If the world’s best organ keyboards are good enough for the 360-strong Mormon Tabernacle Choir in Utah, US, then they’ll do nicely for the 30 voices in Ballywillan Presbyterian Church Choir in Portrush where the work of Wells Kennedy and David McIlderry is appreciated after recent improvements.
A report in the News Letter stated last month:
The famed P&S Organ Supplies, from Suffolk, provided the three ivory resin and ebony keyboards in time for a recital at Ballywillan last month by Carlo Curley (North Carolina) one of the foremost concert organists in the world.
P&S Organ Supplies are so respected that the Mormon choir sends all the way to London to order the best.
Carlo has played at Ballywillan before (about four years ago) and while, at that stage, he described the rather unique organ as “very good”, he felt the keyboards were a bit past their best, and suggested the P&S consoles to the church’s organist of 37 years, Adrian Anderson.
Adrian – a retired lecturer in physics – took the advice to heart, and when Carlo returned he was delighted with the finished article on an organ which Ballywillan – with Adrian’s leadership – has turned into a unique instrument within Irish Presbyterianism.
Until 1994, it was your typical church organ (genesis 1958), but Adrian prompted the re-building, courtesy of Palmerston Place in Edinburgh. It was built by Henry Willis and since then, there have been innovations like a trumpet fanfare, cymbals, chimes, tubular bells, flutes, and the latest in digital stops and speakers to augment the bass section of what is a small instrument with its own unique sound.
He especially appreciates the efforts of organ builders, Wells Kennedy and David McIlderry, during all those projects.
“Carlo gave a wonderful recital and he was delighted with the sound and range of the organ,” said Adrian.
“The keyboards were really to his liking. The church was well-filled and it was a very special night.”
High praise indeed from a man who has charmed audiences all over North America, Australia, Europe, the Far East and in great cathedrals like Ely, Norwich, Lichfield and Westminster Abbey.
The expansion of the Ballywillan organ in future, though, will be somewhat restricted, as such a move, says Adrian, would require the removal of the pulpit! “I don’t think the minister would agree to that one!” he joked.
Carlo played in the White House early in his career, making history as the first classical organist in history to do just that in Washington. There was typical Ulster humour at Ballywillan, pointing out that the recital was close to the north coast’s very own White House, the iconic store in the centre of Portrush.