Liverpool Anglican Cathedral’s longest-serving cathedral organist will give his final Isle of Man recital this weekend ahead of his retirement from the post.
Professor Ian Tracey has served as organist at the cathedral for 46 years, having been appointed in 1980 at the age of only 21, making him the youngest cathedral organist in the UK at the time.
His upcoming concert will take place at St Matthew’s Church on the North Quay in Douglas.
Scheduled for Sunday, September 13, the performance will be his final recital in the island before he retires from his cathedral role later this year.
Professor Tracey’s final service and recital at the cathedral will take place on October 17, marking 100 years since the installation and dedication of the cathedral’s five-manual Willis pipe organ.
Keith Simpson, who has known Ian for more than 50 years, said: ‘When it was installed, the organ was the largest musical instrument in the world. It remains one of the largest, as well as the largest in the UK, featuring five keyboards and around 11,000 pipes.’
The Very Reverend Sue Jones, Dean of Liverpool Cathedral, said Professor Tracey had ‘inspired generations through his musicianship’.
She added: ‘Ian’s dedication, talent and generosity as a musician and mentor have left a lasting legacy – he is as much an institution at the cathedral as the organ over which he has presided for the past 46 years.’
Professor Tracey pointed out that, ‘remarkably’, he is only the third person to hold the cathedral organist position during the past century.
Speaking ahead of this weekend’s performance, he said he hoped retirement would allow him more time to perform across the island and Britain.
He said: ‘I have always enjoyed my visits to the island; I have been visiting since I was a teenager when we used to have annual choir holidays.
‘On Sunday I expect to meet friends old and new at St Matthew’s, where I will be playing my favourite organ in the island.’
The concert begins at 2pm, with admission costing £10.