A large and appreciative audience at St Ia’s Church in St Ives was held spellbound by the playing of an international organist. 

David Briggs gave a performance to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the rebuilding of the 1907 Hele Organ at St Ia’s, for which he was the consultant when formally the director of music at Truro Cathedral.  

His programme of music was imaginative and wide-ranging, with transcriptions of orchestral music by Brahms, Berlioz and Debussy, as well as original compositions for the organ by Bach and Louis Vierne.  

The choice of repertoire made huge demands on the capabilities of the instrument and show-cased David Briggs’ artistry, marking him out as one of the foremost organists today.  

David asked the audience to switch on their mobile phones and play him their ring-tones to conclude his performance. He selected one of these  and then, in a real tour-da-force, proceeded to improvise a 10-minute, three movement work based on the ring tone, interweaving it with snippets of the Helston Floral Dance.  

Speaking in support of the church’s efforts to preserve, maintain and promote the Hele Organ, David identified it as one of the finest instruments in the county. 

After 30 years since the last work of any significance, the organ is now due for a major clean and overhaul, and the church is actively seeking to raise the funds to bring this about.  

As well as a welcome return to the console for David Briggs, the evening also brought together Michael Scobel, the organist at St Ia’s in 1993, and Jeffrey Williams, the current organist, with Lance Foy and his son Christopher, whose firm carried out the rebuild and looks after the organ still.