Are we dying on our feet?

[Tony Price]

Interesting, Barry! Thank you for that.

As an eventual Grade VIII pianist, I was first drawn to playing the organ through our family Parish Priest, who appealed for an organist from the pulpit; my parents put me forward, and informed me afterwards! It was a very modest two manual instrument, but it stirred my interest. I was 13 at the time, 1968. Two years later I was playing a single manual, no pedals, instrument, accompanying a newly-formed parish choir, and was entrusted in 1970 to contribute to a new instrument designed to meet the requirements of a growing parish. Our hosts have done us proud over the years! At about the same time, I was in the sixth form at school, and had unfettered lunchtime access to the wonderful instrument at Sacred Heart, Wimbledon at the bottom of the school's playing fields (it's no doubt known to many of you, and then still in its 1935 state, which showed!). It was an marvellous, and hugely instructive experience! I went into teaching, and spent my three years' training at What is now St. Mary's University, Twickenham, as College Organist for two of those years, with a fine student choir.

I currently reside, as Director of Music, in the same parish I have been in since 1970. I'm proud to have been associated with, and to lead, a completely amateur Catholic parish choir for all those years, with an encouragement to all and any to join us, without audition, to sing at the Sunday liturgies. It has led me to play a large number of other instruments over the many years, some of which other amateur organists might well be envious of!!

Tony

[Rowland Wateridge]

On 28/09/2023 at 15:01, S_L said:

I think the likes of Ann Lapwood are making huge strides towards bringing the organ into a more mainstream arena. But did you notice that her 'Proms' programme drew no comments from members here? And the vitriol towards her on another site, largely from organists is shameful.

Fortunately today the BBC has made amends with this tribute to Anna Lapwood:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-66930116

[Peter Allison]

15 hours ago, Rowland Wateridge said:

Fortunately today the BBC has made amends with this tribute to Anna Lapwood:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-66930116

I just see it as professional jealousy, plain and simple. Yes any person could do what she does, but it just happens to be her. She is young, vibrant etc and has the social media contacts. Hope others can do what she is doing, the Scott bros and Richard McVeigh (100K followers) are also getting the recognition they deserve, where talented ivory tower types are just not "getting it" are are to hung up in their own little worlds

[preludefugue]

Deleted

[Colin Pykett]

Re the health of the forum, there has always been a substantial number of members as far back as my memory goes - currently it stands at about 1220, and I recall it being over 1500 some years ago.  That's about twice the membership of BIOS!  Older versions of the forum listed their user IDs, and since many of them used their own names (and, then as now, one had a pretty good idea who many of the others were) there were numerous illustrious members of the 'organ Establishment' (particularly organ builders and performers) both here and in other countries represented.  Yet even in the halcyon days, in the noughties say, when one could hardly venture to say anything without attracting hordes of replies, it was the case that the vast majority of signed-up members never put electronic pen to paper.  This was, and is, a great pity because how wonderful it would be if some of the same great names had participated in the proceedings, and if they did so today.  All along it's always been left to just a few active names to keep things alive, granted that those few have gradually been replaced with others over the years.

So it is a most curious situation that so many apparently rushed to join the forum when it was set up yet have never been active in its deliberations.  Why?  And why do people keep joining even today (good) but then never post (not so good)?  Answers on a post card please, because I'm clearly not going to get the answers here!

[pwhodges]

23 minutes ago, Colin Pykett said:

So it is a most curious situation that so many apparently rushed to join the forum when it was set up yet have never been active in its deliberations.  Why?  And why do people keep joining even today (good) but then never post (not so good)?

This is normal behaviour that I have observed on every forum I've ever been involved with.  Why?  "Something, something, human nature", I suppose.

Paul

[Hebridean]

I am not an expert on the uptake of digital media or engagement with it, but I wonder if there is anything unique about this forum in relation to the proportion of active v. non-active members, when compared to other membership fora (regardless of topic).  I believe that there is something called the 1% rule which suggests, as a general guide, there will be only 1% of active contributors to a website and the remaining 99% will be 'lurkers'.  It could be, therefore, that our active-participant-to-lurker ratio is within predictable limits and there is nothing specific which we are collectively doing, or not doing, which is affecting this ratio.   As I say, I am not an expert in this field so I am only speculating.

[Keitha]

I'm coming to this a bit late - bombed with start of term stuff! The thing I really like about this forum is that, whilst there may well be the odd disagreement, it is generally well-mannered, respectful  and reasonable, but, more than anything, genuinely informative. I would prefer quality to quantity any time! I was recently playing one of our larger cathedral organs for a big service. I last sat at the console over 40 years ago watching someone else play. My set-up time for the rehearsal was reduced from 20 minutes to zero due to a medical emergency in the cathedral (not me!). I was promised an hour after the rehearsal to fine-tune registration, but that was reduced (through nobody's fault) to 20 minutes. I was able to search for the organ on this forum and find all sorts of helpful comments - so I was reasonably comfortable playing with minimal 'console time'. There's no other forum that can do that to my knowledge.

[Martin Cooke]

Well look, all of you - we must keep going! It's really encouraging that lots of folk have popped up with thoughts and posts etc and I'm really pleased. I don't really think we need to change anything - people seem to appreciate the forum for what we are and what we do, and that's to be treasured and respected, I think. I deliberately pushed the parameters a bit with my mention of digital instruments, and I don't think we should push that, whilst accepting that, how ever many years on, these things are with us to stay and they play a part in many organists' lives one way or another. 

In essence - keep going, everyone!

[Martin Cooke]

12 hours ago, Peter Allison said:

I just see it as professional jealousy, plain and simple. Yes any person could do what she does, but it just happens to be her. She is young, vibrant etc and has the social media contacts. Hope others can do what she is doing, the Scott bros and Richard McVeigh (100K followers) are also getting the recognition they deserve, where talented ivory tower types are just not "getting it" are are to hung up in their own little worlds

I don't know AL at all, but I have heard her play two excellent recitals - one of them, especially thought-provoking - and I am aware of her work at Cambridge, chorally and on the organ, and her work in Africa where she is giving children and young people experiences that are just wonderful, and her determination to bring music by women composers and performers more to the fore. I am full of admiration and respect for the way in which she has launched her career and especially for the way in which her approach has inspired so many. Not only is she a staggeringly hard-working musician, but she fully understands the world of social media and the way in which it can be used to everyone's advantage and that seems to me to be a great partnership for someone who has such an inspiring personality. All of what she does is backed up by experience at a high (exceptional) level in a range of instruments including as principal harpist in the NYO, a first class Oxford degree and an organ scholarship at one of the world's principal and historic choral institutions.

It isn't just Anna, I think there are a number of staggeringly good young people doing exceptional things in their area of musical activity with genuine and heartfelt commitment to 'spreading the word' amongst young people to open their minds to and inspire in them a love of singing, performing and composing (and not just organists). It's something of which, I feel, we can all be very proud. I, for one, am in awe of so many of them. If I were to single out one other name, it would be Tom Daggett who has recently moved to a super new role at Sheffield Cathedral after giving wonderful opportunities to hundreds of young people through his work based at St Paul's Cathedral. I fully expect to be astounded by what he will do at Sheffield and all of us with a passion for what this forum is all about, and for wanting the very best for the world's children and young people will want to follow his work in these coming years, and indeed, to watch how his great work in London is built upon by his newly-appointed successors at St Paul's. 

[S_L]

11 hours ago, Martin Cooke said:

I don't know AL at all, but I have heard her play two excellent recitals - one of them, especially thought-provoking - and I am aware of her work at Cambridge, chorally and on the organ, and her work in Africa where she is giving children and young people experiences that are just wonderful, and her determination to bring music by women composers and performers more to the fore. I am full of admiration and respect for the way in which she has launched her career and especially for the way in which her approach has inspired so many. Not only is she a staggeringly hard-working musician, but she fully understands the world of social media and the way in which it can be used to everyone's advantage and that seems to me to be a great partnership for someone who has such an inspiring personality. All of what she does is backed up by experience at a high (exceptional) level in a range of instruments including as principal harpist in the NYO, a first class Oxford degree and an organ scholarship at one of the world's principal and historic choral institutions.

It isn't just Anna, I think there are a number of staggeringly good young people doing exceptional things in their area of musical activity with genuine and heartfelt commitment to 'spreading the word' amongst young people to open their minds to and inspire in them a love of singing, performing and composing (and not just organists). It's something of which, I feel, we can all be very proud. I, for one, am in awe of so many of them. If I were to single out one other name, it would be Tom Daggett who has recently moved to a super new role at Sheffield Cathedral after giving wonderful opportunities to hundreds of young people through his work based at St Paul's Cathedral. I fully expect to be astounded by what he will do at Sheffield and all of us with a passion for what this forum is all about, and for wanting the very best for the world's children and young people will want to follow his work in these coming years, and indeed, to watch how his great work in London is built upon by his newly-appointed successors at St Paul's. 

Well said, Martin! I can't add to that!

[Contrabombarde]

There is a wealth of insight and experience on this forum stretching back over many years and there was much rejoicing when, after changes to Mander the host organbuilders, the forum was reprieved after concern that it might be disbanded. I hope it is still here to stay.

The discussion around digitals is perhaps less clear cut now than when the forum was established. Partly because exclusion of digital (and for that matter analogue) instruments excludes discussion of any merits there might be in hybrid instruments or instruments with a mixture of pipes and electronic sound generation. (Taking that to extremes, would we have been allowed to discuss the merits of a Compton cinema organ which came with include chimes, percussion and the electronic melotone?) I can think of a few restored pipe organs that have had at least a limited number of digital ranks, if only to support bass where space and cost did not permit pipes. As none have to my ears been particularly successful I'll have to reserve judgement on this as an approach.

But I think the real elephant in the room to be explored is the virtual pipe organ, which  offers virtually (pun intended) anyone the opportunity to acquire a practice instrument using off-the-shelf materials for a fraction of the cost of a conventional electronic practice organ. When I was a student, access to cold dark churches wasn't easy and only a handful of professional organists could afford the space and cost of their own electronic home practice organ, let alone a home pipe organ.

Nowadays on the one hand access to practice in churches, especially hose with decent organs in good condition, is probably harder and more restricted than ever before due at least in part to insurance and safeguarding concerns. Partly in response to the dwindling numbers of organists, increasing numbers of churches are not using their organs, and the cost of maintenance becomes hard to justify on top of so many other expenses and in some cases contracting incomes and congregations. Music teaching in state schools is very limited, and the small number of schools with pipe organs is almost entirely made up of the wealthiest fee-paying schools in the country. If we aren't careful, the only children who will ever hear an organ soon let alone have the opportunity to play one will be those handful of pupils who attend our most elite private or public schools.

Yet you can now put together a basic home console based on VPO at very low cost, playing high quality samples from some of the finest organs on the planet, and this has the potential to enable far more people to practice at home than ever before. I had a student (think state school in a socially disadvantaged area) who after one year of learning to play the organ with me gave up trying to get any practice time in local churches - and built his own three manual VPO practice organ in his bedroom for practically nothing. He ended up going to university to read music and continue organ studies.

On the other hand, the peril of making it so easy to replicate the sound of a very fine pipe organ at such low cost, is that churches and concert halls might be tempted to follow suit, further imperilling the pipe organ building profession.

So here's the irony - it's never been easier, or cheaper, for people to learn to play the organ on their own instrument at home. Have we even begun to explore how we can exploit this to inspire a new and much more numerous generation of young people to learn to play the organ, practising in the comfort of their own home? And in so doing, do we risk killing the goose that lays the golden egg?

[Colin Pykett]

Very insightful comments from Contrabombarde, a highly-qualified musician and player - thank you.  (I'm being carefully polite because I know well who you are, as perhaps do others, but it would be breaching netiquette to blow your cover!!).  It's difficult to take issue with anything you said.

There is, perhaps, another aspect however.  Regardless of how easy or difficult it might be to access an organ, either of the pipe or digital varieties, some other factors have to be at work here.  Firstly, let's recall that the sound of the organ in the shape of recordings is as readily available as it has ever been.  While one could easily drown in the avalanche of the old fashioned format of the CDs which are still widely available, there's so much else now.  Just this minute I've finished a long session comparing performances of Reger's Toccata & Fugue in D minor & major on youtube.  I only stopped listening through sheer saturation, not because I couldn't find any more.  And that's besides lots of other streaming options.  It's absolutely wonderful, really.  Secondly, there are probably more organs per square mile than there have ever been, thanks to the conventional digital home organ and the virtual pipe organ, as Contrabombarde pointed out.  And yet - appreciation for the organ seems to be dying on its feet, at least according to some of the remarks made here.

Relating this to me and my family, I came to the suspicion some while ago that music appreciation is perhaps something one is born with - or not.  Forgive me, this will bore you, but I'm going to forge ahead anyway.  I grew up in a not particularly musical household, but there was a fairly substantial library of mainly classical 78 rpm gramophone records.  Some were of choral and organ music (e.g. Ernest Lough's performance of 'O for the wings of a dove' accompanied by Thalben-Ball).  To this day I have no idea where they came from, but before going to primary school aged 5 I can vividly recall playing them to myself avidly during those early years.  We also had a piano and my parents must have noticed my interest in music because I started lessons on it at 6.  Well before that I tinkered with the keys and noticed that tenor C, for some reason, had a distinctly different timbre to its neighbours.  To this day I have retained a rudimentary perfect pitch because I always notice when a tenor C on ANY piano is played!  Then at 13 I met the local church organ, a distinctly respectable 3-decker, and you will all guess what happened after that ...

Yet my own children have no interest in such things, in fact my infatuations must have driven them mad.  They like music of different genres, but not classical, and definitely not the organ.  My grandchildren, though fascinated by my VPO at home, show little sign of the semi-obsession that must have driven me at their current tender ages.  So is there some genetic trace that I inherited, lord knows from whom, causing me to listen when classical music speaks to me, whereas it has passed others in my family by?  I rather strongly suspect that without having inherited the relevant genes, organ music just isn't going to cut the mustard with anyone who hasn't, despite how closely or otherwise they are exposed to the organ in later life at school.

But, and this could be more important, and although I'm certainly no expert, I'm told that these genes not only need to be there, but they also need to be 'switched on' and nurtured at a very early age - before 5 or 6 years at the latest.  This then enables the relevant brain synapses to get tweaked up.  So this can only really take place in the home for most small children.  Yet 'home' today is very different to what my 'home' was.  In those days mothers seldom worked until their children were sent to school at 5, and even then many never worked at all. They stayed at home and brought the kids up.  This enabled me to benefit from the 78 rpm records and the piano all day long for several years.  But today, children, whether they have the 'music genes' or not, are almost universally sent to nurseries or pre-school playgroups when barely able to toddle.  So their 'music genes' simply do not get nurtured or switched on in the same way.  Thus they grow up with less of the obsessional interest in music that is necessary for the likes of you who are reading this.  Although there will doubtless be exceptions, it is likely to be too late to expose them to organ music later in life after those early critical years have gone.

Does this make sense, and does it chime with your own early experiences I wonder?

[Hebridean]

32 minutes ago, Colin Pykett said:

Does this make sense, and does it chime with your own early experiences I wonder?

Thank you for this very honest post, Dr Pykett.  
 

I cannot comment on genetics, nor can I comment on childhood learning.  However, I can give my opinion on certain aspects of the issues you have raised, for whatever it is worth.  
 

What are the qualities that attract many people in the UK to (non-classical) music today?  Emotional content (love, loss, bitterness, comfort etc), protest, finding music as a source of cultural identity from across the globe, maybe sometimes obliteration, anaesthesia?  If this is so, then actually the organ is pretty bad at most of these things, at least traditionally.  As a means of conveying emotion, beside the obvious stirring sounds of full organ, it’s a very subtle thing.  The language of the organ is not direct, and requires considerable experience and understanding to begin to comprehend.    If I have a choice between a gut-stringed guitar and an organ to convey an emotional message in 2 minutes, I am not going to have to think about my choice for very long, rightly or wrongly.
 

The organ can express cultural identity but it struggles to do so in a way that chimes with a lot of the concerns of modern, western culture (there are some exceptions to this).  It’s not an instrument, by and large, of protest - though the destruction of organs during the Commonwealth, for example, shows that the organ can be highly politicised in certain circumstances.  In Western Europe, the organ is generally seen, I think, as an instrument of stability and structure, not of change and social progression.
 

And yes, the organ can obliterate by sheer power, but this cannot be tolerated for long and is quite different, I think, from the mesmeric quality of the dance floor, say, where the complex of physical, emotional and musical dimensions are not those which are at all familiar in the organ loft.

I think some of those people who are making the most impact in the public sphere as organists are those who are, precisely, trying to challenge these characteristics of the organ as I’ve tried to summarise them above.  That they are being successful is, maybe, an indication that the instrument has qualities and depths that many people - definitely including me - have not yet been able to uncover.  And perhaps that is a hopeful thing.

 

[Contrabombarde]

23 hours ago, Colin Pykett said:

Very insightful comments from Contrabombarde, a highly-qualified musician and player - thank you.  (I'm being carefully polite because I know well who you are, as perhaps do others, but it would be breaching netiquette to blow your cover!!).  It's difficult to take issue with anything you said.,,,

Relating this to me and my family, I came to the suspicion some while ago that music appreciation is perhaps something one is born with - or not....

Yet my own children have no interest in such things, in fact my infatuations must have driven them mad.  They like music of different genres, but not classical, and definitely not the organ.  ...

But, and this could be more important, and although I'm certainly no expert, I'm told that these genes not only need to be there, but they also need to be 'switched on' and nurtured at a very early age - before 5 or 6 years at the latest...

Does this make sense, and does it chime with your own early experiences I wonder?

I'm beginning to wonder if someone has got me confused with someone else; that's a very generous description for someone who regard himself as a mere amateur musician (though I have recently gained an ARSM in organ performance) and who earns their living in a completely unrelated professional discipline. Never mind.

When you consider that over 1000 genes have been identified in autism so I'd be astonished if there aren't at least a few that shape our musical appreciation. The mechanics of how different genes are expressed or "turned on" or "off" is well beyond a forum discussion here but there's plenty of evidence for the health benefits of listening to classical music. My two children haven't so far sought to learn to play the organ, but they can't yet reach the pedalboard and both are themselves musical (learning piano and flute).

I'm not exactly sure when I determined that I wanted to learn to play the organ, but it must have been around 7 or 8, listening to the organ at church and certainly getting my first ever organ cassette tape (Michael Dudman at Sydney Opera House - also available as a CD, you can find it now on Youtube and remains one of my favourite recordings. A chance encounter with the assistant organist one day whilst visiting Chester Cathedral aged 10 led to me being allowed to get my hands on the keyboards of that organ for a few minutes, and that pretty much sealed things. A sincere thank you to whoever was the assistant organist back in 1983, if you are reading this now.

[peterdoughty]

On 01/10/2023 at 18:41, Hebridean said:

I think some of those people who are making the most impact in the public sphere as organists are those who are, precisely, trying to challenge these characteristics of the organ as I’ve tried to summarise them above.  That they are being successful is, maybe, an indication that the instrument has qualities and depths that many people - definitely including me - have not yet been able to uncover.  And perhaps that is a hopeful thing.

Writing as someone who has an extensive and very well-worn collection of conventional organ CDs, I'll just add to this by saying that I've spent 2 days so far with Anna Lapwood's new disc. She certainly displays a different view of the instrument's qualities, and it's interesting to watch the first short introductory video here as well, which also shows she doesn't take herself seriously. There's a very harmonious mixture of youthful brightness and serious musicality. I personally think that many reviewers and the commentariat tended to disparage Cameron Carpenter back in the day because, possible homophobic tendencies aside, they felt he lacked that core musicality, that gravitas, to back up his lightning virtuosity and showman's facade. Perhaps they were right; Anna Lapwood certainly can't be accused of lacking it.

Martin Cooke also references other young organists up the thread a bit, and I really do agree that they are all inspiring and will be vitally important in propelling other young people towards the nearest accessible console in years to come, even if they can't play a note yet. We simply must make them accessible, therefore!

[peterdoughty]

On 28/09/2023 at 15:01, S_L said:

But did you notice that her 'Proms' programme drew no comments from members here? And the vitriol towards her on another site, largely from organists is shameful.

I would have commented on Anna Lapwood at the Proms, but really, as my formal musical education is limited, all I could really have thought of saying was 'cor blimey, I love the programme and the registration and she had everything going at the end!' and I doubt anyone'd thank me for that, which is why I just didn't say anything  

I hadn't noticed any animus from people on this forum towards Cameron Carpenter so far - perhaps it's been removed? - but I certainly noticed one very nasty set of comments on a group on Facebook about Anna Lapwood over the past week, and instantly made my displeasure known by reacting with a little 'angry face' emoji but saying nothing else. Not two minutes later, those of us who had done so were being taken to task in a brand new thread for allegedly overreacting and misinterpreting 'banter'. I really do despair of some people, honestly. Thankfully they don't speak for us all.

[peter ellis]

7 hours ago, peterdoughty said:

Writing as someone who has an extensive and very well-worn collection of conventional organ CDs, I'll just add to this by saying that I've spent 2 days so far with Anna Lapwood's new disc. She certainly displays a different view of the instrument's qualities, and it's interesting to watch the first short introductory video here as well, which also shows she doesn't take herself seriously. There's a very harmonious mixture of youthful brightness and serious musicality. I personally think that many reviewers and the commentariat tended to disparage Cameron Carpenter back in the day because, possible homophobic tendencies aside, they felt he lacked that core musicality, that gravitas, to back up his lightning virtuosity and showman's facade. Perhaps they were right; Anna Lapwood certainly can't be accused of lacking it.

Martin Cooke also references other young organists up the thread a bit, and I really do agree that they are all inspiring and will be vitally important in propelling other young people towards the nearest accessible console in years to come, even if they can't play a note yet. We simply must make them accessible, therefore!

Cameron Carpenter can fill Sydney Opera House for an organ recital - I'd be flat out filling my garage. I imagine the same brickbats hurled at him were used to batter Virgil Fox. He could fill a hall as well. 

Anna Lapwood is doing wonders for the public perception of the pipe organ - brilliant at engaging with children and younger people - also a great choral conductor. Misogyny and jealousy are a terrible combination. 

[S_L]

10 hours ago, peterdoughty said:

I would have commented on Anna Lapwood at the Proms, but really, as my formal musical education is limited, all I could really have thought of saying was 'cor blimey, I love the programme and the registration and she had everything going at the end!' and I doubt anyone'd thank me for that, which is why I just didn't say anything  

'Cor blimey' would have been great! Don't be intimidated by the 'stuck in the past' set on here - although, it has to be said, there are a lot less than there used to be!!!

[S_L]

17 hours ago, peterdoughty said:

I hadn't noticed any animus from people on this forum towards Cameron Carpenter so far - perhaps it's been removed? 

It was removed! However, it has to be said that the, very unfortunate, homophobic implying, comments were made by members who are no longer here (read into that what you will!!!) and who no longer post.

As far as I am concerned Anna Lapwood and Cameron Carpenter are breaths of fresh air that this instrument has needed for a very long time - and there are others too!

[Colin Pykett]

Although entirely agreeing with these remarks, I don't think we need feel too protective about Anna and Cameron.  They will both have an effective publicity machine behind them which will be gleefully counting their web clicks and sifting their cookie data as we speak, as well as schooling them on what to say when next interviewed.  All publicity is good publicity!

The people who are the real losers are the anonymous saddoes who generate this garbage as they thrash around in the septic sump which is social media today.  Losers is, in fact, the operative word here.

[S_L]

6 hours ago, Colin Pykett said:

They will both have an effective publicity machine behind them which will be gleefully counting their web clicks and sifting their cookie data as we speak, as well as schooling them on what to say when next interviewed. 

O dear Dr. Colin, you have left me feeling totally inadequate - yet again! I understand the beginning of the sentence - and the end - but the middle leaves me completely confused!!

Web clicks? - sifting cookie data? 

[Colin Pykett]

Sorry for lapsing into the vernacular!  I don't know whether you really wanted a translation (I'm not sure I would in your shoes), but just in case:

Websites of high profile people, their social media usage, youtube and anything else they are connected with on the web will be associated with usage statistics which show how the sites are being used - e.g. how many and which of their web pages or videos have been viewed per hour (hence 'clicks' - people clicking onto them) - that sort of thing.  These people or their publicity agents generally employ social media managers whose job is to monitor such activity by combing through the statistics.  Their websites will also try to insert 'tracking cookies' into your computer (almost all commercial websites do).  These are small data files which monitor what else you are browsing so they can build up a picture of your interests - of great interest to advertisers, who pay for this sort of information.  Your computer will be full of untold thousands of cookies resulting from your browsing history.  Many of them sit there monitoring what you do with your computer, so that the next time you visit a particular site, they upload the data back to it.  Thus cookies are a privacy concern to some, which is why you often get those annoying popups whenever you enter a website asking you whether you agree to this.  A largely pointless example of bureaucracy, because most people get so irritated by it that they just click straight through so they can access the website anyway.  It's all part of the publicity apparatus of celebs and businesses today, which is used to optimise how they present themselves to us, the punters.

 

[innate]

On 05/10/2023 at 19:21, Colin Pykett said:

 

 

As much as ten years ago I was being told of theatre producers making casting decisions based on which contender for a role had more followers on Twitter. I see that Anna Lapwood has 100k subscribers on YouTube. The hugely successful violinists Two Set Violin have over 4 million YouTube subscribers but that success comes at a cost; they have been open about the challenges this has involved for their mental health. I’m not sufficiently au fait with Instagram and TikTok to find the numbers there!

[peter ellis]

Interestingly here in Sydney there are good organist/DoM posts going unfilled. Very few candidates. Organ/choral churches are in the minority in the Anglican Diocese and the Catholic and Nonconformist churches are the usual mixed bag of liturgical traditions. There is no longer a conveyor belt of churches producing the keyboard players who may wish to try the instrument. 
 

That being said there are still some very strong musical foundations here, and the organ society and the RSCM put the work in.