Business South August 2021

98 | COMMUNITY South Island Organ Company A lifetime of pipe organ restoration Richard Loader Valerie and John Hargraves: “It’s a word-of-mouth business, because it’s so specialised.” O perating from an impressive workshop within the Washdyke Industrial Park on the outskirts of Timaru, a passionate team of pipe organ builders and restorers lovingly craft, repair and bring to life beautiful instruments of national and international, cultural and historic importance. It is indeed a labour of love. While a small project might consume 1000 hours, larger projects involving 5000 individual pipes can consume 15,000 hours of intensive work. The business is the South Island Organ Company owned by John and Val Hargraves. Now 53 years young, the company name belies the fact that it operates throughout New Zealand and three States of Australia. John joined the business within six months of it being founded by two English immigrant organ builders, and through the slow process of succession became Managing Director in 2006. Now not far off 80 years of age, John’s pas- sion for music started as a young boy when his grandfather and father played 78rpm re- cords, allowing John the privilege of operating the gramophone. When studying music at Auckland Universi- ty, John realised his calling was the pipe organ and hence the career path that has been his life and love. The company’s first major project was the rebuilding of the organ of St John’s Anglican Church in Invercargill and 53 years on John and his team are revisiting that wonderful piece of history. “The Southland Institute of Technology has bought the church and redeveloping it as part of the polytech,” says John “But they’re keeping the church auditorium and the organ which we’re currently reworking.” While initially focused on work in Dunedin, Invercargill and Nelson, the company expand- ed its operations northward throughout New Zealand.While the company’s initial dream was to build grand new organs it quickly realised that market wasn’t large enough to be sustainable and recognised that its future lay in the restoration and conservation of the great heritage of organs New Zealand already possessed, which was particularly strong in the South Island. John says that heritage restoration is where the company has made its biggest name and how it got into Australia. Part of South Island Organ Company’s work involves the tuning and maintenance of organs and now has three hundred clients in New Zealand that are serviced on contract either quarterly, six monthly or annually de- pending on the instrument. “It’s a word-of-mouth business, because it’s so specialised. So that and recommendations from satisfied customers have always been a very strong part of the business’s growth.” By the 1980s the company was doing work in Australia and has now completed sixteen varying projects including some very large and historically important organs in New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia. “We don’t build completely new organs very often. But a recent project for St John’s Angli- can Church in Gordon, Sydney was one of the biggest we’ve done for a while. W ‘e called that a new organ, though nearly all the pipes in it were old pipes from a famous builder, because the consultant wanted to achieve a particular sound. We collect a lot of materials from organs that become redun- dant, particularly since the Christchurch earthquakes, and we’re able to reuse many of those materials in the repair or building of pipe organs.” Since the earthquakes, a lot of the compa- ny’s energy has been focused on rescuing, re- storing and relocating organs from damaged buildings. While some organs are still in storage await- ing restoration, others have been restored and others are so badly damaged they can only be salvaged for parts. Just before Christmas and with a time pres- sure of four days, John and his team with the help of large cranes and riggers managed to rescue the Christchurch Catholic Cathedral’s prized 1878 organ. Another big restoration project that the team did in 1985 and removed in 2013 for a major building upgrade is the 1906 Welling- ton Town Hall organ. Half of it, filling two 40’ containers, has been repaired in Timaru and returned to storage in Wellington, awaiting the whole organ’s reinstallation once the Town Hall’s refurbishment allows. “That installation will take us three months,” says John. “Once you start the organ’s installa- tion it evolves gradually into a work of art for which every pipe has to be adjusted individu- ally so it sounds right in that room. “Much depends on the acoustics and every room is different. The Wellington Town Hall Organ is a standout example of an instrument that is pretty original in its concept and is of international importance. We have also re- stored the Dunedin Town Hall Organ, and that is also highly regarded internationally.” The company’s next major project will be removing the organ from the Christchurch Anglican Cathedral, which will be early next year when the building is at a stage where the organ can be safely removed for restoration. SALES - DES IGN - INSTALLAT ION | YOUR EXPERT IN EVERY TH ING A V Congratulations to the South Island Organ Company on reaching 50 years! We are proud to be a subcontractor • Sound system specialists for churches • Digital organ specialists W lifestyleaudiovisual.co.nz P 027 958 4322