ANNA LAPWOOD

The 27-year-old from a small Oxfordshire village has been making waves with her exciting approach to organ playing, awakening the senses of young and old alike, opening the gateways to classical music and shining a light on an often under-appreciated instrument. 

 

In 2022, only 8% of organ recitals in the UK were given by women. To try and encourage more women to try the organ, Anna initiated the #playlikeagirl social media hashtag, not to divide but to unite and remind women to own themselves, be themselves and find themselves through music.

 

Anna has spent 7 years as Director of Music at Cambridge University’s Pembroke College, running the choirs and teaching academic music. After work and as night falls, her role as Associate Artist of the Royal Albert Hall sees her granted special access to the majestic instrument while most of us are fast asleep. This has led to some spectacular spontaneous collaborations, the most famous being with electronic musician Bonobo – one late-night practice session was interrupted by a request shouted up from the stage, which turned out to come from a couple of members of Bonobo’s band. 18 hours later, she was helping them close their show to an unsuspecting audience of 5,000.

Anna continues to relive the magic of that event through her videos to her 550,000+ TikTok followers – a tool she is using with exciting results having now passed 1 million social media followers across all platforms. The power of social media gives the ability to demystify the outdated baggage the organ once carried along with it, throwing open the doors to new music, new possibilities, and new audiences.