[Oct 6 update]: Due to the Covid-19 situation in Auckland, we are unable to proceed with the Organ Trust concert , “Organ Choir Spectacular” on Sunday 21 November at the Town Hall and this performance has been cancelled. Also cancelled are the Heritage Festival tours of the Town Hall Organ that were planned for Oct 9.
Next Concert: Stay tuned here for the announcement of the 2022 concert schedule.
Future concert will be free but will require tickets, which will be available through MOSHTIX.
You can support the Town Hall Organ Trust in bringing you free concerts with a donation. There will be collection buckets as you exit the Great Hall for notes and coins, or you can deposit a donation into the Auckland Town Hall Organ Trust account:
02 0256 0071785 00
Please put your name and the word Donation into the reference fields. All donations over $5 are tax deductible – If you would like a tax receipt please send an email to secretary@aucklandorgan.org.nz
“To improve the standard of music in our city”, was the hope of Sir Henry Brett when he donated Auckland’s original town hall organ in 1911. With 2021 being the 110th anniversary of both the former mayor’s magnificent gift and the equally magnificent town hall, the Auckland Town Hall Organ Trust will respond to Henry Brett’s fervent wish.
There is no doubt, music making in the Queen City has advanced to an international standard over the past century, and the country’s leading concert instrument in the town hall has certainly had a part to play. This year the Organ Trust’s four concerts will showcase some of the city’s leading musicians.
23 May (2pm): Rising Stars – four young organists, currently studying at university, will demonstrate their remarkable skills in a wide-ranging concert.
15 August (2pm): Dr Indra Hughes will present a programme that includes Liszt’s famous Fantasy and Fugue on the Chorale, Ad nos ad salutarem undam, one of the great works in the organ repertoire. … see full programme
[Note: This concert has been cancelled] 26 September (2:30pm): Nicholas Forbes, DoM at the cathedral of St Patrick and St Joseph in Auckland, will join the Auckland Youth Orchestra in Saint-Saëns’ ‘Organ’ Symphony. This concert will also go on tour to Hamilton (11 Sept.), Thames (12 Sept.), and Napier (18 Sept). We expect this concert to be fully attended, and tickets, while free, will need to be reserved. Tickets are available from MOSHTIX. For those who cannot attend in person, the concert will also be livestreamed. … See full details of this concert.
21 November (2pm): [CANCELLED] Organ and Choir Spectacular. Details coming soon.
All Auckland concerts are free and begin at 2pm with the exception of the Auckland Youth Orchestra concert (26 Sep) which will have a 2.30 start.
HIDDEN BEHIND the beautiful 1911 façade is an array of thousands of pipes, dozens of bellows, and a network of sophisticated wiring and technology. The 2010 Orgelbau Klais organ at the Auckland Town Hall (303 Queen Street, Auckland, New Zealand) has gained a reputation as one of the world’s finest concert hall instruments, a reputation endorsed by leading international organists.
