Samuel Kimuli, an organist, composer and educator now based in the UK, decided to start an Organ Academy in his home country of Uganda to help young musicians who did not have the same opportunities as he had. He tells StopPress how he came to play the organ, and his ambitions for The Organ Academy.

A major investment in school singing by the Hamish Ogston Foundation is allowing Catholic Dioceses around the country to revive singing in schools and foster the next generation of church choristers: we look at how the Diocese of Middlesbrough has become part of this project.

Pieter Shaw discovered a wonderful Schnitger organ in a local church in Bellingwolde, close to the Dutch/German border, and then was delighted to be offered the post of organist there. He tells StopPress about the instrument and the role of the organist in the Netherlands.

Retiring in 2009 to his home county of Yorkshire, David Baker became involved in the local organ scene, but found both organ playing and teaching in a sorry state. Determined to do something about this he founded the Halifax Organ Academy, which has big plans for the future as it celebrates its tenth anniversary.

Before her death last year, Jennifer Bate made specific requests for a memorial concert in her name. This event has just been announced, and it will also include the posthumous presentation of the RCO Medal to Jennifer, in recognition of her contributions to organ performance and teaching.

The aim of interNational Organ Day in April 2021 was to restore the organ in the public’s consciousness to its former position central to music making across the world. The celebrations went online with the onset of lockdown, and they can still be enjoyed via YouTube. Here’s how The Organ Show was born, with links to some notable highlights.

Back in 2018 we reported on a Liverpool school with ambitions for its historic, but neglected school organ. Almost three years on, we can now report on the success of their project not only to completely restore their Father Willis instrument, but to create a system of organ scholarships for teenage organists from the school.

Our twice-yearly print publication, RCO News, contains a new series.  We’ve asked younger members of the College to give us their perspective on learning the organ, and tell us of their concerns as they develop their skills and careers as musicians in the twenty-first century, and teenage organist Anna Hallett has written the first article for us.

The June 2021 edition of the College’s bi-annual magazine can be downloaded by RCO Members here in pdf format.