Dear Forum Reader: Carrying on from the recent topic, I thought I'd just jot down my own observations regarding club presentations:
Some of the Clubs that I visit seem to place little or no effort on giving visiting organists a proper and informative stage introduction. Again, all too often this important aspect of showmanship is cast aside and given to someone akin to 'our Fred' who can't be bothered to dress the part and relies on the organist to give the audience details of their musical background and where they've come from. As someone who used to attend the Organ Festivals back in the 80s, I recall comperes such as Trevor Daniels & Alan Ashton, who I remember broadcasting for the BBC in Manchester. These guys could be guaranteed to give a build up to any organist, be they one of the many newcomers, often trembling with fear at appearing in front of 2000 people or long established broadcasting and recording stars: the crème de la crème such as Franz Lambert, Max Takano, Mark Shakespeare et al. Both Trevor & Alan did their homework and made it their business to forge the link between the stage and the audience, but sadly many of today's comperes have no real interest in doing the job, and only do so because there's often nobody else brave enough to pick up a mic and face the audience, or they've done it for so long that they are part of the woodwork. What views do any of the organists have on this subject, or will it be one of not wishing to comment in fear of not wanting to bite the hand that feeds them?
OLD ROCKER
