Staccato Spotlight: Anna Lapwood
Anna Lapwood
Organist, arranger, composer, conductor, educator, and broadcaster
More than 1.5 million followers across her social media platforms
Member of the Order of the British Empire
ArrangeMe member since 2023
Anna Lapwood MBE is a star organist from the United Kingdom and is quickly becoming one of the most recognizable faces in classical music. Called “the world’s most visible organist” by The New York Times and “the dream ambassador for classical music” by Gramophone, Anna has risen to fame due in part to her viral performance videos showcasing her own organ arrangements of epic film scores.
Anna is the Director of Music at Pembroke College (Cambridge), Associate Artist of the Royal Albert Hall in London, and Artist in Association with the BBC Singers. She was awarded the Gamechanger Award from the Royal Philharmonic Society in 2023, and signed to SONY Classical as an exclusive recording artist. Her latest album LUNA was released in September 2023, and she recently wrapped up a U.S. spring concert tour before returning to the U.K. for her European tour.
Do you consider yourself a performer first and arranger second, or the other way around? How does your role as a performer guide your arranging process?
I definitely consider myself a performer first and arranger second, but what I love is how much more confident I’ve become as a performer since I started performing my own arrangements, and how that confidence transfers across into the more “standard” repertoire too.
Anna performs her now-iconic arrangement of “Test Drive” by John Powell for the animated film How To Train Your Dragon. Sheet music available here.
I love the problem-solving element of it. I love having a certain sound in my head and just being completely creative with the instrument until I’ve found a way to replicate that sound. There’s something about this process of sitting at the instrument and experimenting which makes you feel so much more comfortable and creative at the instrument. I frequently find myself stealing registration or articulation ideas from my film transcriptions when I’m working on core classical repertoire!
There’s also something lovely about performing your own arrangements because you know they are tailor-made to suit you as a player. I know, for example, that my hand span isn’t huge so I often struggle if I have extended passages with lots of big stretches—my arrangements never have these because I find them uncomfortable to play!
What prompted you to join ArrangeMe as a self-publisher?
I have been writing my own arrangements for years, but it’s only more recently that I’ve had other people asking for scores so they can play them too. I wasn’t quite sure how to do this but some colleagues recommended ArrangeMe, and I decided to try it out. I love how simple the process is, and how quickly and easily you can get things up on the website!
Anna performs her arrangement of “Davy Jones” from Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. Sheet music available here.
What advice do you have for arrangers of organ music?
Go on IMSLP and look at as many organ scores as you can find so that you can learn about the sort of textures that work well on the organ. Look at the great French composers: Durufle, Widor, Franck; explore how they used the instrument.
I think a lot of people write for the organ as if it’s a piano with an extra bass line, but that doesn’t tend to actually bring out the best from the instrument. We can be much more creative!
After a successful record release and tour, what are you chasing next?
I wish I could say I had a plan, but I’m never much of a plan person! I tend to keep an open mind and see where the music takes me. Having said that, I’m currently working on a new album and preparing for my UK tour this summer—so keeping busy. Naturally, that involves working on some new arrangements, too, which I’m excited to share with everyone soon!
To find out more about Anna and her music, be sure to follow her on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. Check out her website at annalapwood.co.uk and listen to her music on Spotify and Apple Music!
