Venues

Alix Goolden Performance Hall,

Victoria Conservatory of Music

Casavant Frères, Opus 400, 1904

The Alix Goolden Performance Hall is the primary concert venue for the Victoria Conservatory of Music. Formerly the Sanctuary of Metropolitan United Church, the Hall boasts a significant 4 manual organ by Casavant which has been largely unaltered since its installation in 1910. The organ was restored by Grant Smalley in 2010.

Address: 907 Pandora Ave, Victoria, BC V8V 3N4
Website: vcm.bc.ca/alix-goolden-hall
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Anglican Church of St. John the Divine

Casavant Frères, Opus 2694, 1961

Grant Smalley (1996)

St. John the Divine was founded in 1860 when a prefabricated iron church building, assembled (then disassembled) in England and shipped around Cape Horn on a sailing ship, was completed in the new colony of Vancouver Island. The original building (where the Hudson Market is now) was replaced with a brick building in 1912 at its current location at the corner of Quadra and Mason Streets. It was extensively renovated after a disastrous fire in 1960.

St. John’s houses one of the largest and finest instruments in BC. Built in 1961 by Casavant Frères of Montreal, it was designed by Lawrence Phelps in the Neo-Baroque style popular at the time, but it is a versatile and exciting instrument capable of doing justice to many repertoires. A new Hooded Trumpet, which completes the Antiphonal division of the organ, was dedicated May 12, 2013.

St. John’s is also home to a one-manual chamber organ built by Grant Smalley in 1996. The instrument was donated to Victoria Baroque by Grant Smalley and will be featured in the Handel and Herschel Organ Concerti Concert on July

Address: 1611 Quadra Street, Victoria, BC V8W 2L5
Website: www.stjohnthedivine.bc.ca
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Christ Church Cathedral

Hellmuth Wolff & Associés Ltée, Opus 47, 2005

Harrison & Harrison (1927)

Bevington & Sons (1856)

Grant Smalley (1997)

Christ Church Cathedral in Victoria, British Columbia is the cathedral church of the Diocese of British Columbia of the Anglican Church of Canada.

The organ is in a free-standing case of solid mahogany and mahogany veneered solid wood. The case has been designed around the rose window of the West Wall of the Cathedral. To carry the load of the windchests, and to provide seismic resistance, the Builder provided a steel structure inside the organ case, in collaboration with the Cathedral Architect and the Structural Engineer. This steel structure is mounted on steel beams installed on the gallery floor.

There are three other pipe organs in the Cathedral including the first organ at the Cathedral by Bevington & Sons (1856, 1 manual, 5 stops) located in the Cathedral’s Lady Chapel, a two manual and pedal instrument by Harrison & Harrison built in 1927 and now installed in St Christopher’s Chapel, and a 5-stop chamber organ by Grant Smalley (1997).

Address: Quadra Street at Rockland Avenue
Website: www.christchurchcathedral.bc.ca
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Church of Our Lord

Appleton 1827; Hamill, 1867; Bergstrom 1875; Seeley 1879; Dix ca. 1940; Smalley, 1994

The Church of Our Lord, built in 1866-1870, is an historic Carpenter Gothic church that is designated as a National Historic Site of Canada. The organ, the oldest extant organ in B.C., stands in the church’s chancel. Originally built as a two-manual instrument in about 1827 by the Boston organ builder Thomas Appleton for St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Wilamantic, CT., it was later shipped around Cape Hope destined for a church in Oregon. Unfortunately, the vessel ran aground and was wrecked off San Francisco, CA. The organ, however, was salvaged and in 1875, it was acquired by Sir James Douglas who had the organ shipped up to Victoria where it was repaired by W.C.S. Seeley. After the present building was completed, Douglas donated the organ to the church and John Bergstrom, of San Francisco, CA., installed the organ.

Address: 626 Blanshard St, Victoria, BC V8W 3G6
Website: www.ourlord.ca/

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First Church of Christ, Scientist

Casavant Frères, Opus 1180, 1927

The First Church of Christ, Scientist, Victoria, at Pandora and Chambers was built in 1919 and completed in 1920. The first service was held August 29, 1920. Many have commented over the years on the fine architectural qualities of the building both within and without as well as the sound quality.  The 3 manual organ Casavant Frères, Quebec, was installed in January 1927. September 2019 to September 2020 is the Centenary celebration year of this heritage building.

Address: 1205 Pandora Ave, Victoria, BC V8V 3R3
Website: www.victoriachurch.ca

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St. Andrews Roman Catholic Cathedral

Casavant Frères, Opus 293, 1907; Spilker, 1968; Smalley, 1989/2008)

St. Andrew’s Roman Catholic Cathedral was dedicated on October 30th, 1892 by Bishop John Lemmens. Reflecting its cultural links to Quebec, St Andrew’s was designed by Montreal church architects Maurice Perrault and Albert Mesnard. The plans are a duplicate of a parish church in Vaudreuil, Quebec. The stained glass windows exemplify a variety of styles typical of the late 19th century. They portray episodes in the life of Christ, as well as various saints, with St. Andrew, the Patron Saint of the Cathedral, on the centre window of the Sanctuary.

The organ was built by Casavant Frères in 1907 as their Opus 293. It was enlarged by Hugo Spilker between 1966 and 1968 and again by Grant Smalley in 2008 who also installed a three-manual console with a prepared Positive division. About 21 of the original Casavant ranks are still in use.

Address: Blanshard St at View St (wheelchair access at 740 View St)
Website: www.standrewscathedral.com

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St. Barnabas Anglican Church

John Brombaugh & Associates, Opus 31f, 1990

Founded in 1890, the Parish of St. Barnabas-Spring Ridge inaugerated their present building in 1951 in the Fernwood neighbourhood. The church’s organ, a one-manual mechanical action instrument tuned in 1/5′ meantone was built by John Brombaugh & Associates and installed in 1990.

Address: 1525 Begbie St, Victoria, BC V8R 6N4
Website: www.stbarnabaschurch.ca

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St. Peter and St. Paul’s Anglican Church

Peter Conacher Co. Ltd., 1891

St. Paul’s Church (now St. Peter and St. Paul’s Anglican Church) was built in 1866 at the foot of Signal Hill in Esquimalt. Known as St. Paul’s Naval and Garrison Church, the building was subsequently dismantled and moved up the hill to its present location, partly to escape the damaging reverberations caused by nearby naval gunnery practice. The organ was built in Huddersfield, England by Peter Conacher Co. Ltd. and shipped to Victoria in 1890 to be installed at the Church of St. John the Divine. The organ was sold to St. Paul’s in 1912.

Address: 1379 Esquimalt Rd, Esquimalt, BC V9A 3R4
Website: www.stpeterandpaul.ca

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