OrganFax

See Tony Fenelon and Yuri Tachibana launch the new Atelier Organs at Pakefield...

Rumours of a new range of Roland "Music Atelier" Organs started spreading early on this year, and then in July Roland UK announced Tony Fenelon - an international musician and demonstrator for Roland worldwide - would be coming to the UK for a weeklong tour on the "latest range" of Roland organs and the excitement really started to grow. A new range was indeed on the way - and what fantastic instruments they turned out to be!

Although many of us now simply know Roland's leading range of organs as "Ateliers", their full name is actually "Music Atelier" - Atelier is French, and literally translates as "workshop", a fantastic way of describing such a complete instrument. Audiences lucky enough to witness Tony Fenelon at the helm of the new models were understandably amazed by the richness and truly realistic sound coming from these organs.

This year, there were 3 new Organs - the AT800 (to supersede the AT80SL), AT900 (to succeed the AT90SL) and then there was a break from Atelier tradition, the AT900C. The 900C is quite possibly Roland's best looking Atelier - just take a look at the picture. The C can stand for concert or contemporary, it's up to you - but with the power of the AT900 in the rich cherry cabinet, one thing's for sure - it's stunning. And, as a bonus, you have a choice of pedal boards - 13, 20 or even the 25 note wooden board.

All 3 of the new instruments feature a completely redesigned sound system that lifts your registrations to the next level (if you thought the SL range sounded good, it will blow you away!), a gorgeous bright full colour wide touch screen and MANY new sounds - including some fantastic saxophones and "Supernatural" voices. Also, every rhythm has been completely redesigned with 4 introductions, 4 endings, and 4 variations. And, last but far from least, each model also features physical drawbars.

Those are just a few of the new aspects of the instruments: I haven't even mentioned the fact it now utilises USB, and also has thousands of redeveloped one touch settings, quick registrations and music assistant database.

Roland Atelier organs have never failed to impress, and Roland have truly outdone themselves with the 800, 900 and 900C. In the near future, we will be bringing you a complete article on the new models. The only AT800 in the country can currently be found at Swift Music - click here for their contact details.

Check back soon for videos and information on a new instrument from Nord and the success of the UK's Electone Competition.

Ketron have for many years now provided keyboard players with fantastic arranger keyboards, up until recently, the SD5 has competed even with Yamaha's Tyros 2 "mega-keyboard".

It seems this month has been an exciting one for new products, a new organ - and of course the Korg Pa2X. And now, Ketron have announced their new "Audya" keyboard - and from the specs alone, the similarities to the new Korg are evident: 76 semi-weighted keys, an array of control siders, a new dual mp3 player and now, a vocal processor. And on top of all that, Ketron have introduced the concept of "intelligent audio drums" into the Audya - styles and backings recorded by real musicians. They have also included a whopping 360mb sound engine which allows for even more realism with many new multi-layered sounds.

For more info, visit Ketron's Website.

Terry Trevett, secretary of Weyhill Electronic Organ Society, has sent us this recent report of Claudia Hirschfeld's recent concert for the society.

"'The Lights' theatre in Andover proved to be the ideal setting for the Society's October concert, featuring star German player, CLAUDIA HIRSCHFELD. The venue was a complete sell-out (240 tickets) and many late applicants had to be disappointed."

"With her three-manual Wersi Louvre organ, Claudia delighted the audience with a wide selection of music, including a few of her own compositions. Her programme contained a number of Classical pieces, a few ballads, film music, a Gospel selection and a couple of marches, whilst a Rock 'n' Roll medley also met with approval."

"Having clearly enjoyed her first visit to The Lights, Claudia expressed the wish to return at some future date ... when no doubt there would be a great demand for tickets to see such a charming and talented lady - a performer at the very top of her profession."

"The concert was attended by the Mayor of Test Valley, the Deputy Mayor and two previous Mayors. "

Frank Wappat of BBC Radio Newcastle is well known in the North of the country for playing music you won't hear anywhere else on public radio - but will no doubt enjoy.

In his last show, Frank featured one of the UK organ scene's favorite duos, Andrew Nix and Tony Stace and their latest CD, "Happy Music".

Thanks to the BBC's fantastic "listen again" feature, you can "tune in" to last Sunday's show by going to Radio Newcastle's website and clicking "listen again". Then select "Frank Wappat" and enjoy a fantastic selection of well balanced music. Andrew and Tony feature just over 25 minutes into the show.

Anyone who has been preaching the death of the Organ World surely has to be kicking themselves now!

In this last month, not only has the regular Pakefield festival proven to be a great success once again - we watch as a brand new festival makes it's entrance to the "mega-festival" scene. OKEY LIVE is an exciting new festival based in Germany organized by the OKEY magazine and has certainly had a fantastic premier!

Two major organ brands have also used these festivals to launch some exciting new instruments onto the UK and German markets - and almost all of them are organs!

This month saw Tony Fenelon tour with Roland UK launching the stunning new series of Atelier Organs - the AT-800, AT-900 and AT-900c. The final leg of the tour saw Tony joining together with Yuri Tachibana and Don Lewis at the Pakefield festival - a show enjoyed by all!

Wersi, a company known for their use of the Windows operating system, have also launched their lowest price organ yet - the Apollo whilst also including a new 10" screen on their Scala organ and launching several new upgrades!

It's an exciting time in the Organ world, and no-one can deny it's rapidly on the up!

Having lead the pro arranger keyboard industry with the PA1x and more recently the PA800 series of arranger keyboards, there has understandably been mounting excitement as the launch of Korg's PA2x Pro arranger keyboard - the successor to the PA1x Elite - drew closer.

The PA2x Pro is truly an outstanding pro arranger keyboard with a whole host of new and redesigned sounds and rhythms, not to mention, the motorised colour touch screen to boot!

More details on this exciting new instrument can be found both at Korg.co.uk, you can also listen to demos and find out even more at KorgPA.com.

With the launch of this new instrument, we wonder what Yamaha and Roland have coming next to replace the Tyros 2 and G70/E80 keyboards... watch this space...

Cled Griffin, organiser of the Lyme Bay series of Organ and Keyboard festivals has been in touch to let us know that due to recent changes made to the main concert hall, more seating is available. To increase comfort for guests, "Pickquicks Snack Bar" has been removed and replaced with more seats. Refreshments will still be available in Drakes coffee shop.

There are still spaces available for the for the 19th-22nd October 2007 Organ/Keyboard Weekend which has some new features to the event, including a connection to the Internet for teach-in sessions.

The booking telephone number is: 01297 626800
Web site: www.lymebayexperience.com.

This evening sees the first event in Tony Fenelon's tour of the UK, playing the latest range of Roland's superb Atelier Organs.

For more details of the concerts and workshops taking place, see the details in our original news posting here

T&A Events, Tony Stace and Andrew Nix - the people behind the recent sellout event "Musical Magic" held on Hayling Island - have updated their website giving more detail about T&A and their festivals for this year and next.

TandAEvents.co.uk

Top German organist, CLAUDIA HIRSCHFELD, will soon be visiting the UK for a concert at The Lights theatre in Andover, Hampshire.

The concert - Claudia's only performance on this trip - takes place on Thursday, 18 October 2007 at 7.30 p.m. and is being staged by the Weyhill Electronic Organ Society as part of their monthly concert schedule.

Advance tickets, priced at £4.00, are now available from the Society. Tickets at the door will be priced at £5 but are strictly subject to availability; early booking is therefore recommended.

Telephone 01264 323213 or e-mail terrytrevett@onetel.com

For information about the Society visit: www.communigate.co.uk/hants/weos

James Sargeant has asked us pass on his new contact information...

3 Needlers Way
Hull
HU5 1DB

Tel: (01482) 345194

We are pleased to announce that Tony and Louise Stace have had another baby boy, William Benjamin who was born on the 10th August weighing 8lb 1oz.

Congratulations!

Roland UK have announced an international celebrity tour showcasing the latest range of their Atelier series organs.

Organist extraordinaire, Tony Fenelon will undertake a whistle-stop tour of the UK playing concerts and conducting workshop sessions featuring Roland's latest Atelier instruments. He will then be joined by international demonstrators Yuri Tachibana and Don Lewis playing together and solo for a unique Organ Power concert at the Organ and Keyboard Cavalcade festival, Pakefield.

Details of each leg of the tour can be seen below. Please note that some workshop time/dates have been changed

Sunday 2nd September
8.00pm - Tim Flint Organ Festival, Newbury.
Contact: Tim Flint, 01332 880191

Tuesday 4th September
2.30pm - Workshop (Matthews Hall, Topsham, Exeter)
8.00pm - Concert (Matthews Hall, Topsham, Exeter)
Contact: Mary Bellamy, 01392 668181

Wednesday 5th September
2.30pm - Workshop (Carrington House Hotel, Bournemouth)
8.00pm - Concert (Carrington House Hotel, Bournemouth)
Contact: Nick Swift, 0117 9688427

Thursday 6th September
2.30pm - Workshop (Swift Music, nr Bristol)
7.30pm - Concert (BAWA Ballroom, Bristol)
Contact: Nick Swift, 0117 9688427

Friday 7th September
8.00pm - Concert (Royal British Legion, Llay)
Contact: Ron Jones, 01978 351475

Sunday 9th September
3.00pm - Fairfield Halls, Croydon
Contact: David Harrild, 0208 6987300

This is certainly not to be missed, details of each leg of the tour can be seen below - spaces are limited so contact your chosen venue early!

More details can be found at Roland's Organ Room.

Rod Pooley has been in touch to let us know about his new CD release recorded at Brett Wales's Studio on the Korg pa800. The CD is called "The Finer Things" and features many favourites, including: Sunny, They Can't Take That Away from Me, Quando Quando Quando... the list goes on!

You can buy the CD and listen to samples online at Rod's website.



Rod would also like to say that he is available for concert bookings by calling 01323 506426 or mobile 07799 800656.

Michael Wooldridge has been in touch to let us know he has moved. His new address is ...

8 Ellis Avenue
High Salvington
Worthing
West Sussex
BN13 3DY

However, Michael's phone number remains unchanged - 01903 263 454.