Performers from six European countries will come together in Westminster Cathedral on 20th November, to perform the UK premiere of Jean Guillou’s spectacular La Révolte des Orgues, a 25-minute piece for percussion, and no fewer than nine organs.  Some of the musicians have played La Révolte before, but not all, and rehearsal time is limited, starting on 17th November, when Viscount Organs will install seven digital instruments, to add to the Cathedral’s Apse and Grand pipe organs.

If, like many organists, you are already leading a choir, but feel diffident about your conducting technique, then join an exceptional RCO choir training workshop coming up in November.  David Hill, one of the country’s leading choral trainers, will be directing a day workshop on choral conducting on Saturday 2nd November, in St Mary’s Church in Newark. Experienced choral conductors will have the opportunity to take their conducting skills to the next level, and there are plenty of places for observers.

Anne Page discusses fingering and pedalling systems for the music of England, the Netherlands, and Northern Germany in the early Baroque, a period when major stylistic developments were taking place.

Ivan-Bogdan Reincke, 21, from Hungary has won first prize in the Northern Ireland International Organ Competition (NIIOC), held at St Patrick’s Church of Ireland Cathedral, Armagh, in August this year. This is the ninth year of the NIIOC, and this year competitors came from the USA and Australia for the first time, as well as six European countries.

This year’s RCO study trip was focused around organ music of the French Romantic period, in particular the music of Jean Langlais and Oliver Messiaen.  Twelve RCO students, led by RCO tutor Richard Brasier, visited four churches in the center of Paris over several days in June, to play on instruments by the builder Aristide Cavaillé-Coll.  Rachel Pickering was one of these students, and she sent us this account of the trip.

The British organ world of the 1960s was shaken up by a generation of new, iconoclastic composers, and James Parsons leads an RCO class exploring this music in Newcastle, this October, on the Kenneth Tickell organ at St Mary’s RC Cathedral. If you think this music is difficult and daunting, think again – James has approachable and engaging suggestions of repertoire for the class for you to explore.

This year’s OrganFest in Cardiff is offering a perfect opportunity to introduce youngsters to the organ. David Pipe on the organ with John Biddle as narrator, along with Jeremy Sampson, curator of the WOOFYT, present all sorts of wizardry and magic in a concert for the whole family on the morning of Saturday, 7th September.

Oundle for Organists, in partnership with the RCO, have published a new series of eight films as a guide for potential organ scholars. Presented by Oundle’s Director, Ann Elise Smoot, they explain how to prepare for organ scholar trials, with practical advice on skills such as improvisation, registration, and score reading from inspiring tutors. All organists wanting to improve their skills will find the films, and the accompanying reading list, helpful.

The 2018 edition of the College’s annual research publication, The Journal of the Royal College of Organists, can be downloaded here as a complete edition.