A rare street organ that’s been lovingly restored to its former glory will be a star attraction at this year’s Bangor Music Festival.
The Dutch organ called Astrid by owner Francis Stapleton, from Bala, will be playing on Saturday, 15 February, first on Bangor High Street and later at Pontio.
The organ was originally built in 1957 in Rotterdam and has been painstakingly restored and modernised to expand her range and sound.
Ten multi-award winning composers, including eight from Wales, were commissioned by the Vale of Glamorgan Festival to write short pieces for Astrid in an exciting experiment and celebration of their artistry.
The works will be performed as part of an exciting line up at Bangor Music Festival, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year under the theme Music, Health and Wellbeing.
The Festival’s Artistic director Dr Guto Pryderi Puw said: “The organ will certainly create a buzz and that’s what we want to bring to the festival.
“The event is for the people across the country to enjoy, but also we’re trying to expand both our audiences and the nature of the music performed within it.
“I think it’s really interesting to see and hear the different approaches towards the organ from each composer.
“Some have gone down the traditional route, bordering on being a pastiche of the more traditional organ music.”
Francis, who owns 12 organs of various types, bought Astrid in 2001 and has been painstakingly restoring her ever since, including fitting her with an additional pipes.
68-year-old Francis, who embarked on his hobby as a schoolboy, said: “I’ve made a few additions and restored the front as far as possible back to her original condition and the colour scheme, including replacing front panels which had disappeared.
“Because I have lengthened her scale she is very suitable to modern composers and their music. Physically, she looks small but she’s very capable of playing good music.
“Astrid probably weighs nearly half a tonne. She’s very much a unique sound and there’s not another organ quite like her. The composers were very pleased with how she sounds and they were pleased with what they had done. It was something totally new for them.
“Hopefully we’ll bring a bit of pleasure to people walking through Bangor.”
To find out more about the Bangor Music Festival or for tickets, visit www.bangormusicfestival.org.uk
Date: Saturday 15th February 2020
Time: 12pm by Bangor Clock Tower
4pm-5pm in the public areas at Pontio (Free Performance)
