David Last
David born in Ipswich on 21st February 1969 his interest in music started pre- school but piano lessons began aged seven. He worked his way through the Royal School of Music Associated Board’s examinations and passed Grade 8 with distinction, with that success David auditioned, along with some 50 other pupils of ‘members of the Incorporated Society of Musician’s’, he was chosen to take part in a concert held at the local Town Hall, May 1986 and David’s performance on the Steinway grand piano of the Fantasia in D Minor – K397 by WA Mozart was received with great enthusiasm. His interest in the organ started with an electronic instrument post attending a Mark Shakespeare concert at the Ipswich Corn Exchange. He soon acquired an organ of his own on which he was self taught. Finding an ex-cinema ‘Christie pipe organ’ in his local church and then becoming a member of the Ipswich Light Organ Music Society, (to which the organ belonged) enabled him to develop his organ interest. With practice at the Christie, he was able to enter the Cinema Organ Society’s competition for young theatre organists, Then held annually at the Electronic and Pipe Organ Convention at Gunton Hall in Suffolk on the Compton theatre organ installed there. 1987 David won the Society’s ‘Young Theatre Organist of the Year’ trophy. This led to David being offered tuition at the Cinema Organ Society’s 4 manual 23 rank Wurlitzer, (formally installed at the Trocadero Elephant and Castle) which was at that time installed at the South Bank University in London. David became resident organist of the Ipswich Light Organ Music Society at the age of eighteen and played his first full concert for the Society on his 19th birthday. He plays annually for the Society as part of their season of celebrity concerts. Early 1990’s, Nigel Ogden and a team of BBC recording engineers went to the Castle Hill Church in Ipswich to record David at the Christie. Much of the recordings have since been broadcast on the BBC Radio 2 programme “The Organist Entertains”.(alas now no longer broadcast) David’s present instruments for playing organ concerts at clubs and societies. are the Roland AT900C, Roland AT350C, Yamaha D Deck, Yamaha Stagea ELS02C, Yamaha Genos and PSR SX-900.
