Coming to play Boardwalk Hall organ
By Steffen Klenk
Anna Lapwood is inspiring a new generation of classical music fans. With more than 22 million likes on TikTok, her following on social media is as impressive as her repertoire.
But it’s her modern take on the organ that has made Lapwood the latest viral sensation in music. The associate artist at London’s Royal Albert Hall is also an Artist in Association with the BBC Singers and an exclusive recording artist with SONY Classical.
In 2023, Lapwood received the distinguished Gamechanger Award from the Royal Philharmonic Society, and recently achieved the honor of Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to music.
While not sitting at the console, she holds the title of director of music at Pembroke College, Cambridge, where she also directs the university choir.
Shore Local spoke with Anna Lapwood from Cambridge ahead of her upcoming US tour. She spoke on a variety of topics, including her musical background, the artists that have inspired her work, and her message to fans and aspiring musicians. She also talked about her first time sitting at the console at Boardwalk Hall, and what attendees can expect at her concert on Friday, April 5.
Shore Local: How did you become associated with the organ and was there anything that drew you to it?
Lapwood: It was kind of the challenge of it that made me really want to take it seriously. When I was a kid, I took up as many different instruments as I could. I played the harp, the piano, the violin, viola, flute, and guitar. Music was my most natural way of communicating anything. It felt more natural than talking; if I had something to say, I said it much better through a piano.
When I took up the organ as a teenager, I found it so hard, and it didn’t feel natural at all, and I was so frustrated. I was like “Why can’t I play this instrument?” I think there was something about the element of challenge that made me so excited to try and overcome it.
It took a very long time before it really started to feel natural and second nature, but it’s an amazing thing when it does start to feel like the instrument is almost an extension of your body. Trying to figure out how to communicate through it is a lot of fun.
Shore Local: We just learned about the organ a few months ago, and to see just how large the instrument can be, it can feel somewhat intimidating because the organ has a lot of notes and stops. Is that the way you feel when you’re playing?
Lapwood: It depends on the organ. I remember when I first started, and I did all of my first lessons and practice on a little two manual organ, a tiny little thing in the church where my dad was a priest. And I remember sitting down at my very first three-manual organ and feeling quite intimidated by it. Now, at the Albert Hall, where I’m doing a lot of my playing at the moment, it’s a vast organ and yet I don’t feel intimidated by it anymore. I got used to its quirks and idiosyncrasies. It feels like returning to your favorite car. It just feels comfortable.
I still do find the Boardwalk Hall organ quite intimidating because it is just huge. It is vast compared to anything we have in the UK, or anything else in the world really. But I see that as the fun part of it; the challenge and trying to figure it out. I have two and a half days to really try and get to know this instrument as best as I can, and I’m really excited for that process.
Shore Local: You shared a video of when you were first sitting at the console. What was that experience like?
Lapwood: Terrifying. The amazing team there gave me a tour, and I’d been to the Macy’s (Wanamaker) organ in the morning, so I got to play that for a bit, then hopped in a car, went to Boardwalk Hall and straight to lunch, then got a tour of the organ and got to sit at it.
It’s funny because I almost didn’t want to play it at first. I desperately wanted to play it, but I was so scared. I was like “Oh my gosh, I just don’t know where to start.” But the team was so amazing, and it turned into a couple of hours of play in the real sense of having fun and trying things out.
I started off playing with arrangements that I knew really well, and then I started cracking out some new arrangements that I hadn’t actually finished, just playing around with it and seeing how the organ brought them to life. One of the best things about the concert coming up is one of the arrangements I tried out on the organ for the first time last year is now finished for this concert, and it will be getting its first or second performance.
Shore Local: Are there any musicians or other artists that have inspired your work?
Lapwood: I’ve been thinking about this quite a lot recently, and I think one of my biggest inspirations at the moment is genuinely Taylor Swift. I know that probably sounds a little bit left field or weird, because I couldn’t be doing a more different kind of music. I have such admiration for the way she has developed her musical style as her personality has developed and changed, and it feels so authentically her, but also how she puts herself at the heart of it and puts her fans at the heart of it without ever feeling self-centered or arrogant or anything like that.
I think we can learn so much about that, from the classical world, if you look at the way she does her tours and the experience that her fans get, and the fact that people pay so much money to go and hear her because it’s a whole experience, and not just the music. I find that incredibly inspiring, and the way she speaks up for things that need to be spoken up about.
Shore Local: Are there any particular artists or musicians you have enjoyed playing with throughout your career?
Lapwood: The thing I’m doing increasingly at the moment, which I’m really enjoying, is collaboration across many different genres. If you’d asked me two years ago what collaborations I’d be doing, I certainly would not have said Ministry of Sound. I certainly would not have said the electronic musician Bonobo because it felt like such a departure from the genre I’ve grown up with. But every time I do one of them, it feels like my idea of music is blowing up outwards. I say this a lot, but good music is good music whatever the genre. I love being able to inject the organ into that and bring it to people who’ve probably never heard the instrument or never expected to hear it.
Shore Local: You have released several albums in the last year. What are some of your favorite tracks you’ve enjoyed performing the most or getting to record?
Lapwood: “Cornfield Chase” from the “Midnight Sessions” EP is the one that I’m asked to perform most. Something about that just hits me every single time. It’s such powerful music, and I always get a little bit emotional when I play that. I probably shouldn’t say all the tracks from that album, but they all are really powerful. From the “Luna” album, “Dreamland” by Christina Kellanne. She’s an amazing young composer, and I love working with her. It’s a really special piece and I played that on my last US tour.
Shore Local: What would you say to an aspiring musician, or anyone that’s into music, when dealing with nerves or anxiety?
Lapwood: We all feel that. People don’t talk about it that much, particularly in the organ world, encouraging people to remember that everyone experiences it, and that they’re not wrong or weird for that experience.
The biggest life-changing advice I had, which completely transformed my approach to performing, was you have to learn to be happy with your 60 percent, and make sure your 60 percent is good enough. Since then, I’ve come out of basically every performance happy. When you give yourself that room to be a human being. Suddenly you feel much freer and more liberated to be creative, and to take risks in performance, and you enjoy it so much more.
Shore Local: You are preparing for your US tour. What are you looking forward to?
Lapwood: People are coming along who follow me on Instagram and TikTok, and have become part of this community over the past few years. They’ve been commenting and leaving messages, and meeting them in person and hearing their stories. I find that really inspiring. Touring can be really tiring, because it’s a lot of travel and work, and not much downtime. Energy-wise, it has its highs and lows. But I genuinely find that that is the thing that gives me the energy to get through it because it’s moving and inspiring, and it reminds me why I’m doing what I’m doing.
Anna Lapwood will perform at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall on Friday, April 5, in a concert presented by the Historic Organ Restoration Committee. Tickets and information can be found online at www.boardwalkorgans.org.
The Restoration Committee and Lapwood are also hosting a special program for middle and high school students 10 a.m. Saturday, April 6. In an introduction to the organ, students in grades six through 12 will have the opportunity to learn how the pipe organ works, see its inner workings and ongoing restoration process, and play the console. Sign-ups are now available through the Historic Organ Committee’s website under the Events tab.
You can also find additional tour dates, plus videos, music, and more by going to www.annalapwood.co.uk and following Anna Lapwood’s official social media pages.
Steffen Klenk is a photographer and multimedia journalist who enjoys capturing the eclectic moments of shore life. You may contact Steffen at shorelocalsteffen@gmail.com.
