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.

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.

A comprehensive guide to the RCO Diploma examinations from the prospective candidate’s point of view. 

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

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.

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