Page 50 - RPS Awards 2023 Coverage Book

such emotion through repetition and orchestration.” Listen to ‘Chevalier De Sangreal’
(from The Da Vinci Code) HERE.

The track follows – ‘Cornfield Chase (From “Interstellar”)’ composed by Hans
Zimmer – the first track to be released from Midnight Sessions At The Royal Albert
Hall (listen here), and you can get to know this extremely exciting and talented artist
via her Introduction video here.

Of the EP Anna comments; “Over the last 11 months I’ve been lucky enough to be let into
the Royal Albert Hall in the middle-of-the night for practice sessions on the hall’s
magnificent organ. As I’ve explored the strange, beautiful and wonderful colours that it
has to offer, I’ve written a set of new film music transcriptions with that specific
instrument in mind, capturing some of the magic that I feel in that iconic building after
hours.”

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.

By day she runs choirs and teaches at Cambridge University’s Pembroke College,
practising the organ at every opportunity. By night, 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 an entirely spontaneous collaboration 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 450,000+
TikTok followers – a tool she is using with exciting results. 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gives the ability to demystify the outdated baggage the organ once carried along with it,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 all sorts of possibilities.

Only 8% of organists responsible for recitals in the UK in 2022 are women.
Anna’s #playlikeagirl social media hashtag, which isn’t about dividing, but uniting and
reminding women to own themselves, be themselves and find themselves through
music, has blown up.
With an exciting year to come, including an album on the horizon and her signing to
Sony Classical indicating a new and exciting chapter in her career, keep an eye out for
the woman who can do it all.

“There’s all sorts of old ideas about who goes to an organ concert, and it was seen as
having gone out of fashion. That has definitely changed,” insists Anna: “This instrument is
anything from boring – just ask Benedict Cumberbatch!”