The Dobson Organ
During Hilary Term there is no weekly organ recital. Thursday Organ Recitals resume after Easter, in Trinity Term.
During Michaelmas and Trinity Terms, there is a weekly lunchtime recital on the Dobson Organ at 1.15pm each Thursday. Admission is free, and booking is not required.
The Dobson Organ in Merton College Chapel is one of the finest mechanical action organs in the UK.
Built by Dobson Pipe Organ Builders of Iowa, USA, and installed in 2013, in readiness for the College’s 750th celebrations in 2014, the organ consists of 44 ranks over three manuals. The specification encourages the performance of a wide repertoire, and the organ sounds equally thrilling in music from the baroque era as it does in the great romantic masterworks.
Lunchtime recitals are held every Thursday during Michaelmas and Trinity terms, and are free to attend.
Many of the world's finest organists have given concerts on the Dobson Organ including John Scott (who opened the instrument), James O'Donnell, Paul Jacobs, Thomas Trotter, Martin Baker, Stephen Farr, Thomas Ospital, Simon Johnson, Olivier Latry, Robert Quinney, Margaret Phillips, Sarah Baldock and Katherine Dienes-Williams. During the academic year 2014/2015, Daniel Hyde played the complete works of JS Bach in a series of 21 recitals.