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British Institute of Organ Studies

Abbreviation	BIOS
Formation	1976
Legal status	Registered charity 283936
Purpose	Pipe organs in the UK
Region served	UK
Chair of Trustees	Alan Thurlow[1]
Website	www.bios.org.uk

TheBritish Institute of Organ Studies (BIOS) is a British organisation and registered charity^[2] which aims to promote study and appreciation of all aspects of thepipe organ. Further, it acts as a lobbying body to raise awareness of organ issues with appropriate statutory bodies. Membership is open to all.

The aims of BIOS are

• To promote objective, scholarly research into the history of the organ and its music in all its aspects, and, in particular, into theorgan and its music inBritain.
• To conserve the sources and materials for the history of the organ in Britain, and to make them accessible to scholars.
• To work for the preservation and, where necessary, the faithful restoration of historic organs in Britain.
• To encourage an exchange of scholarship with similar bodies and individuals abroad, and to promote, in Britain, a greater appreciation of historical overseas schools of organ-building.

BIOS publishes a quarterlyReporter newsletter and magazine and a yearlyJournal. Both contain articles on organ history, the Journal hoping to attract mature studies, the Reporter offering a place for exposure of interim or conjectural work.

BIOS is also responsible for the National Pipe Organ Register (NPOR), which aims to catalogue all British pipe organs in a database. The database is available for searching free of charge on the internet.

The National Pipe Organ Register was begun by Peter le Huray and Mike Sayers in 1991. It was supported from 1992 to 1997 by theBritish Academy and by the British Institute of Organ Studies. Support for 1998 and 1999 was provided by thePilgrim Trust.

For many years, the NPOR resided on a computer system in theUniversity of Cambridge provided by theThriplow Charitable Trust. In 2009 it was transferred to the IT Department of theRoyal College of Music in London but returned toEmmanuel College in Cambridge in 2013. Editing continues to be done by a team of volunteer editors, now managed by Andrew Macintosh of theRoyal College of Organists.

The project is guided by members of the Council of the British Institute of Organ Studies.

BIOS issues Historic Organ Certificates as follows:

• Grade I for organs of outstanding historic and musical importance in essentially original condition.
• Grade II* for organs which are good representatives of the work of their builder, in substantially original condition.
• Grade II for organs which, whilst not unaltered, nevertheless contain important historic material.

A Certificate of Recognition identifies the presence of by individual elements of important historic material in an organ.

The British Organ Archive, accumulated by BIOS, is held at the Cadbury Research Library, University of Birmingham.^[3][4]

• List of pipe organs

• Official website
• British Institute of Organ Studies onFacebook
• The National Pipe Organ Register

• Pipe organ organizations
• Organizations established in 1976
• Classical music in the United Kingdom
• Music charities based in the United Kingdom
• 1976 establishments in the United Kingdom

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