Show & Tell
Saturday, May 26. Multiple locations FREE
Our "flagship" event is once again at Deer Park United Church, but this year several other venues are offering organ demos too.
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Deer Park United Church – 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
129 St. Clair Ave. W., west of Yonge St., east of Avenue Rd.
A five minue walk, or one minute by streetcar, from the Yonge and St. Clair subway station.
See and explore a pipe organ at this hands-on experience for kids and adults. Your guides will be William Wright, Senior Lecturer in Organ Performance at the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto and Alan Jackson, Toronto representative for Casavant Frères organbuilders of St. Hyacinthe, Quebec. The organ is a mechanical action instrument, which means you will see the hundreds of levers and wires connecting the keyboards to the pipes and the intrepid can even go inside the organ. Lots of opportunities to play it too.
Metropolitan United Church – Demos at 11:00, 12:00,
1:00 (concert), 2:30
56 Queen St. E., two blocks east of Yonge St.
416 363-0331
Parking is available in the lot on the east side of the church.
The organ (Casavant opus 1367) was built in 1930 and enlarged in 1998. It is the largest pipe organ in Canada comprising five manuals (i.e. keyboards) and pedal, 120 stops, 131 ranks and 8092 pipes. Demonstrations of the organ will take place at 11:00, 12:00 and 2:30. At 1:00 you can enjoy a free concert featuring organ and the Metropolitan Silver Band.
St. Clement's Anglican Church – 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
59 Briar Hill Ave, seven blocks north of Eglinton Ave., one block west of Yonge St.
416 483-6664
Some street parking. A municipal parking lot is one short block south of the church.
Organ demos and opportunities to play two pipe organs. The first is a 1928 Casavant with 43 stops and 3,156 pipes, completely updated in 2002. The second is an historic instrument dating from 1842 – a small one manual Meade organ from Montreal that was originally built for St. James' Cathedral.
First Evangelical Lutheran Church - 7:30 p.m.
116 Bond St. (3 blocks NE of Dundas Square,
near Dundas & Yonge)
416 977-4786
Through words and music, you’ll learn about the organ – a historic 1911 instrument built by Karn-Warren of Woodstock, Ontario. Performers are Andre Rakus (organ) and Sarah Reid (trumpet). There will also be a presentation of an RCCO historical instrument citation. Tickets are $10 at the door. Free admission for school-aged children accompanied by an adult. During the day, the church (but not the organ loft) will be accessible to the public as part of Open Doors Toronto.
St. Thomas Anglican Church – 3:00 p.m.
383 Huron Street, just south of Bloor, at intersection of Washington & Huron
Organ demo at 3:00 p.m. by John Tuttle who’ll perform a few pieces with questions afterward
Organ built by Guibault-Therien in 1991, 48 stops.
I'm doing a demonstration at St. Thomas's on Saturday, the 26th, at 3 p.m. It will likely include a few short pieces, but will mostly be show-and-tell, with questions.
Church of the Redeemer – 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.
Corner of Avenue Road and Bloor St. West
Organ demos and opportunities to play as well. The organ was built in 1903 by Casavant.
Recently refurbished in 2006, it has 45 stops, including some new pipe work and a revoiced Choir division.