Those of you that play Yamaha instruments may well be aware of Glyn, his playing and his Yamaha Club (You'll find a link to his pages on our hot links page).

Glyn was born on March 26th 1957 in Sheffield. His home until the age of eighteen was in Hillsborough, where his father, a teacher at a local school, gave private piano lessons. It was quite a musical neighbourhood - three doors away lived the Dixons, whose son, Reginald, played the organ in Blackpool! The 'bug' was obviously infectious and it was not many years before Glyn began to practice scales and arpeggios.

He was not a particularly shy child and was performing regularly on stage by the age of six, thanks to a family friend who used to entertain at local Darby and Joan clubs and homes. By the age of ten, Glyn had become a drummer boy in the local Boys' Brigade band and soon was achieving some success in this direction, winning the 'Silver Drumsticks' (a local prize) and, at twelve years old, becoming the youngest boy to win the 'Silver Drum' (all Sheffield) in one year. The drumming continued and, during this part of his musical career, Glyn played with many local brass bands, orchestras, concert and military bands and, of course, school 'pop' groups. In fact, just prior to leaving school, Glyn almost signed up for the band of the Royal Marines!

Glyn discovered the organ during this period - thanks to a Joseph Seal record presented to his Dad following a school dramatic production. He became enthralled by the instrument, taking lessons at the local church, although he never learned to play theatre organ and becoming something of a thorn in the side of the very tolerant manager of the local music shop who he used to pester incessantly for brochures, price lists, posters and anything else to fee his hobby needs. On leaving school, he joined the staff and within four years was managing the music shop.

Shop work doesn't often pay well and, to supplement his wages and to pay for a car, he taught the organ and played in a variety of venues during the evening. Like many young players, Glyn was struggling to get his name noticed on the organ club circuit and, in the mid/late 1970's, he began to play outside Sheffield for the first time.

In 1980, Yamaha (then Kemble Organ Sales Ltd) offered Glyn a job as demonstrator. They were launching a new organ called the D85. Nobody knew it at that time, but that range of instruments was to put Yamaha at the head of the league, ahead of former big names, such as Hammond, Lowrey, Wurlitzer, etc. Glyn says that the following fifteen years were some of the most exciting he could have wished for. His personal dream had become true and he has played on the best (and most expensive) instruments available, travelled the world and worked with some wonderful musicians and made many, many friends.

And now? Glyn has made a break from Yamaha but still retains very strong links with the Company. He is now a very popular performer at Festivals and at clubs and societies around the country. Whilst he very much enjoys playing the Clavinovas and the portable keyboards, the organ is still his first choice of instrument and he hopes to spend the majority of his time working and playing the 'King of Instruments' - the Organ.

Contact Details: 1 Reynolds Close, Dronfield, Derbys S18 1QP  Tel:01246-290454

Glyn also has a web page at Organ Fax and further information about him can be found here: www.organfax.co.uk/players/glynmadden.html