Workshop with Loreto Aramendi In collaboration with the Vancouver Centre of the Royal Canadian College of Organists

How does the organ work, and how does the organ use its many stops to create the classic ‘organ sounds’ that imitate the sound of various instruments of the orchestra ?

Loreto Aramendi will present a practical approach to organ registration on the 1938 Casavant Frères at St James’ Anglican Church.  The 75-minute session will focus on

• Fundamentals of organ registration
• How to approach the instrument
• Registering effectively for different uses of the instrument
• How to discover sounds you never thought your organ was capable of
• How to best use registration aids : pistons & crescendo pedals

This is a great opportunity to get a closer look at the King of Instruments and how the stops work on the organ.  There are, of course, the standard organ sounds, but things get interesting when using ‘mutations’ — and even more interesting with stops that imitate orchestral instruments, including the flute, oboe and even the 15th-century Crumhorn.  And then, there are also buttons, or pistons, positioned below the manual keyboards, which can be used by organists to change registrations.

This workshop is sponsored by the Vancouver Centre of the Royal Canadian College of Organists (RCCO).  To learn more about the RCCO, visit rcco.bc.ca