The year 1976 brought the 25th Anniversary of the opening of the Royal Festival Hall, and to celebrate this the BBC commissioned a 20-minute work from Peter Racine Fricker for a concert of English music. Fricker chose to write a short single movement symphony, and as an FRCO, he decided to include an organ part. Gillian Weir was invited to be the soloist, and in this article from the RCO Journal of 2017 she describes the event, and also discusses the performance of a later concerto by Fricker, Laudi Concertati, which was dedicated to her.

The restoration of the organ at Canterbury Cathedral has begun, with some radical changes to the position of the pipework and console. Harrison & Harrison are working on the creation of new pipework in their Durham workshops, while Viscount Organs discuss the challenges of providing a digital replacement to maintain the musical life of the Cathedral for the next two years.

If you’re finding the requirements to improvise at the organ a bit daunting, or want to take your own skills to the next level, then read about two courses coming up in July which are focussed solely on improvisation for organists of all standards – one with tutor Ansgar Wallenhorst, left. There are also now two improvisation teaching videos to watch here on iRCO, which include exercises and a reading list to download.

In this film Matthew Martin discusses how to approach the improvisation tests in the ARCO examination syllabus. He suggests devices, patterns and techniques for the different tests, and demonstrates them on the Kenneth Tickell organ of Keble College, Oxford.

Thierry Escaich’s compositional work is recognised the world over, and in acknowledgement of this he was elected to the Académie des Beaux-Arts of the Institut de France in 2013. He is the only composer of international stature today whose output contains a substantial place for the organ.

David Maw analyses Escaich’s writing for the organ in detail, with examples, in this article which originally appeared in the RCO Journal for 2017. Maw discusses Escaich’s creation of genres of writing of his own invention, along with the traditional concerto form; his use of improvisation and historical allusion; and his assimilation of an unusually wide range of musical material – from folksongs to note-rows, from triads to seemingly atonal chords – without any compromise to the compositional voice.

Performance anxiety is common at all levels, and musicians are now catching up with sportsmen and women in acquiring techniques to overcome it. Knowing you’re performing way below your capability is immensely frustrating – here are some resources to help your public performances be as good as the ones you produce in private.

Mark Brafield and Daniel Moult recently gave an RCO workshop on strategies for dealing with performance anxiety, and they’ve made their workshop notes available for download. The notes include a discussion of how performance anxiety arises in the first place, practical techniques to overcome it, and a reading list.

In March 2018 Andrew McCrea, Deputy Director of the RCO, hosted a live webinar with RCO President Martin Baker and Philip Meaden, RCO Director. In it they reflected on RCO initiatives, both current and future, and took questions from the webinar audience. Watch a recording of the webinar, including the Q&A session.

The Northern Ireland International Organ Competition, which takes place between 13th and 15th August in Armagh, has grown into an excellent opportunity for organists age 21 and under. This year there are increased prize funds, and recital opportunities for senior category prize winners at a range of international venues. The competition has been a stepping stone for many young players to establish their careers and take the next step forward. Dame Gillian Weir chairs the jury, and entries for this year close in July.