Images Anna Lapwood

• Maurice Ravel (1875 - 1937): Le Tombeau de Couperin:
• 1Ravel: Le Tombeau de Couperin: I. Prelude03:55
• 2Ravel: Le Tombeau de Couperin: Iii. Forlane06:23
• 3Ravel: Le Tombeau de Couperin: Iv. Riguadon03:49
• Patrick Gowers (1936 - 2014):
• 4Gowers: An Occasional Trumpet Voluntary03:43
• Claude Debussy (1862 - 1918):
• 5Debussy: String Quartet in G Minor, L. 85: Iii. Andantino, doucement expressif (Arr. For Organ)08:16
• Kerensa Briggs (b. 1991):
• 6Briggs: Light in Darkness04:33
• Nadia Boulanger (1887 - 1979):
• 7Boulanger: Trois Improvisations: Iii. Improvisation03:20
• Owain Park (b. 1993):
• 8Park: Images07:07
• Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976): Four Sea Interludes from 'Peter Grimes', Op. 33a:
• 9Britten: Four Sea Interludes from 'Peter Grimes', Op. 33a: I. Dawn (Arr. For Organ)03:36
• 10Britten: Four Sea Interludes from 'Peter Grimes', Op. 33a: Ii. Sunday Morning (Arr. For Organ)04:11
• 11Britten: Four Sea Interludes from 'Peter Grimes', Op. 33a: Iii. Moonlight (Arr. For Organ)05:15
• 12Britten: Four Sea Interludes from 'Peter Grimes', Op. 33a: Iv. Storm (Arr. For Organ)05:06
• Olivier Messiaen (1908 - 1992):
• 13Messiaen: Vocalise-étude (Arr. For Organ)04:35
• Cheryl Frances-hoad (b. 1980):
• 14Frances-hoad: Taking Your Leave04:24
• Total Runtime01:08:13

Info for Images

Signum proudly presents Lapwood’s debut solo organ recording following her critically-acclaimed debut choral recording, All things are quite silent, with The Choirs of Pembroke College, Cambridge. This luxurious programme, including some of Lapwood’s world-premiere arrangements, showcases the softer, more subtle side of an instrument more generally regarded for its bombastic nature.

“One of my favourite things about being an organist is the exquisite feeling of practising in a church or cathedral late at night. The door is locked, the lights are often out, and time seems to flow differently. It’s at night that one really gains a sense of the history of the building, getting to know the creaking noises and clicks that make it seem as if the space is breathing. Sound seems to travel differently too, piercing the warm cushion of dark silence like a beam of light. On this disc I’ve tried to capture some of that magic, recording in a chilly Ely Cathedral after hours in January 2021.” Anna Lapwood

Anna Lapwood is an organist, conductor, and broadcaster, and holds the position of Director of Music at Pembroke College, Cambridge. Lapwood recently presented the 2020 BBC Young Musician of the Year competition and is due to perform at the BBC Proms on 7th September 2021.

Anna Lapwood, organ

Anna Lapwood
is an organist, conductor, and broadcaster, and holds the position of Director of Music at Pembroke College, Cambridge.

While studying at Oxford University, Anna was the first female in Magdalen College’s 560-year history to be awarded the Organ Scholarship. Now performing multiple recitals each season, Anna released her debut solo album in September 2021 on Signum Records. The album, “Images”, features her transcription of Britten’s ‘Four Sea Interludes’ from “Peter Grimes”.

Performances have taken her across Europe on recital tours and in 2019 Anna opened the BAFTA TV awards on the organ of the Royal Festival Hall. Recent concerts include an organ recital from St David's Hall, Cardiff (broadcast on BBC Radio 3); a live audio stream from Leeds Town Hall and a webcast performance of Poulenc’s ‘Organ Concerto’ with the London Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Chloé van Soeterstède from St. John’s, Smith Square (London). In September 2021 she makes her BBC Proms debut at as soloist in Saint-Saëns ‘Organ Symphony’ with the Hallé Orchestra conducted by Sir Mark Elder, repeating the Saint-Saëns later that month with conductor Kazuki Yamada and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.

Anna made her TV presenting debut in 2020/21 hosting coverage of BBC Young Musician, followed by presenting a televised Prom in September 2021. As a radio broadcaster she is a regular contributor to BBC Radio 3 and Radio 4, and until July 2020 she hosted a live, weekly classical music show on Radio Cambridgeshire. She has also been featured on Classic FM and presented for Scala Radio.

Appointed Director of Music at Pembroke College at Cambridge University in 2016 aged just 21, Anna conducts the Chapel Choir and Girls' Choir. Their debut recording – “All Things are Quite Silent” - was released in 2020 to widespread critical acclaim, praised for their clarity, blend and beauty of sound. Anna’s passion to support girls and women is evident in almost every aspect of her work, especially at Pembroke. In 2018 she established the Pembroke College Girls’ Choir for girls aged 11 to 18 to inspire them to explore the world of choral music. They appeared as guest artists on “To Shiver the Sky” by American composer, Christopher Tin, for Decca US, recording at Abbey Road Studios. Anna also runs the Cambridge Organ Experience for Girls and was appointed a Bye-Fellow of Pembroke College in January 2020.

​Increasingly in demand as a guest conductor, she has also directed the BBC Singers as part of the Proms Inspire programme and has led choral workshops around the world. A strong advocate for music education at home and abroad, she specialises in bringing music to children from impoverished backgrounds. As a Trustee of the Muze Trust, a charity committed to making music accessible to children and young adults in Zambia, Anna works in Zambia regularly and leads the Muze-Pembroke Music Exchange Programme. When the Covid-19 Pandemic put a stop to much of Anna's work in this area overseas she focussed her efforts closer to home, founding and conducting the NHS Chorus-19, made up of over 1000 NHS staff from across the UK. ​

Having spent some years being encouraged to “play like a man” and with a dedication to her art and mission that belied her years, Anna is now humbled to find that she is an inspiration to many young women and proud that they have adopted her hashtag, #playlikeagirl.

Booklet for Images