50th Anniversary1963-2013

St AlbansInternational

Organ Festival

Well it is finally here –

our 50th Anniversary

Year! It is wonderful to

think that quite a few

of our members were

involved at the very start,

and I wonder just how

many of them would

have predicted that the

St Albans International

Organ Festival would still be ‘the one to win’ half a

century later.

Looking back at the Chairman’s message in the

January 2009 newsletter I was interested to see the

headline ‘An exciting Festival ahead, in challeng-

ing times.’ I couldn’t have put it better! The past

five decades have included periods of growth or

consolidation or basic survival, depending on the

economic situation. We all know that the current

financial climate is as bad as it has ever been during

the IOFS’s existence, and this is making fundrais-

ing harder than ever. The magnificent support of

members for our BigGive project has therefore been

all the more welcome, and I am enormously grateful

to those of you who contributed to this initiative.

We also owe a huge debt of thanks to Colin Hamling

for coordinating our BigGive entry and for ensuring

that it was so successful.

However, even with the BigGive funds we still

face a substantial challenge if we wish to put on

the sort of festival worthy of a 50th anniversary;

this is in spite of having applied to dozens of new

trusts for financial support. Our fundraising work

continues but any help our members can give, for

example through putting us in touch with potential

sponsors, would be invaluable. We are also looking

for help with a variety of specific projects, including

contacting local businesses to discuss advertising

and/or sponsorship. If you think you could help,

please let me know.

Our Board members take on a range of tasks and

I’m most grateful to them for the work they have

put in over the past year. Roger Lander and Mervyn

Hogg have served the IOFS as Board members (and

Roger as Finance Director) for many years and will

be enjoying a well-earned break from Board respon-

sibilities (though I suspect they will still remain very

active members!). We shall be sorry to lose them,

but I am delighted that Aideen McNamara and Mike

Johnson have agreed to put their names forward for

nomination at the AGM. They will bring invaluable

skills and experience to the Board at a particularly

challenging time.

Although our immediate task is to secure the

finances for another festival year, we must look

ahead to the longer-term future of the IOFS. We

have already seen the successful introduction of

a ‘mini-festival’ between competition years and

David Titterington will be describing his plans for

new activities and links with other organisations to

broaden our audience and to give us a wider base

of supporters. We must assume that the economic

climate will remain tough for some years to come,

so our approach to fundraising will need to change

significantly. What won’t change is our reputation as

‘the friendly competition’, supported by a dedicated

army of volunteers and delivering a world-class

festival. I look forward to celebrating this fact with

you at the AGM on the 23rd February.

Stephen Boffey

Newsletter Spring2013

MeMberShipMatterS

A warm welcome is extended to the following

people who have joined the society since the

publication of the last newsletter:

Emmanuel Awe South Ockendon

Mark James Barbican, London

Christopher Lodge Totternhoe

Gillian Targett-Adams Harpenden

Subscriptions

Subscriptions for the current year became due on

1 October 2012 but there are still two dozen or so

members who have not yet renewed. Reminders

have been sent either by email or letter. We don’t

want to lose anyone but if you haven’t yet paid this

will be the last newsletter you receive!

Email Addresses

As usual, I appeal to members who have recently

acquired or changed an email address to get in

touch with me so that we can send you timely

reminders of all the society’s activities.

Roger Trigg

Email: roger@triggmail.org.uk

Tel: 01923 774293

7 Armitage Close, Loudwater,

Rickmansworth WD3 4HL

iOFSlOttery2012-2013

The lucky prizewinners since the last Newsletter are:

September No 55 Pauline Baycroft

October No 79 Chris & Val Argue

November No 38 John Versey

December No 14 David Wakefield

January No 76 Marian Hossell

There is a prize of £50 every month until June 2013

and it is not too late to join in! If you have mislaid

your pink application form, I will gladly send you

another.

Your continued support is much appreciated

and the proceeds will give a welcome boost to next

year’s 50th Anniversary Festival.

Philip Vaughan

email: pcvaughan@btinternet.com

WebSiteandacceSStOMeMberS’areawww.organfestival.com

Username: ofmember

Password: diapason

The IOF Newsletter is designed by Maxine Anderson maxineadesign@virginmedia.com

abOutuSFounder and President Dr Peter Hurford OBE

Patrons

Sir Andrew Davis CBE; Dame Glynne Evans DBE, CMG;

The Rt Hon Lord McNally PC; The Marquess and

Marchioness of Salisbury; The Countess of Verulam;

The Right Worshipful the Mayor of the City and

District of St Albans; The Dean of St Albans

Chairman Stephen Boffey

Artistic Director David Titterington

Company Secretary Mary Webster

Finance Director Adam Blackie

Board Members

Colin Hamling, Mervyn Hogg, Marian Hossell,

Roger Lander, Angela Tucker, Mike Wardle

Administrator Linda Hamling

The IOF Newsletter is edited by Mary Jenkin.

Please send copy to me for future editions.

I may be contacted on 01582 843456 or by email

newsletter@organfestival.com

Material for the next edition of the Newsletter by

1st May 2013

Saturday 23 February 2013

St Albans Cathedral at 5.30pm

STEPHEN CLEOBURY UK - AGM Recital

Postlude in D minor Stanford

Alleluyas Simon Preston

Sonata no.2 Elgar

Resurgam Harvey Grace

Laudate Dominum Peter Hurford

Rhapsody no.1 Herbert Howells

Toccata giocosa William Matthias

Fantasia & Fugue in G Parry

Saturday 23 March 2013

St Saviour’s Church, St Albans at 5.30pm

MATTHEW MARTIN UK

Suite du deuxième ton Guilain

Fantasia in G Byrd

Jesus Christus, unser Heiland BWV665 J S Bach

Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr BWV662/663

Komm, Gott Schöpfer, Heiliger Geist BWV667

Antiphon: Regina caeli Cornet

Hymn: Pange lingua de Grigny

Magnificat primi toni BuxWV 203 Buxtehude

Nun Komm, der Heiden Heiland Bruhns

Grand Dialogue (1696) Marchand

Saturday 13 April 2013

St Peter’s Church, St Albans at 5.30pm

CATHERINE ENNIS UK

Overture to The Occasional Oratorio Handel

Concerto in D minor BWV546 J S Bach

Freu dich sehr, O meine Seele Pachelbel

Toccata & Fugue in F major BWV540 J S Bach

Sonata in B flat major op.65 no.4 Mendelssohn

Combat de la mort et de la vie

from Les Corps Glorieux Messiaen

March on Handel’s “Lift up your heads” Guilmant

Saturday 4 May 2013

St Albans Cathedral at 5.30pm

PAUL GOUSSOT France

First Prize, Improvisation Competition, St Albans 2011

First Prize, Haarlem Improvisation Competition, 2012

Caius Consort, Cambridge

directed by Geoffrey Webber

Barnaby Brown Northern triplepipes

SaturdaycOncertSerieS

Sunday 17th March 2013

Abbot’s House, Abbots Langley at 4.30pm

THE ABBOT’S HOUSE BARN CONCERT

WITH THE JUNIOR DEPARTMENT OF

THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF MUSIC

The Abbot’s House, 10 High Street, Abbots Langley

Herts. WD5 0AR

e-mail: sue.tomson@btinternet.com

Tel: 01923 264946

We warmly invite you and your friends to a con-

cert given by the Junior Department of the Royal

College of Music on Sunday 17th March 2013 at

4.30pm. You are most welcome to arrive early and

wander round the garden before the start of the

concert if you wish. Seating is limited so please

apply early; no tickets will be issued. Parking is

available in the village car park, but if you have a

disability do please park in our drive.

We have been entertained by the Junior

Department of the RCM on fourteen previous

occasions and the concerts have been immensely

enjoyable. Admission is by invitation only with

a suggested donation of £15.00 minimum per

person. We hope to welcome you again this year.

Olivier Latry gave an inspiring recital to a packed

Cathedral on 12th January 2013.

After the 2011 festival,

I began to think about

ways in which we might

appropriately mark the

50th anniversary of the IOF.

Whatever we did, it had to

have some longevity and,

as far as I was concerned, it

had to have a connection

with the competitions, which are at the very heart

of what we promote and on what the IOF was

founded.

Since my first festival in 2009, I felt that the

enormous achievement of winning a first prize at

St Albans ought to be rewarded in a more tangible

and appropriate way other than by the presentation

of a hefty cheque and an attractive certificate. The

idea of commissioning a Gold Medal for our Golden

Jubilee seemed the obvious way to go and this

met with the full approval of the Board. There was

clearly only one person I could turn to for advice on

this matter, former IOF Board Member and former

Secretary to the Bank of England, our very own

Geoff Croughton. A man, I thought, who would

surely know everything about gold and its casting!

By the end of a very convivial lunch, we had refined

the design brief, sourced the companies and before

long had three proposals on the table. Thomas

Fattorini (a company founded in 1827 and have a

distinguished tradition of making regalia, medal-

lions and swords!) was eventually commissioned.

This Gold Medal, engraved with the winner’s name,

will be awarded for the first time in 2013 to the first

prizewinner of the Interpretation Competition and

in future competitions. The first prizewinner of the

Improvisation Competition, will once again from

2013, receive the Charles Tournemire medallion

(produced by La Monnaie de Paris).

The Gold Medal will be exhibited for Members at

the February AGM; meanwhile, I would like to record

a big debt of gratitude to Geoff Croughton for all his

expert advice and enthusiasm.

David Titterington

dateFOryOurdiarieSThe AGM is on Saturday 23 February 2013.

To be held at St Paul’s Hall, Blandford Road,

St Albans, Hertfordshire AL1 4JP At 7.15pm

To be followed by The Annual Dinner

FrOMtheartiSticdirectOr

chairMan’SMeSSage

50th Anniversary1963-2013

St AlbansInternational

Organ Festival

As a young organist and student, it has always

been important to me to find out what is happening

across the organ world, and access to Choir & Organ

magazine is enormously helpful.

It is necessary to keep up to date with events

and there are plenty of news items and reviews. I

like to listen around the organ repertoire and it is

good to see what CDs and DVDs have recently been

released. There is also a list of upcoming recitals

around the country so it is possible to see which

players are playing where and when.

I particularly value the section entitled ‘Tutorial’

in which the reader is taken through a well-known

piece of organ or choral music, giving them ideas

and tips on how to approach the piece. This is great,

as it not only gives you an idea of what to learn, but

also guides you through all aspects of the piece:

registration, style, tempo etc.

The articles are always well written and informa-

tive, and they are often about a new instrument

being built or one that is being restored. I recently

enjoyed reading about the Royal Festival Hall organ,

which I had heard only a few weeks before, giving

details of the final stages of its restoration.

I enjoy reading about new pieces of organ or

choral music especially those written by young

composers. These articles provide a link that enables

you to download the score online. I always find this

particularly interesting as it not only adds new and

exciting music to your repertoire that nobody will

have heard before, but it is also fascinating to see

what composers of a similar age are writing.

‘On Course’ is a guide to all the organ, choral

conducting and church music courses throughout

the world. For a student who is about to embark on

undergraduate or postgraduate studies, this gives

all the information you need to know in one place

instead of browsing the Internet.

For members of the IOF, and in particular student

members, access to Choir & Organ online is a great

way to get ideas about repertoire (both old and

new) and to find out what is happening across the

organ world.

Alexander Binns

OrganizatiOnandManageMentOFtheiOFSAn occasional series in which board members explain their rôle in the society

Apart from responsibilities of overall governance of the IOFS applicable to all Board members, I take special

responsibility for the Organ Competitions and our Festival Operations.

Managing the Organ Competitions is an ongoing two year cycle of activities which includes: ● Producing and distributing the prospectus ● Receiving and processing applications ● Organizing the recorded preliminary round ● Correspondence with applicants and selected competitors ● Scheduling and running the competition rounds and practice sessions during the festival

Planning for a festival starts almost as soon as the last has finished, and a key task I undertake is to produce

the overall schedule, in collaboration with the artistic director, which dovetails all the demands of competi-

tions and festival events within the availability of the many venues which we use.

In doing both of the above, I am reliant on the IOF office and numerous volunteers (who I will not list to avoid

accidental exclusions), but who are responsible for a huge range of essential supporting activities. As we get

nearer to the festival, I coordinate the activities of these volunteers within the structure of the schedule.

Professionally, I work for the mobile communications company Telefonica O2, and have particular responsi-

bilities for chairing international committees responsible for the SIM card and Device Certification.

I am organist at St. Mary’s church, North Mymms.

Colin Hamling

thebiggiVeAll members will have been aware of the IOFS

participation in The BigGive Christmas Challenge,

which has now concluded. We set a target to raise

£50k for our fiftieth anniversary. Within the challenge,

the money has been raised from a combination of

donations from our members and others, matched

by personal pledges and a BigGive Champion. Our

champion chose to remain anonymous.

I am pleased to report that we have raised around

£35K, with a final total around £39k when Gift Aid

is recovered. Although short of our £50k target this

is a great achievement, especially as the majority

of the money has been given by our membership.

Your Board is extremely grateful to those who so

generously contributed.

If you missed giving a donation through the

BigGive Christmas Challenge, donations can be

made at any time on-line through our website

www.organfestival.com or by cheque sent to the

office; and this is a good time to remind taxpayers to

ensure that you indicate that tax may be recovered

on all donations you make to the IOFS, through the

Gift Aid scheme, where appropriate.

Colin Hamling

FrOMKitchentabletOOFFicedeSKWhilst we are celebrating 50 years of the St Albans International Organ

Festival, it is interesting to look back at how the IOFS developed and changed

over the years.

At the beginning, the Festival was run simply with the financial backing of

the founder and his wife, Peter and Pat Hurford. The total turnover in 1963 was

just over £400 - and it made a loss of 10/-. (50p). Financial support was sought

at an early stage and in 1965 anybody who contributed a minimum of £5 to the

IOF Capital Account (a fund set up to provide scope for an expansion in activity)

became a Patron of the Festival. In return Patrons were entitled to receive a free

pass to the whole Festival - and a copy of the latest available audited accounts.

By the end of the 1960s the IOF needed to establish greater funding in order to continue, so in 1970 the

International Organ Festival Society was formed, with a Board of Trustees. This lifted an immense burden from

the shoulders of the Artistic Director, Peter Hurford, gave supporters a channel to express their views and

brought in a body of expertise without which the Festival could never have developed as it has.

Thirty people attended the inaugural meeting of the IOF Society held on June 15th 1970, when

Peter Hurford described the main objects of the meeting (which was held, in true IOF tradition, to the

accompaniment of sherry!). These were:

(I) To consider the draft Constitution, which sought to establish the International Organ Festival Society as

a charitable organization

(II) To ratify and adopt the same

(III) To elect the Society’s first Committee.

It was decided that the IOF should be constituted as an unincorporated Society and registered as a

charitable trust with the Charity Commission; the Society would have two independent Trustees, and a formal

Management Committee of six members and officers who would be responsible for its operation. The Patrons

now became Members who had voting rights and were empowered to elect the Committee. The same

constitutional arrangements served for more than twenty years until it was felt that the onus of responsibility

on the Trustees (now increased to three) engendered too much personal risk. Accordingly, in 1991 the deci-

sion was taken to establish a company limited by guarantee and registered as a charity - and the International

Organ Festival Society Limited came into being. Members continued to control the election of the Committee,

now constituted as a Board of Directors (15 max.) to run the Society but they now fulfilled this responsibility

as the effective ‘owners’ of the Company.

Subscriptions have never been high. From the original £5 they have increased very gradually. In 1980 they

were raised to £7 for full members. In 1993 they went up to £16, in 1999 to £20 and the last increase was

in 2004 to £25 with commensurate figures for other grades of membership. Whilst artists appearing at the

Festival had been paid (except for Peter Hurford) no one was paid for admin services. From 1972 the funds

paid for a part-time secretary for Peter Hurford. Whilst funding continues to be challenging, the Society has

flourished and in 2010 moved into new office premises close to the Cathedral. The membership list continues

to grow and a flourishing website enables worldwide communication.

Jill Bennett, Archivist

archivist@organfestival.com

newsandFeatures Spring2013

Hosting Competitors during the IOF Competition Finals

My wife and I have been attending the festival on and off since 1981 and we hosted our first competitor in 1989,

with whom we still maintain a lasting friendship. The whole experience was so stimulating that we were eager to

act as hosts whenever we were available. I am told that putting competitors with local families is unique among

the organ festivals of the world, thus adding to the many qualities that go to make St Albans special.

We find having a close acquaintance with artistic people of different cultures very stimulating. The daily

domestic responsibilities are minimal, breakfast being the only meal we are asked to provide. Over the years

we have encouraged our guests to come and go freely during the day for the odd moment of relaxation and

occasionally for a meal. What better situation is there for discussion than round a table? We become involved

in their own challenges for success, through finding additional keyboards for practice, ferrying to and fro

from practice venues and discussing many aspects of the works to be performed. As a result we get a deeper

understanding of many of the works (especially those commissioned for the festival in recent years) and of

the organ itself. The most exciting aspect comes when your competitor has been selected for a final. As there

is a ramp up in concentrated practice, often involving late nights at the abbey, we take care to ensure that our

guest gets enough rest. Besides involvement with competitors, being a host has other advantages. During the

festival you get to meet other hosts and competitors at various venues where discussion provides additional

facts on individuals and music. The whole experience makes for maximum enjoyment of the entire festival.

We have agreed to act as hosts again this year and look forward to welcoming our next competitor.

Richard and Mary Haddrell

chOir&OrganMagazine–abeneFitOFMeMberShip

aWardSPeter Hurford

Peter Hurford, the founder of the IOFS has been

awarded the Royal College of Organists Medal. This

is a tremendous accolade for Peter and very fitting

in this, our 50th year. There is to be a presentation

ceremony in Southwark Cathedral on Saturday

March 9th. We send him our warmest congratulations.

Fr. Peter Wadsworth

Fr. Peter Wadsworth has been awarded honorary

life membership of the IOFS in recognition of his

outstanding support to the Society over many years.

Not only has he been an enthusiastic, helpful and

collaborative host of events in St Saviour’s Church,

but he thrilled us by his writing of the words for the

Stations of the Cross concert in 2011.

Marie-Claire Alain

Marie-Claire Alain has been promoted to the rank of

Grand Officier in the order of the Légion d’Honneur.

She received her decoration from Admiral Lacoste,

representing the President of the Republic, on 23rd

November 2012. This rare distinction was awarded

to her in recognition of her outstanding contribu-

tion to the influence of organ music throughout the

world. Madame Alain was a member of the first IOF

jury in 1963 and returned for six more festivals in

1964,1965, 1967, 1969, 1971 & 2001.

David Titterington, one of her former students,

has written to her with congratulations and warm

greetings on behalf of the IOF and its members.

Marie-Claire Alain

One of the best ways to help and support the IOF

is to offer accommodation to a competitor. We are

urgently looking for new hosts, so if you live in St

Albans and are able to offer bed and breakfast from

early July to the end of the Festival, I’d be delighted

to hear from you. In recognition of your kind hospi-

tality, we offer ticket concessions and invitations to

social events.

Richard and Mary Haddrell have hosted competi-

tors for many years – please read Richard’s account

of how rewarding it can be!

Sue Betteridge

sbetteridge@btinternet.com

01727 811443

hOStingacOMpetitOrFOrthe50thanniVerSaryFeStiVal