The Valentine Leeper Organ Grand Opening Concert

Join us as we officially celebrate the rebuild and installation of our Valentine Leeper Organ, with a concert performed by world-renowned, and Trinity College's own, organist Thomas Heywood.

Date: Saturday 20 May 2023

Time: Performance 6 – 7pm | Drinks reception 7 – 8pm

Venue: Trinity College Chapel, 100 Royal Parade, Parkville VIC 3052  | Enter through Gate C

Cost: $50 full price | $40 concession

RSVP: By COB Wednesday 17 May 2023

Enquiries: Briony O'Halloran | events@trinity.unimelb.edu.au |                 03 8341 0216

Please note: parking is not avaliable on college grounds.

About the Organ

The new Valentine Leeper Organ in the Trinity College Chapel at the University of Melbourne is the most significant four-manual pipe organ built by an Australian organ builder in recent memory. 

Celebrating 100 years since the first pipe organ for Trinity College and the University of Melbourne was built in 1923, the instrument was rebuilt to celebrate 150 years of Trinity College.

Although the new instrument incorporates the finest pipework from the 100-year history of the four previous Trinity College Organs, the opportunity has also been taken to include outstanding historic pipework sourced both internationally and locally, including 1912 pipework from the acclaimed British firm of T.C. Lewis as well as some rare 1853 pipework from one of Melbourne’s earliest pipe organs: beautiful organ pipes first heard in the very year Melbourne University was opened! New ranks of pipes have also been handcrafted especially in the United States, including a newly-commissioned stop especially designed for the Trinity Organ: the Tuba Trinitatis. 

Divided in matching organ cases on either side of the screen, allowing the Trinity Chapel to be once again flooded with natural light and acoustic resonance, the organ boasts 61 speaking stops, over 2,300 organ pipes of varying shapes and sizes, three enclosed divisions and a wealth of tone colour. The new organ at Trinity is both fully capable of accompanying the acclaimed Trinity College Choir as well as standing in its own right as a versatile and engaging instrument used for solo concerts and, as befits its position within the University, for teaching and master classes.

The internationally renowned Australian concert organist Thomas Heywood, who also serves as Organist of Trinity College, acted as Consultant for the project in consultation with Christopher Watson, the Director of Music of Trinity College, and Daniel Bittner, the Director of Australian Pipe Organs, the firm chosen to undertake the work.

Given its location in a landmark building within a globally recognised institution of higher learning, it is hoped that the new instrument will, as the University motto itself proclaims, grow in the esteem of future generations and assume its place among the finest and most versatile pipe organs in Australia, serving as a world-class teaching, solo and accompanimental instrument for generations to come.