Organ restoration hits right note for Queenscliff concert

PIPING UP: Brendon Lukin with the restored 1961 Fincham organ. Picture: REg Ryan

By JENA MARINO

A NEWLY-restored Fincham organ will sound off at a Queenscliff Uniting Church concert again this weekend after a four-month restoration.
The 54-year-old organ is ready to show off its pipes after works to fix cracks and leaks.
Wallington pipe organ teacher Brendon Lukin urged the church to fix the instrument after he battled to play it through a concert at the church 18 months ago.
“It only just made it,” he said.
“It sounds like a brand new organ now.”
The church organised a Pitch Perfect Appeal that raised $7000 from community members buying a key or a pipe.
“The organ’s really part of the cultural heritage in Queenscliff, so the church worked very hard,” Mr Lukin said.
The concert will also help cover costs remaining from the organ restoration.
Mr Lukin said he the concert would take the audience on a journey in tribute to Australia and its Indigenous people.
“I want to take people to the Dreamtime.”
The concert will feature Mr Lukin playing organ and tuba alongside wife Catherine and their 13-year-old son, Dominic, both sopranos.
With sounds of the didgeridoo representing Indigenous culture and the organ playing soft sea shanties, the concert will tell a story of Queenscliff’s early settlers in music from the 1880s right through to songs of contemporary composers.
Tickets to the concert, from 5pm Sunday, are available for $20 by phoning 5258 2854.