Organ Historical Trust of Australia

The Organ Historical Trust of Australia (OHTA) is a national organisation which works towards:

• the protection, conservation and restoration of pipe organs in Australia,
• the preservation of records pertaining to their history, the promotion of organ repertoire and organ playing to the general public, and
• the encouragement of scholarly research into the history and use of pipe organs and their repertoire.^[2][3]

Organ Historical Trust of Australia

Founded	May 1977 (1977-05)
Type	National peak body for pipe organ preservation and conservation
Location	Australia
Area served	Australia, New Zealand
Key people	Steve Kaesler OAM (Chairman)[1]
Website	www.ohta.org.au

Origin and foundation

Historic George Fincham organ at St Mary Star of the Sea, West Melbourne, Australia's largest 19th-century instrument still intact

OHTA's establishment in 1977 took place in response to a period following World War II when several significant organs in Australia were either destroyed completely (for example, the Grand Organ erected in 1880 by George Fincham^[4] and Son^[5] in the Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne, Victoria^[6]}, significantly altered (for example, the organs of St. Andrew's Anglican Cathedral, Sydney, New South Wales,^[7] St. John's Anglican Cathedral, Brisbane, Queensland,^[8] the 1926 J. E. Dodd^[9] organ of St. Francis Xavier's Catholic Cathedral, Adelaide, South Australia^[10] and the Pilgrim Uniting (originally Congregational) Church^[11] organ,^[12] also in Adelaide), or left temporarily or permanently disused while being replaced with electronic or digital organs (for example, St. Joseph's Catholic Church, Newtown, New South Wales,^[13] and St. Mary's Anglican Church, Kangaroo Point, a suburb of Brisbane.^[14])

On 13 May 1977, a public meeting was held in the Chapter House of St. Paul's Anglican Cathedral, Melbourne, and OHTA was formed. At the time, the organisation was conceived as a means for extending the work of the National Trust of Australia. In 1978, OHTA was incorporated under the Victorian Companies Act 1961, directed by a Council made up of representatives from each State of Australia,^[15] and offering membership to all members of the general public.^[16]

Legal status

OHTA is registered with the Australian Government as a Registered Charity recognizing its status as a not-for-profit cultural organization, category: Advancing culture.^[17]

See also

Organ Historical Society, a similar organization in America