OrganFax Directory

North Herts Organ Society

Telephone Number :  01767 260002

Email address :  geoffnet@btinternet.com

Contact name :  Geoff Tomlinson

Venue address : Letchworth Garden City Church, Icknield Way, Letchworth, Hertfordshire, SG6 1EF.

About North Herts Organ Society

          The Society was originally formed in 1979 after a committee of music enthusiasts invited former members of the old Hermitage Organ Society ( Hitchin ) and the associates of the Cinema Organ Society ( Luton ) to start a new society, which was to be  named the Stotfold and District Organ Society. The member base was around 50 and they met at the Stotfold Social Club, who were the owners of a Christie Organ.

          One of the first professional organists to play for the society was Robert Wolfe, who made regular appearences together with others to play the Christie Organ, as did the members. This arrangement with the Stotfold Social Club continued until 1985 when it was decided to move into the Free Church Hall in Letchworth. In 1987  the Stotfold Social Club closed and at the A.G.M of the Stotfold and District Organ Society it was decided to change the name to the North Herts Organ Society. The Christie Organ was moved to the Gordon Craig Theatre in Stevenage where it still resides today.

          Another move took place in 1991, when the North Herts Organ Society changed its venue  to the Plinston Hall in Letchworth. The first concert was held on 27th March with Brian Sharp playing his own Yamaha HS8. In 2004 we celebrated our 25th birthday with a dinner/concert, guest organist for the night was James Goff.  We still continue to have our concerts at the Plinston Hall and now have a membership of around 215.

Late in 2011 we were advised by the Plinston Hall that they would be closing for the whole of 2012 for reburbishment.  This meant we would have to move to another venue.  We were lucky to find a new location at Letchworth Garden City Church, the facilities offered are very modern and better than we could have wished for, a modern sound system, and three cameras are at our disposal, together with a technician to operate them.  The venue was introduced to the membership at our AGM and a concert was given by Mark Thompson, we had some very nice comments and calls to say how much the membership liked are new venue.  We hope we shall not have to make any more moves for a long time.

         

Friendship Centre Federation.

 

          We are pleased to announce that the N.H.O.S is now a member of the Friendship Centre Federation. The F.C.F is an organisation bringing together nationwide groups and clubs.  Each group/club organises its own individual activities, but all other groups in the Federation may join in as and when they would like to. Activities on offer include, a Ski Group, a Golf Group, a Computer Group and many others. The Federation has their own website www.fcfed.com  where you can find many other groups listed by area, who also have their own websites, direct access to N.H.O.S site is www.fcfed.com/feanhertsorgan.htm or through the main page, members, by region, east anglia. There is also a bi-monthly newsletter available on the home page.

 

Society Meetings.

        The Society usually meets on the first Wednesday of each month. Concerts start at 7.30pm.  Doors open at 7pm.

        There is a break from 8.30pm to 9.00pm for refreshments and a raffle. Concert finishes at 10.00pm.  

Annual Subscriptions.

        Membership:-  £4.50 per person

Admission Prices.

        Members:- £3.50.   Guests:- £4.50.  Guests who become members on the same night, will have their admission refunded.

        Refreshments  50p,  includes tea, coffee or cold drink and biscuit at the interval.

        New members are always welcome, please pass the word around to friends and aquaintances.

 

NEXT CONCERT:-  Wednesday  5th  June  2013.

ORGANIST:-   Chris  Stanbury.

   NEWSLETTER.

           As you are aware we have been trialing newsletter by email.   We are pleased to say that we have had a very favourable response from our members and will be continueing with this method of distributing our newsletter. At the moment we have had replies from about 25% of our membership, but would still like to increase the take up, any members who are interested in receiving their newsletter by this method, please send me your email address for inclusion.  one of the advantages of email is that you will receive all pictures in colour.  This also proves to be invaluable method of contacting members in an emergency, as we had to cancel a concert at short notice at the end of last year.

 

          Thank you to the members who have so far shown an interest.  We hope you like receiving by this method and will continue to support this venture as it saves the society a lot of money, allowing us to keep our entrance fees down, should there be any problems please don't hesitate to contact your committee.  We would also appreciate input from members regarding concerts, visits to festivals and the like, in fact, anything you may consider interesting to other members.  This also applies to the Organfax Website.

Concert Diary 2013.

          You will see below we have updated the concert diary now for 2013.  A few new Organists have been included, and we hope you like our choice.  If you click on the blue names you will be taken directly to the Organists own website, where there will be a lot more information about them.  Hope you find this useful.

 

 

 

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