Congress 2011 - Auckland New Zealand

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"The King's Birthday" - 

Auckland Organ Festival 2011

The Auckland Organists' Association held the 48th ORGANZ National Congress in Auckland at Queen's Birthday Weekend 2011.

You are welcome to contact the organisers at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .


Congress Programme (full programme here)

2011 is a special year in the New Zealand and Auckland Organ worlds. It marks the 50th Jubilee of ORGANZ, which will be celebrated with a public festival of organ concerts with at least one event each day of the weekend.

2011 is also the 100th birthday for 2 significant pipe organs in the city. This is the centenary year for the Auckland Town Hall and its original organ. It is also the First Birthday of the new concert organ. Also 100 years ago George Croft installed the organ in the Pitt St Methodist Church which was officially opened on 9th June 1911.

Public Events

Congress 2011 included a range of public events under the shared title of "The King's Birthday"

  • Music for an Early English Organ (Fri 3 June, 7:30pm)
    Dr John Wells presents the opening recital on the John Avery organ at Ponsonby Baptist Church 43 Jervois Rd Ponsonby.
  • Congress Recital (Sat 4th June at 6:30pm) Sarah Kim on the Auckland Town Hall organ. 
  • French Mass for 2 organs and choirs (Sun 5 Jun, 5pm)
  • "The Sounds of Silents"  silent movie screening with Wurlitzer organ accompaniment at the Hollywood Cinema, Avondale (Mon 6 Jun, 2:30pm)

The Auckland Organ Festival 2011 also included an Open Day at the Town Hall on Saturday 4th June from 10am to 5pm. This was a free event to enter and include displays and activities of various kinds, aimed primarily at families and general public not familiar withe pipe organ. The program included a showcasing of the new organ and a "Carnival of the Organ Pipes" concert. This is co-hosted with the Auckland Town Hall Organ Trust.

"The Sounds of Silents" on Monday at 2:30pm was presented by the Wurlitzer Organ Trust of Auckland.

NZAO Performance Organ Performance Competition

11:00am Monday 6th June at Pitt St Methodist Church

  • Criteria and Entry Form 2011 Download PDF
  • Entries closed 1 May 2011
  • Pitt St Methodist Church Organ specification included in PDF document.

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