At 27, Titus Grenyer reshapes Sydney’s organ tradition

When Sydney Town Hall’s grand organ roars to life this spring, audiences will be guided not only by its historic sound but by the vision of the instrument’s custodian, Titus Grenyer.

When you imagine the city’s organist, you may naturally picture a grey-haired maestro, Grenyer however, defies that image. At just 27, he is both the University of Sydney’s Organist and Carillonist, and the producer of the City of Sydney’s 2025 organ recital program at Town Hall.

Breathing new life into ancient instruments, Grenyer hopes to reimagine what an organ performance can be. While he honours the instrument’s history with a traditional repertoire, he is just as likely to push boundaries.

At the University of Sydney, he staged a study session, where students could prepare for exams at the University’s Great Hall while he softly improvised on the organ.

“It’s a new way of interpreting that idea of what the organ can be and how it can actually engage audiences,” he said.

“So for me, I see my role as sort of taking the organ beyond its church roots, beyond its traditional, sort of more formal settings, and really democratising it to a larger audience.”

For Grenyer, both the carillon and organ are rooted in community. “The carillon is a very public instrument,” he explained from the University of Sydney’s Carillon room. “The bells can be heard throughout the campus by students, tourists, alumni and staff. It’s a way of giving back to the community through music in a unique way which no other Australian university can offer.”

Grenyer’s willingness to break traditional boundaries and focus on community drives his work at Sydney Town Hall, home to the world’s largest organ without any electrical components.

The City of Sydney is hosting four free organ recitals until December. As the producer of the recitals, Grenyer hopes to encourage a wider audience to enjoy and appreciate the 133-year-old instrument.

“I want to try and really get more audiences engaged with the organ, engaged with music and culture generally. Because I have a predisposition towards the organ, it’s really my interest that people encounter the organ more often and hear what it’s capable of,” he said.

“The idea that we can still have a free recital for the enrichment of the public, and that it’s historically in keeping with what the Town Hall organ was built for in the first place, is a really good thing that we need to preserve.”

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Sydney Town Hall’s free organ recitals will be held on 17 November, 17 December and 22 December. Tickets are required and become available two weeks prior to each performance. Info on the City of Sydney official website.