turner, Maurice Greene, Ignatius Sancho, Elisabetta de Gambarini and G F…

Richard D. Hird MA MRTPI LTCL had a number of roles in the UK organ world and died a few days ago. He was active in several organisations as well as BIOS. For many years he was the BIOS Honorary Treasurer and also built and managed the website BIOS used until 2012. By profession he…

The January meeting of the BIOS Council approved three new Historic Organ Listings. Upper Slaughter, St Peter, 1855 J Walker [D01288]: Grade II A surviving, characteristic example of an organ from 1855 by a prominent builder at a period of transition in British organ building. Harby, St Mary 1808 Elliot, 1874 Lloyd [K01581]: Grade II…