Combining advocacy for women in classical with a viral TikTok presence, Anna Lapwood is set to make a splash with new album Firedove. Here, the organist talks composing, representation and Robbie Williams...
Interview: Paul Stokes Photo: Becca Wheeler
You recorded the new album at Norway’s Nidaros Cathedral in a series of overnight sessions. What led to that approach?
“There aren’t organs in studios, so you have to go to these weird venues. Sometimes it’s concert halls, sometimes churches. Often, if you need uninterrupted time and quiet, that ends up being overnight. We started recording at 11pm each evening and finished at six the next morning. I thought I was going to be too tired to get through, but I was so energised that when we finished recording, I stayed on the organ for another two hours for fun. It was such an incredible space.”
The title track is a new piece. Can you talk us through the process of getting a new organ work commissioned?
“I’ve wanted to work with its composer, Julie Cooper, for such a long time. It’s such an exciting process – you chat, there are flickers of inspiration, then you don’t hear anything until suddenly a piece will arrive. I love that moment. I’ve been doing a lot of new music recently, including a fanfare by Isobel Waller-Bridge and a new concerto from Max Richter. I went to his studio in the Cotswolds and we chatted for three hours. He even checked my handspan so he knew what was comfortable for me to play, something you don’t usually think about.”
The album also features Robbie Williams and Bob Dylan covers. Were your team encouraging you to aim for mainstream crossover?
“No, if anything they were like, ‘Anna, why are you doing Robbie Williams?’ They took a little bit of persuading. I love that the organ is the thread binding everything together. On paper, you might go, ‘What?’ – then you hear it and it makes sense.”
Bar convincing them to let you cover Robbie, how has it been working with the label on the project?
“Sony have been so incredible. I first met Sarah Thwaites [label director, Sony Classical] years ago for a chat. They weren’t trying to sign me at that stage, but she sat me down and said, ‘If you ever have any problems in this industry, even though you’re not signed to us, come to me.’ I have never forgotten that support for a young, emerging artist with no agenda. Now we’re working together, that attitude of trying to make this industry an even better place, platforming young composers and all this stuff, has continued.”
Can you feel things changing in that regard?
“My hope is we get to a point where gender isn’t really talked about. That’s not to say we shouldn’t celebrate female conductors and composers, but we shouldn’t just do it for their gender. We should celebrate them for their music. It is a relief people don’t refer to me as ‘the female organist’ anymore. For a long time, that was my identifier and that’s a lot of pressure. Now I’m ‘the TikTok organist’.”
You have a million followers and almost 40m likes on TikTok. How did you get going on the platform?
“I was on the bus with the girl choristers from Pembroke College and they were filming a dance, so I asked them how it worked. They were like, ‘Right, Miss Lapwood!’ and told me it is about explaining why you love the thing you love, bringing people into your niche and connecting. The videos that do well are about the psychology of performing. One of my first viral videos was me waiting to come in during a symphony, counting bars of rest, doing a running commentary of the things I was feeling. It got 1.2 million views – people were really fascinated.”
