| Organ Historical Trust of Australia | |
| Type: | National peak body for pipe organ preservation and conservation |
| Location: | Australia |
| Key People: | Steve Kaesler OAM (Chairman)[1] |
| Area Served: | Australia, New Zealand |
The Organ Historical Trust of Australia (OHTA) is a national organisation which works towards:
OHTA's establishment in 1977 took place in response to a period following World War II when several significant organs in Australia were either destroyed completely (for example, the Grand Organ erected in 1880 by George Fincham[4] and Son[5] in the Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne, Victoria[6] }, significantly altered (for example, the organs of St. Andrew's Anglican Cathedral, Sydney, New South Wales,[7] St. John's Anglican Cathedral, Brisbane, Queensland,[8] the 1926 J. E. Dodd[9] organ of St. Francis Xavier's Catholic Cathedral, Adelaide, South Australia[10] and the Pilgrim Uniting (originally Congregational) Church[11] organ,[12] also in Adelaide), or left temporarily or permanently disused while being replaced with electronic or digital organs (for example, St. Joseph's Catholic Church, Newtown, New South Wales,[13] and St. Mary's Anglican Church, Kangaroo Point, a suburb of Brisbane.[14])
On 13 May 1977, a public meeting was held in the Chapter House of St. Paul's Anglican Cathedral, Melbourne, and OHTA was formed. At the time, the organisation was conceived as a means for extending the work of the National Trust of Australia. In 1978, OHTA was incorporated under the Victorian Companies Act 1961, directed by a Council made up of representatives from each State of Australia,[15] and offering membership to all members of the general public.[16]
OHTA is registered with the Australian Government as a Registered Charity recognizing its status as a not-for-profit cultural organization, category: Advancing culture.[17]
Organ Historical Society, a similar organization in America
Detailed information about the Organ Historical Trust of Australia is available in its own website http://www.ohta.org.au/.
An archive of documents and other material covering the period from the founding of the Organ Historical Trust of Australia in 1977 is held at The University of Melbourne https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:Qf6EBB0EdzwJ:www.lib.unimelb.edu.au/collections/archives/collections/pdfs/ohta.pdf+organ+historical+trust+of+australia&hl=en&gl=au&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESiEj3H7FzNxBCWLZv77yL5QEBA17xDe4GG-pBDiY83cjTVjvKDZDpk-pX_PU8qc-C-VNxwd6YN5BHnCi-JPoarXnOfulORH0TzD79RVu8g-0yXka7F-drU7APgi3w8r3FIs_JR8&sig=AHIEtbQrA2jGSShC16bcsG7Z59s-ri9-Ng.
Additional written and photographic material is held within the State Library of New South Wales - see An archive of documents and other material covering the period from the founding of the Organ Historical Trust of Australia in 1977 is held at The University of Melbourne https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:Qf6EBB0EdzwJ:www.lib.unimelb.edu.au/collections/archives/collections/pdfs/ohta.pdf+organ+historical+trust+of+australia&hl=en&gl=au&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESiEj3H7FzNxBCWLZv77yL5QEBA17xDe4GG-pBDiY83cjTVjvKDZDpk-pX_PU8qc-C-VNxwd6YN5BHnCi-JPoarXnOfulORH0TzD79RVu8g-0yXka7F-drU7APgi3w8r3FIs_JR8&sig=AHIEtbQrA2jGSShC16bcsG7Z59s-ri9-Ng.