A film on how to prepare for the aural perception question in the CRCO diploma written papers, with RCO Director Simon Williams.

James Mitchell plays his Festival Toccata, the winning entry in the under-25 years category in the RCO’s Composition Competition, held in 2020.

On Sunday 7 March, the eve of International Women’s Day, organists (and a few choirs too) took to social media to celebrate Woman Composer Sunday, a joint initiative by the Society of Women Organists and the RCO.  Organists were asked to perform a piece of music by a woman composer that day, and post it to Twitter, Facebook or YouTube. StopPress reports on the inspiring results.

The RCO’s first-ever Winter Conference this February was devised as the pandemic lockdown continued to prove a barrier to organists and organ enthusiasts getting together in person.  RCO Director Simon Williams decided to build on the experience through 2020 of putting all the major RCO courses online, with a new format – a complete virtual conference, with seminars, presentations, recitals, a keynote speech and a trade show. Over 200 people attended the three day event, including StopPress Editor, Morwenna Campbell-Smith, who writes this report.

An annual celebration of women composers has been launched by the Royal College of Organists and the Society of Women Organists. Sunday 7 March 2021 – the nearest Sunday to International Women’s Day on 8 March – will be celebrated as Woman Composer Sunday. Here on StopPress we have inspiration and wide-ranging resources for organists looking for repertoire by women composers.

Details about online access to The American Organist journal, for RCO Members who are Affiliate Members of the AGO.

A full listing, with links, of the Learning during Lockdown series, which ran as a series of 16 bulletins throughout 2020.

Magnus Williamson, Professor of Early Music at Newcastle University, presents a film on Tudor organs and organ music, featuring the Wetheringsett organ built in 2002 by Goezte & Gwynn.

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