Welcome to Toronto Organ Club's favourite links page. There's a lot of organ stuff on the internet
and here's just a sample of the things that have tickled our fancy:

If you are a Hammond organ fan, you must visit Paco de la Rosa's Hammond X-66 website: http://www.hammondx66.com

Toronto is a very "organ"ized city! You must visit the website for the Toronto Theatre Organ Society. Their site is:
http://www.theatreorgans.com/toronto.  Attend one of their fantastic concerts to hear the mighty Wurlitzer pipe organ at the Casa Loma castle; your ears will be eternally grateful!

As in a lot of things in life, some people just like "BIG", and won't stop 'til they've found the "BIGGEST"! Well the title for "biggest organ on earth" is shared by two different instruments. Organ club member Geoff Aitchison and his daughter Kathleen have had the privilege of traveling to Lord & Taylor's Store in Philadelphia to hear Peter Conte play the massive Wanamaker organ at the Virgil Fox Memorial concert! This organ has over 28,000 pipes, and has been declared an historical landmark valued at over 57 million dollars (US)! Check it out at: http://www.wanamakerorgan.com. Be sure you listen to the MP3 recordings.

The other contender for biggest is the Atlantic City Convention Centre Organ. This organ, while actually having more pipes than the Wanamaker, is, sadly, in such a state of disrepair that the playable part of the organ is much smaller than the Wanamaker. The organ is BIG, but does not have nearly as refined a sound as the Wanamaker organ. I hope that the organ will be restored because it, in itself, is a very unique instrument. It uses very high blower pressures, and incorporates 64' pipes. Take a tour at: http://www.acchos.org. You won't be disappointed!

You don't even have to be a fan of organ music to be utterly amazed by Dan Miller. He is absolutely one of the best organists in the world. Dan hails from North Carolina originally and was director of music at the huge Calvary church in Pineville. He oversaw the installation of the Calvary church organ (13th largest in the world) and the sound of this instrument alone demonstrates Dan's capabilities. Dan now works for Rodgers Organs in Hillsboro, Oregon; he is responsible for the quality and sound of their products. If you've heard a Rodgers Organ lately, you'll know a genius is behind them! Dan played two concerts in the Toronto/Hamilton areas last year and if you weren't there, you missed the experience of a lifetime! Check out Dan's website at: http://www.danmillermusic.com and then buy the Calvary Organ Dedication CD. It's been described as the organ CD "to die for!"

If you can afford your own pipe organ, you're a lucky person (and rich!) But, you can now get tremendous organ sound from electronics; and nobody does it better than Rodgers. A couple of us at the club have been Rodgers fans for years, but the latest offerings are so good that the electronic organ is a fantastic instrument in its own right! Rodgers has built some of the most exciting installations in the world. See them at: http://208.2.208.21/ and listen to some of the recordings.

Again, Geoff and his daughter Kathleen drove from north of Toronto to Calvary Church in Pineville, North Carolina to hear the absolute concert of a lifetime. As was already mentioned, this organ is the 13th largest pipe organ in the world. Now imagine this organ being played along side of three Rodgers electronic organs speaking through 104 tone cabinets. The organists are none other than the Philadelphia Quartet: Peter Conte, Michael Stairs, Rudy Lucente, and Colin Howland. All we'll say is that if you ever hear of this quartet putting on a concert.....GO!!!! And please tell us where it is......we'll go too! Here's a picture of them: http://www.dunnemusic.com/html/endorsements/phila_organ.html.

In the Toronto area, there's no better place to buy an organ than at Robert Lowrey's Piano Experts. They sell Rodgers organs, among many other products. By the way, have you ever heard a Bossendorfer piano? Incredible sound.....they also sell these! Visit their website at: http://www.pianoexperts.com.

And if you're in Toronto, and want to listen to good music, tune your radio to 96.3 Classical FM. They play the best music, and if you're not in Toronto, you can still listen at: http://www.cfmx.com/welcome.htm.