The Klais Organ

The Victoria Concert Hall’s Klais organ is Singapore’s only fully mechanical organ, and has strong emotional links with generations of audiences. It was first installed in 1987 through fundraising efforts from the then-newly formed Singapore Symphony Orchestra Ladies’ League.

The Klais organ, built by German organ-builder Orgelbau Klais, replaced the St. Clair organ that had been built in the Victoria Concert Hall (VCH) some 50 years earlier in 1931. The St. Clair organ was named after Major W. G. St. Clair, founder of the old Philharmonic Society and the first editor of the Singapore Free Press, and its façade was retained after the installation of the Klais organ.

In 2010, with the redevelopment of the VCH and Victoria Theatre, the organ – consisting of a total of 2,012 pipes – was methodically removed piece by piece, repaired and stored in climate-controlled warehouses during the refurbishment period. Many donors and supporters of classical music, notably the Lee Foundation, stepped forward to provide financial support for the restoration.

When the VCH reopened in the second half of 2014, the lovely Klais pipe organ once again took centrestage both visually and musically, providing awe-inspiring and delicate strains of music to old and new audiences. The Singapore Symphony Group started the VCH Organ Series in 2014 as a set of specially curated concerts to showcase the beauty and power of the Klais organ to the people of Singapore.