(see the original story at the bottom)

A year ago, this fundraiser was started to help me build a practice organ that would enable me, in the midst of a pandemic and church closures, get back on track in my journey of becoming a professional organist. The results of this undertaking were astounding - not only was I able to secure a place in a leading conservatoire (RCM) and a scholarship (Richard Newton Scarth Award) to continue my organ studies, it also gave me the opportunity to get back to concert performances via my YouTube channel, reaching hundreds of people in their homes with my music.

I was especially happy to have this opportunity because I could think of no better way to say thank you to the wonderful people who made achieving this dream possible. Suffice is to say if it was not for them, my life would look very different right now. Although I was considering the idea of a home practice organ for quite some time even before 2020, I always knew that I could not hope to bear the costs on my own. When I actually did the sums and saw the approximate total, I could hardly believe that reaching it was possible. And yet now, a year later, we are more than 3/4 of the way towards that goal. All it needs now is a final push!

This was the list of components I put together. You can see that almost everything is now acquired, even though I had to go a bit over the available donations budget and take out some loans in order to get a playable instrument in time for auditions.

Viscount MIDI Bass Pedal 30 Concave - £1,666 - acquired!

Nektar Impact GX 61 Keyboard x4 - £356 - acquired!

Viscount Organ Bench Light Oak 30 - £250 - acquired!

M Audio Uno Adapter - £21 - acquired!

Jaspers Keyboard Stand - £199 - acquired!

Jaspers Monitor Holder 40B - £46 - acquired!

Hauptwerk V Advanced Edition – New Perpetual License - £599 - acquired!

iLok3 USB dongle - £40 - acquired!

Zwolle and Caen Sample Sets - £958

Forcalquier Wet Sample Set - £155 - acquired!

Prague Baroque Wet Sample Set - £123 - acquired!

Manhasset 54 Conductor`s Stand Regal - £129 - acquired!

K&M 12275 Double Light - £62 - acquired!

Segula 50679 LED Lamp x2 - £17 - acquired!

Lindy 7 Port USB Hub - £43 - acquired!

Custom Built Hauptwerk PC  - £785 - acquired!

Steinberg UR22C Audio Interface - £138 - acquired!

Dell 24 Touch Monitor  - £329 - acquired!

Jaspers TFT Adapter 1B - £54 - acquired!

Yamaha HS 7 Active Nearfield Monitor  x2 - £358 - acquired!

Studio Monitor Speaker Stands - £60 - acquired!

the t akustik ISO Pad 7 - £15 - acquired!

Thomann Drum Rug Oriental Red I - £72 - acquired!

Total (incl. GoFundMe 3% commission): £6,675

Already spent: £5,517

As you can see, the only items still lacking are the two sample sets. These are essentially the voice of the organ - sounds of individual pipes meticulously recorded from actual pipe organs that give you the possibility to experience the sound of playing these organs as close as possible within your own home, and the experience for the listener is perhaps even closer to hearing the recordings made on the original organ. Although currently I have a small selection of demo sample sets and a few others that were loaned/donated, so it's possible to play many different pieces with an appropriate organ sound, I still lack a sample set most suitable for the great works of Bach and Buxtehude, Boehnm and Bruhns, a big and brawny yet brilliant and bubbly Baroque instrument such as the Zwolle St Michaelskerk organ. Since I am particularly keen on this kind of repertoire, being able to play it on a sample set of a period- and region-appropriate instrument would give me the joy of authentic connection to the music, and undoubtedly bring new delights to the listeners' ears as well.

So please join me for a final push towards the goal of this project, now that the year has come full circle and the time of my birthday draws near once more; since the successfull launch of this endeavour last year I'm a firm believer in miracles, and the time is ripe for a final miracle to happen - one you can be a part of!

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I am a young organist from Lithuania, currently living in UK and aspiring to do my Master's degree in Organ in one of London's conservatoires. Since starting my organ studies back in 2013 I remain deeply interested in this instrument and strive to continuously improve my playing and embrace an ever larger repertoire. However, unlike most musicians, many organists like me do not have an instrument of their own, but rather a certain degree of access to one belonging to a church or a school. This worked fine for me when I was studying and lived close to my music academy, and then again when I became an Organ Scholar in one of Greater London's churches and moved in nearby.

Unfortunately, when I had to relocate again, accessing an instrument for practice involved hours of travel, and then when the COVID-19 pandemic came that access ceased altogether.

During this time I've seen many other organists publishing videos of their 'at home' performances on the home practice organs they had installed, mostly ready-built digital organs such as Allens and Viscounts but occasionally Hauptwerk setups assembled from individual parts. It were the latter that inspired me to try and build one of my own. Besides the significantly lower costs (modern ready-built digital consoles costing upwards of £10,000), such an instrument would be easy to take apart and move should the need occur, and has room to be further modified/upgraded.

This fundraiser also coincides with my birthday on the 9th September, and a home organ of my own would make for a truly memorable birthday present. I know it's a very ambitious goal, but I also believe miracles can happen if you really believe in them :)

Finally, I don't want to make this fundraiser just about taking, so I would like to give something in return to everyone who donates. With a high-quality digital instrument like this I will be able to record and upload videos of my performances, and I would like to mention every contributor by name at the end of every video (unless you prefer your donation to be anonymous). Also, since I enjoy doing transcriptions, when I would have a digital organ running Hauptwerk at home, with the powerful expressive capabilities it offers, I would like to offer everyone who donates £100 or more to transcribe a song/piece of their choice for organ; I will record my performance and publish it on my YouTube channel, with a dedication to you.

So let's bring some beautiful music into the world together, and make dreams come true! :)