Walk into any great concert hall in the world and you’ll find an airy, expansive space dedicated to the enjoyment of music. You’re usually surrounded by beautiful décor: gleaming gilts and plush fabrics, or highly polished wood, or perhaps paintings which evoke great performers of previous generations. Centre-stage you’ll immediately be impressed by the towering pipes of the organ, custom-built meticulously into the fabric of the building, forming the physical and emotional heart of the hall.

The Duke’s Hall is the Royal Academy of Music’s main concert hall, and is perfectly equipped for performances by the world’s finest young musicians who study at the Academy. With the exception of one crucial element. The hall lacks an instrument capable of performing a wide range of music, particularly the concerto and symphonic repertoire which is fundamental to the aspiring organ soloist.

When Sir Elton John last visited the Academy, in Autumn 2008, he talked with Academy students on the stage of the Duke’s Hall. He heard about the Academy’s need for a new organ, and was told that the funds required were daunting. Sir Elton is not the sort to shirk a challenge and so he organised a special fundraising concert at the Royal Albert Hall on 22nd September 2009 to kick-start the Academy’s organ appeal.

 The proposed new instrument will be built by the distinguished Swiss firm of Kuhn, internationally renowned engineers and craftsmen in organ construction. Its 2,921 pipes will vary from well over 16 feet to just 4mm long. Weighing in at 14 tons, it will be made from the finest materials including fir, pine, oak, beech and ebony wood as well as tin, lead, brass, aluminium and gold leaf.
 

 
To make a donation to the organ appeal, or to support any other aspect of the Academy’s valuable work, please contact Carol McCormack at the Royal Academy of Music:
Telephone 020 7873 7332
Email c.mccormack@ram.ac.uk

The Royal Academy of Music is a UK Registered Charity, no.310007.

View a full-size image of the proposed new organ