Having a GAS with Anna Lapwood

GAS Music recently spoke to Anna Lapwood on its podcast Having a GAS™ with...

Anna is making waves on TikTok with her pipe organ content.

Her discussion with host Greg Owens covers topics including her background, her rapidly expanding musical horizons in the last 12 months and a recent performance with Bonobo at the Royal Albert Hall.

Anna Lapwood is an organist, conductor, and broadcaster. She is director of music and a Bye-Fellow at Pembroke College, Cambridge. In 2022 she was appointed Associate Artist of the Royal Albert Hall, Artist in Association with the BBC Singers and Ambassador of the Cathedral Music Trust. While studying at Oxford University, Anna became the first female in Magdalen College’s 560-year history to be awarded the Organ Scholarship.

In 2021 Anna made her debut for the BBC Proms as a soloist in Saint-Saëns ‘Organ Symphony’ with The Hallé conducted by Sir Mark Elder. Recently she has performed with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra for Classic FM Live broadcast on Classic FM and Sky Arts TV along with performances with Alison Balsom, Bonobo, Emma Johnson, Benedict Cumberbatch and Alex Macqueen. Highlights of 2023 performances of Poulenc ‘Organ Concerto’ with The Hallé and presenting and performing in the Royal Albert Hall ‘Organ Celebration’. Making her TV presenting debut hosting coverage of BBC Young Musician, Anna was also invited to present a televised Prom from the Royal Albert Hall in 2021. As a radio broadcaster she is a regular contributor to BBC Radio 3 and Radio 4.

Anna has released four albums with Signum Records in the last three years including her debut solo album ‘Images’. In 2022 Anna released two new albums: Celestial Dawn” and “A Pembroke Christmas” with The Choirs of Pembroke College. Anna and The Choirs of Pembroke College were also invited to perform on “To Shiver the Sky” by Grammy award-winning American composer, Christopher Tin, for Decca, recording at Abbey Road Studios.

Anna is a great protagonist for her instrument, the organ. She is a natural communicator and reaches a huge audience through her concerts and via social media with over 700,000 followers across all platforms, Anna has amassed tens of millions of views in a short space of time. Anna’s passion for the organ is matched by her mission to support girls and women in music. In the last two years, Anna has commissioned a total of 15 works by female composers. In 2021 she worked with Stainer & Bell to commission and edit 12 new organ pieces by female composers in a new anthology, ‘Gregoriana’ published in May 2022. Anna is humbled to find that she is an inspiration to many young women and proud that they have adopted her hashtag, #playlikeagirl.