A departure from the usual fare of hedgehogs and related wildlife - and an introduction into part of my life that is equally as important.
I have always loved music - at school and as a student it was Led Zeppelin and Hawkwind, as a student Roy Harper and Nick Drake. And then what would loosely be defined as classical music started to take a hold.
Something else I have always loved. And that is kindness.
Here is a story about the two things meeting.
When he was eight, my little boy Pip won a prestigious choristership to sing as part of the Magdalen College Choir in Oxford. He was scared when he started - as you can see, this was a world closer to that of Harry Potter than the primary school he had been at … and there were times when he was sad.
But - there was a guardian angel who had started at the same time as him. The college’s first ever female organ scholar …. in a tradition dating back hundreds of years! Anna Lapwood, just 18 years old, stepped in like Miss Honey in the story of Matilda - and showed great kindness to Pip, helping him find his feet.
I was around a lot more than most chorister parents - as I landed the job of official choir photographer (this has grown and a large portion of my life is now spent in beautiful, ancient - and VERY dark chapels, trying to capture moments of magic.) Being there meant I saw behind the scenes, and how Anna acted with Pip - and all the boys. Firm, but gentle and kind.
Over five years he went from a timid probationer to singing like an angel and that would not have happened had Anna not been there in those early days. And this clip is the last thing he ever sang with his choir - they were recording a CD and needed the reverberations at the end of this section of John Stainer’s ‘I saw the Lord.’ So good was it that they used the singing too! I love how Mark Williams - the Informator Choristarum (choir master to you and me) tells them to ‘make it matter’! I think that is a very good lesson for us all.
After her three year stint at Magdalen, Anna was swept up by the other place, and became the youngest Director of Music at Pembroke College, Cambridge. And I was fortunate enough to be invited along to take photographs as she moulded the main choir, and established the first girls choir.
She worked wonders, not only in tuning the choirs into amazing instruments, but also in the manner with which she did this. I have seen choir masters rule with fear, belittling people who make mistakes, but Anna used, and here is that word again, kindness. Kindness and some appalling jokes - you will see from the photographs, even stressed recording sessions were filled with laughter (I never quite understood the absolute hilarity that ensued every time she said ‘what cheese am I thinking of’!)
I am sure that students undertook postgraduate studies just to stay in the choir.
Anna’s world was not without some pushback - I witnessed very unpleasant behaviour from some … and it was in each case older men … who were at best dismissive, and sometimes downright rude. Anna’s front to the world is full of smiles, but I am sure that the tired dribble of patriarchy will have seeped behind the defences at times.
Once she was criticised for not playing the organ more like a boy - so, how to cope with this silliness? Make something positive, generate #PlayLikeAGirl and use that to remind aspiring musicians to not give up - there is even merchandise!
Why should she receive such a reaction? Well, Anna was doing things differently - she was using social media to bring music, and in particular the organ, to a wider audience. It started as a bit of fun, propping her phone up as she rehearsed. But quickly her TikTok took off - as did Instagram - and she now has over a million followers on each platform! Videos get hundreds of thousands of views, and a few go truly viral! Her overnight rehearsals in the Royal Albert Hall, in particular, have become the stuff of legend - resulting in meetings with Tom Cruise, Benedict Cumberbatch … and suddenly being thrust into the world of dance music as she accompanied Bonobo!
This did not go unnoticed and soon Sony were knocking at the door. Her first solo recording is now available. She has left the daily round of evensong and taken on the precarious position of full time performer. I was fortunate enough to be invited to her last ever Evensong - it was a magical evening, filled with her favourite music and many tears.
This clip - well, as I arrived for the rehearsals, I was still out on the street and I heard them singing - my heart leapt, this is my absolute favourite! Herbert Howells is the composer, the Collegium Regale never ceases to give me goosebumps.
Now, you may be sad to have missed this, but there is a chance to see her with the choirs again - at this year’s BBC Proms, she is doing … well, what would you expect from her … something utterly different - a concert starting at 11pm on 8th August … that finishes at 7am on the 9th! Called ‘From Dark Till Dawn’ this will be predictably magical!
I appreciate that this style of music may not be your first choice, but, please do explore … And if you are ever in Oxford (or Cambridge) during term time, go to an Evensong … you might be surprised - as one friend was when I took him - and he described it as ‘the best free gig in town’!
Oh, and I spend all the time I do in chapels and cathedrals and yet remain an atheist … if they let me in, you know you are really ALL welcome!
So - they hype that surrounds Anna - ignore it, she is more than that. And if you find out she is playing near you - get a ticket, but be quick … the recent concert in Cologne Cathedral had a queue over 1km long and required her to do the concert twice to get most of them in!
And remember - great things can come from kindness and compassion - if more of us would take that path, just think what a world we could all share.
As great read and great way to start the day
Wow - what a superb “write up” on an equally superbly talented Lady. Great that she let those male oicks stew in their own bile. A most enjoyable read.
John D