Dr Francis Jackson’s work at York Minster, coupled with his activities as a world famous recitalist, made it impossible for him to devote regular hours to composition. That he has composed such a large body of work in a variety of different genres is testimony to his talent as a composer and his devotion to the craft.

In this article originally appearing in the RCO Journal of 2017, Philip Moore analyses Jackson’s compositional techniques, his approach to word-setting, and gives some suggestions on the interpretation and registration of Jackson’s choral and liturgical works.

In this short video Judith Kleinman outlines the principles of Alexander Technique for musicians, and in particular organists.

Mental Skills Training (MST) is now taught as a matter of routine in conservatoires and music colleges, but it can help musicians at all levels increase learning speed, combat performance anxiety, and realise their full potential. Daniel Moult introduces visualisation which as part of practice technique.

Sir George Thomas Smart (1776–1867) is not as well known to the general musical public as he should be, not least because he was the first British musician to wield a baton over his forces and the first to take sole charge of a musical performance. The famous and misleading quote in the title is one of the most widely known anecdotes from his life, but this humorous aside does not reflect Smart’s attitude to the organ and its music in 1851, nor his reforming zeal.

Listen to the Ede & Ravenscroft Recital which closed the College’s 2018 Conferment of Diplomas ceremony, performed by Peter Stevens, Assistant Master of Music, Westminster Cathedral, who played music by Jean Guillou, JS Bach, Maurice Durufle and Max Reger.

Watch the College’s 2018 Conferment of Diplomas ceremony in full, or as edited highlights.

Last Saturday, in the splendid setting of Southwark Cathedral, the RCO presented Diplomas and Certificates to 49 members of the college who were successful in the examinations in the past year – and for the first time this included the RCO’s new qualification, the Certificate of Accredited Membership (CAM). Distinguished guests were awarded the RCO Medal, and Peter Stevens gave the Ede & Ravenscroft recital – pictures of the day’s event as it unfolded.

In this article from the RCO Journal of 2017, John Scott Whiteley examines Bach’s selection of traditional hymns for the Orgelbuchlein, and the tensions between Pietism, a Protestant renewal movement, and Lutheran Orthodoxy, in his sources.

In this RHS-RCO Masterclass, Matthew Martin discusses the practicalities of performance of the French Classical Repertoire – from registration and articulation, to the fingering for ornamentation and the application of inègale.