Education
Education work is a critical part of our activity. We believe passionately in the organ as a musical instrument, and we want to encourage as many people as possible to learn how it works, to appreciate its music and, we hope, to become interested in learning how to play it. The organ, uniquely, touches on so many disciplines (music, physics, history, design and technology) that there is something about the instrument to interest everybody. We are passionate about telling local people that they have a great cultural asset on their doorstep.
We have now shown off the instrument to more than 3,000 local schoolchildren, with two main strands of work. We present a large-scale show bi-annually for Primary 6 and 7 pupils, fronted by international virtuoso organist and educator Daniel Moult. This multimedia spectacular introduces them to the instrument and how it works, brings volunteers on stage to take part and involves all the audience in the construction of a musical work, finishing with an improvised soundtrack to a well-known story. For more specialised secondary school pupils, we have an annual session where participants learn about the instrument and relate it to concepts and ideas which they have learned in school. They all have an opportunity to bring music to play. We are looking to expand this work further, with plans to introduce the Pedals, Pipes and Pizzas concept in conjunction with the Royal College of Organists.
Our education work is lifelong, and in addition to our work with schools we regularly show the instrument to parties of visitors from churches, clubs and similar organisations. If you would like to find out more about arranging one of these visits, please contact the hall directly.
Education resources
Resources for groups visiting one of our education events can be downloaded here.