Foundation for Pipe Organs in India

Certain amount of interest has surfaced lately among some members of the Christian community in the Church of South India consequent to some pioneering work being undertaken by Dr Randall Giles, Director of Liturgy and Music, Diocese of Madras, Chennai, for the restoration of pipe organs in churches in India. The recent commissioning of a pipe organ donated by the Cheltenham St Aidans Church in England and its successful reinstallation at the Cathedral Church at Calicut under the leadership of George Arthur Hunt from Germany with the help of Herr Adolf Riegraff, a retired Organ builder from Germany raises hope for a program for the maintenance and up keep of pipe organs in various churches in the Church of South India and may be in the entire South India. The keenness of St Marks Church at Bangalore and St Georges Cathedral at Chennai to seek help and their preparedness to find resources for such a venture gives hope that the pipe organ and the music based on the pipe organ in churches in India have a future that can be protected, safe guarded and nurtured.