Inspired by Bach : Anna Lapwood

04.12.2024

"Intet nytt under solen", Bach er og har vært inspirasjonskilde for svært mange skapende mennesker - uavhengig av kunstform og sjanger. Albert Schweitzer mente alt fører til Bach, i forståelsen at Bach var et vendepunkt som alt pekte frem mot før, og alt i ettertid pekte tilbake til. 

What is it about Bach that just makes time seem to stand still? I'm convinced this is one of the most beautiful pieces ever written.

- Anna Lapwood om den langsomme satsen i Triosonate nr.4 for orgel BWV528

Anna Lapwood MBE is an Associate Artist of the Royal Albert Hall (London) and holds the position of Director of Music at Pembroke College (Cambridge). She was awarded an Associateship of the Royal Academy of Music and the prestigious Gamechanger Award from the Royal Philharmonic Society in 2023. Anna regularly performs concertos with leading symphony orchestras and is heard playing recitals in concert halls and churches across Europe and the United States. Anna has also performed with Alison Balsom, Bonobo and Benedict Cumberbatch. As a broadcaster, she made her TV presenting debut on BBC Young Musician (also serving as Chair of the Jury in 2022), has hosted a televised Prom and is a regular contributor to BBC Radio 3 and 4.

She is much more than a gifted organist, choral conductor and social media sensation… she's a star on a mission

- The Sunday Times



She had rightly become "the world's most visible organist

- New York Times



Anna Lapwood's concert from the Ryedale Festival Online 2020. 

Bach Trio Sonata no. 2 in C minor 

I Vivace 

II Largo 

III Allegro


The Taylor Swift of classical music: meet Anna Lapwood, the 'TikTok organist' bringing the instrument to the mainstream

People in classical music are always asking how they can reach a wider audience,' she says. 'The bizarrely simple answer is social media. It genuinely works. I saw a statistic recently saying that young people are spending on average six hours a day on TikTok and other social media. That may seem horrific, but if it's true we had better make sure they are seeing classical music there for at least some of the time. We need to make ourselves relevant.

- Anna Lapwood, Classical Music - BBC Music Magazine

Årlig Bach-a-thon: alle Bachs orgelverk spilles til inntekt for humanitær innsats i Zambia - og prosjekter for å få unge jenter tent på orgelspill - Mein Gott!


Director of Music - Pembroke College

Pembroke Chapel
Pembroke Chapel
Pembroke Chapel by Sir Christoper Wren (St Pauls, London)
Pembroke Chapel by Sir Christoper Wren (St Pauls, London)
The Library
The Library

Ms Anna Lapwood

Anna is an organist, conductor and broadcaster, and has been Director of Music at Pembroke College since 2016. Alongside overseeing college music-making, Anna conducts the Chapel Choir and Girls' Choir, leading them in regular services in the college chapel. The two choirs released their debut album in 2020. 

"We're so excited to release the first single from our latest album, 'Celestial Dawn'. I stumbled across this little piece by Nadia Boulanger a couple of years ago, and it has been a firm favourite ever since. The beauty of this piece lies in its simplicity; sparse chords on the piano twinkle like starlight, underpinning a melody that sounds as if it has been woven from a single thread."

At the end of our filming session for Celestial Dawn, some of the Girls' Choir asked if they could interview me so we sat down for a chat. This conversation sums up everything I adore about working with this talented, wacky group of young women.