Ian Bell

Ian Bell, a founder member of the AIOA, was raised in York before being apprenticed to the John Compton Organ Company in 1960. Training as a voicer, on the closure of the Compton pipe organ business in 1963 he was taken on by N.P. Mander Ltd where he became Head Voicer in 1965. From 1972 to 1991 he directed the design office, working on all the company’s significant organs during that period, overseeing design, pipe scaling, construction and installation. Notable cathedral projects were St Paul’s, Canterbury, Rochester, Bristol, Chichester and Truro. Other significant projects were at Princeton University, Kelvingrove Art Gallery, Winchester College and St Andrew’s Holborn. He was a director of the company from 1981 to 1993, when he left to become a full-time professional organ adviser, becoming a founder member of the AIOA in 1996. His links with the organ trade were maintained and he served as President of the Incorporated Society of Organ Builders in 1996-96, for whom he was also a Council Member from 1987-1996, Vice President (1994-95) and Administrator (1985-1998).

In his subsequent three decades as an organ consultant, Ian Bell worked on a large number of interesting organs. Those listed on his AIOA page included the Royal Albert Hall, Auckland Town Hall, Cheltenham Ladies’ College, Little St Mary, Cambridge, St George’s church, Hanover Square London, Christ Church, Chelsea, St Albans Cathedral, Cirencester parish church, Holy Trinity, Sloane Square, London, Church of the Sacred Heart, Wimbledon, St James’s church, Bermondsey, St Botolph’s church, Aldgate, St Katherine Cree and Union Chapel Islington.