rebuilding of their organ in a special concert this Friday.

Mr. Andrew Lucas, sub-organist and assistant director of music at St. Paul's Cathedral in London, will be making a welcome return visit to the Island, to play music by Bach, Mendelssohn, Purcell and Franck.

The occasion will provide part celebration and part fund-raising effort, now that the spectacular modernisation and rebuilding of the 100-year old organ has been completed.

Bermudian organ builder Mr. Adrian Ridgeway, himself a fine organist who attended college with Mr. Lucas, has spent this last week putting the final touches to the ambitious project that will provide St. Mark's with one of the finest pipe organs on the Island.

The sound issuing forth from this comparatively small instrument is nothing short of spectacular, now that the powerful trumpet and Bombarde pipes are in place. Modern technology has been put to work with an electronic tone generation system at 32-feet pitch, providing a full orchestral sound without having to lay pipes that are 32-feet long.

The completely rebuilt console has been computerised, with new sets of keys, stops, pistons and switching systems.

St. Mark's organ now boasts 1,108 pipes -- and if that seems a lot, it should be borne in mind that the organ usually played by Mr. Lucas, the famous Grand Willis Organ of St. Paul's, has almost 7,000.

"Organ building has been rather backward in Bermuda,'' says Mr. Ridgeway.

"Thad (H.H.) Outerbridge did some marvellous work here in the '60s and '70s and I learned a lot from him, but he is now based in Boston.'' The metal pipes installed at St. Mark's contain a high concentration of tin which, says Mr.

Ridgeway, ensures a much better quality and brighter tone.

"They were specially designed by F.J. Rogers of Leeds, with our climate in mind. Rogers produce pipe-work for organs all over the world, including countries in the tropics.'' Mr. Ridgeway, who won a music scholarship from Bermuda to Tonbridge School in England, went on to serve a full organ building apprenticeship with J.W.

Walker & Sons of London before deciding to return to a full-time music education. He studied organ and piano at the Royal College of Music, with Dr.

William Lloyd Webber (father of famous Andrew) teaching him composition and theory.

After obtaining his Licentiate of the Royal Academy of Music, Mr. Ridgeway became assistant to the Director of Music, organist and repetiteur pianist at the renowned Arts Educational School in the Barbican. He then indulged his love of organ building by joining the staff of Copeman Hart & Co., builders of the largest pipeless organs in the UK.

Returning to Bermuda in 1984, Mr. Ridgeway became head of music at Mount St.

Agnes Academy. As director of the Bermuda Philharmonic Orchestra, he conducted the first local performance of Shostakovich's 1st Symphony, and in lighter vein, was also musical director for the Gilbert & Sullivan productions of Camelot and The Sound of Music.

Nowadays, besides forming his own organ building company, Mr. Ridgeway works as a free-lance teacher. As the resident pianist at Marriott's Castle Harbour, he is also able to indulge his love of jazz with his own Trio, providing entertainment in the Lounge four nights a week. And he still finds time to act as organist of St. Paul's Church -- where he has embarked on an even more ambitious organ modernisation project which, by summer, should see the Paget church sporting a rebuilt organ of more than 4,000 pipes.

Guest artist Andrew Lucas became friends with Adrian Ridgeway when they were both students at the Royal Academy.

Since his appointment at St. Paul's Cathedral, Mr. Lucas has toured with the famed Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and is a frequent broadcaster on the BBC. His recordings for the Hyperion and Priory labels have won him international acclaim and he is a popular solo performer in the US and Europe.

Members of St. Mark's have been working hard to raise the more than $50,000 cost of the rebuilt organ. A recent walkathon raised more than $3,000 for the Organ Fund.

The recital will take place at St. Mark's Church on Friday, March 19 at 7.30 p.m. There will be a reception in the church hall afterwards.

Admission, by programme, is $10 and reservations can be made by telephoning 295-2834, 236-6850 or 236-3052.

VISITING: Andrew Lucas.

TUNE-UP TIME -- Mr. Adrian Ridgeway, who has rebuilt and modernised St. Mark's Church organ, is seen amidst some of the new 16-feet Bombarde pipes which have just been installed. A special recital to celebrate its completion will be given this Friday, by Mr. Andrew Lucas, organist of St. Paul's Cathedral in England.