A new three-manual Copeman Hart organ has been installed and voiced at the reordered parish church of Handsworth, St Mary in Birmingham. Designed in conjunction with Professor Ian Tracey, Organist Titulaire at Liverpool Cathedral, the instrument has 50 speaking stops with a 28.3 amplification system using 87 individual speaker drivers for simply unparalleled sound reproduction. This instrument goes far beyond the usual ‘hymn machine’ concept and provides stops to enable imaginative registration for all schools of organ music. With the £500k cost of the church reorder, a rebuild of the current pipe organ was simply not feasible, but remains a potential into the future should funds become available.
The church is known as the ‘Cathedral of the Industrial Revolution’ featuring a splendid state of James Watt (1736 – 1819) who was buried in the grounds. Later expansion of the church, over his grave, means that his tomb is now inside the church.
ChurchOrganWorld are holding a Roadshow in church (B20 2RW) on Friday 3rd April (17:00 – 20:00) and Saturday 4th April (10:00 – 15:00) when you will be able to play it together with several other instruments from the leading digital organ brands of Johannus, Makin and Rodgers. A vast selection of sheet organ music will be available to browse and purchase.
