EOA

All day visit to organs in Reed, Standon and Ware, Hertfordshire
2025-03-29 10:00 - 16:00 UTC
A good number of our members drove the distance to Hertfordshire for this joint event organised by our colleagues in the Bedfordshire & Hertfordshire Organists’ Association, to visit 4 very different organs that the EOA had not visited before. We began with a brand new 2 manual & pedal tracker organ built in 2024 by N P Mander of Canterbury in the small village church of St Mary’s, Reed, between Ware and Stevenage on the old Roman road. We then travelled to St Mary’s Church, Standon, a medieval church with an incredibly high chancel, dating from its earliest days. After an excellent and convivial lunch at The Star pub opposite the church, where members of both Association were able to socialise, we drove a few miles to the large market town of Ware for our afternoon visits – the Parish Church of St Mary’s and Christ Church. Our thanks to our colleagues in the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Association for their excellent organisation of an excellent day out!

All day visit to village organs in the area to the east of Colchester
2025-04-12 10:00 - 17:00
On a lovely April day with super weather, a good number of members and friends visited three interesting and historic instruments at parish churches in Bradfield, Mistley and Ardleigh. At St Lawrence, Bradfield, John Barrow, the church’s organist, met us and talked about the organ that we see today. Originally a 3 manual and pedal instrument, it was rebuilt in 1964 by Cedric Arnold as a 2 manual and pedal organ. After a short drive, which included lovely views of the River Stour estuary, we arrived at our second venue of the day, the Georgian Church of St Mary and St Michael, Mistley, and after an excellent lunch at The Wooden Fender, Colchester Road, Ardleigh, we moved onto our final venue of the day, nearer into Colchester. This was the lovely medieval parish church of St Mary’s, Ardleigh, with very East Anglian flint exterior and excellent Victorian interior restoration. Our thanks to EOA Minutes Secretary, Chris Denney, with the help of his wife Nancy, for organising such a great day out for us, including arranging the wonderful food and weather!

Annual General Meeting with supporting attraction and start of 75th celebration year
2025-06-15 | Chelmsford Cathedral, Chelmsford, Essex
To mark the 75th anniversary of the re-founding of the Essex Organists’ Association (then known as the Chelmsford & District Organists’ Association) after the Second World War in June 1950, by the then Master of the Music at Chelmsford Cathedral, Dr Stanley Vann, this year’s Annual General Meeting took place at Chelmsford Cathedral and was followed by a special Choral Evensong and a meal at a nearby restaurant. The 75th Annual General Meeting, which took place in the Cathedral Chapter House, marked the end of Philip Prior’s seven-year Presidency of the EOA. Then came a special celebratory service of Choral Evensong, with the new EOA President, Dr Emma Gibbins – who is Director of Music at Chelmsford Cathedral – conducting, in the Cathedral at 3.30pm. This was followed by an informal drinks reception in the Cathedral to which all the congregation, choir members and clergy were invited. Samuel Bristow, Assistant Organist at Chelmsford Cathedral, played for the service. The concluding voluntary was the premiere of a new work composed by Sam, called “Essex Paean”. This work was specially commissioned by the EOA to mark the 75th Anniversary. A copy of this commission has been made available to current EOA members with this newsletter. At 5.30pm, 15 people, including the new EOA President Emma Gibbins, former EOA Presidents Philip Prior and Richard Brasier, and the composer Samuel Bristow, went for a group meal at a nearby Italian restaurant, Il Palazzo – a very sociable and enjoyable conclusion to a very special afternoon of music and celebration. Whilst thanks are due to everyone who attended or was involved in some capacity, particular thanks are owed to EOA Committee members Andrew Stevens and Michaela Cottee for organising the refreshments, to former President Philip Prior for making all the arrangements with the Cathedral and the restaurant, and to Samuel Bristow for his composition. Special thanks are owed to the new President Emma Gibbins who not only curated a wonderful musical service, but who also spent several hours making and icing special ‘organ stop’ biscuits which were enjoyed by the choristers, and others, after the service.

All day visit to St Mary's, Dedham and Royal Hospital School, Holbrook
2025-07-19 10:00 - 17:00
In this joint visit with The Organ Club, organised by EOA Committee Member Andrew Stevens, we are delighted to be able to visit the large 2 manual and pedal Binns organ at St Mary’s Dedham, recently installed, as well as to be invited back to play the huge 4 manual and pedal 1933 Hill Norman and Beard organ in the Chapel of the Royal Hospital School, at Holbrook, near Ipswich. A pre-booked cooked lunch, provided by the school catering, is already included in the visit fee for this event which will be £20 per person. Given that the visit is taking place very soon, if you have not already booked a place on this visit it may be too late by the time you read this. To enquire about the availability of places, please email EOA Committee member Andrew Stevens using a.stevens50@btinternet.com. Note that a pre-booked cooked lunch, provided by the Royal Hospital School, is included in the visit fee for this event. If you have booked a place on this visit and have dietary requirements, please let Andrew Stevens know immediately so that he can let the School know.

Organ recital by Dr Emma Gibbins, Ridgewell Parish Church
2025-08-17 15:00 - 17:00
We do hope that members will be able to join us on the afternoon Sunday 17th August for what promises to be an enjoyable programme of social activities organised by EOA Vice-Chairman & Treasurer Michaela Cottee, beginning with a recital at 3pm by the new EOA President Dr Emma Gibbins at St Lawrence Church in Ridgewell, North Essex, followed by refreshments and an opportunity to socialise (cost £10, including refreshments afterwards). We will then drive the short distance to Clare in Suffolk, where there will be an opportunity to play the organ in the church of St Peter & St Paul – an instrument which world-renowned organist Wayne Marshall OBE has recently said he wants to play (no charge but donations welcome)! We will then walk the very short distance to the (excellent) Mughal Knight restaurant on the High Street for a curry and drinks at 6.15pm. We hope that you will be able to join the President and other members of the Committee for a convivial meal. Please note that diners are expected to pay for their own meals, and that this restaurant does not have an alcohol licence, so you should bring your own alcoholic drink(s) – there is no corkage charge, and the restaurant will provide a corkscrew, glasses, ice, etc. Soft drinks are available to purchase from the restaurant, so please do not bring your own soft drinks. You are welcome to join us for one, two or all three of these activities. To help with planning and catering, please RSVP to EOA Vice-Chairman & Treasurer Michaela Cottee using MichaelaCotteeEOA@gmail.com.

All day visit to organs in Bishops Stortford, Hertfordshire - CANCELLED
2025-09-27 10:00 - 16:30 | Bishops Stortford

Three day extended visit to organs on the island of Jersey
2025-10-14 - 2025-10-16
Seven players and three non-players participated in the EOA’s Extended Visit to Jersey during the October half-term week. The visit was arranged by Andrew Stevens, who is a frequent visitor to the Channel Islands and responsible for tuning the organs that we visited. Although Jersey is just 9 miles wide and 5 miles high, it contains a rich variety of churches and organs as well as impressive coastal scenery and a fascinating history stretching back to prehistoric times.
With the help of three people who had taken their cars with them, participants had the pleasure of visiting and playing nine very different organs across the island, the smallest being the 2MP 9 stop 1923 John Walker & Sons organ at Ebenezer Methodist Church and the largest being the 3MP 50 stop organ in the Town Church, in St Helier, originally built in 1926 by Jardine & Co but much modified over the years. The only other 3MP organ which we played was the 3MP 27 stop 1913 J.W. Walker & Sons organ in St Paul’s Church, St Helier. Every organ that we visited had its merits, but for several people the favourite was the 2MP 21 stop 1959 Henry Willis & Sons organ
in St Thomas’s Roman Catholic Church, enhanced by a generous acoustic.
Most participants stayed in a Premier Inn in St Helier, but meals were enjoyed in a variety of locations around the island, including several with sea views. The camaraderie amongst the participants and the variety of instruments that we visited, combined with good weather, helped to make for a very interesting and highly enjoyable visit, which could not have been improved upon in any way. Thanks to Andrew Stevens for all his work in securing the venues and ensuring the organs were in good voice, and to Michaela Cottee for helping to prepare the visit documentation.

"Pipe up for pipe organs" event, Broomfield Church Hall
2025-11-15 14:30 - 16:00 | Broomfield Church Hall, Broomfield Parish Church (St Mary with St Leonard), Church Green, Broomfield CM1 7BD
We were delighted that George Allan, Chairman of ‘Pipe Up for Pipe Organs’ (www.pipeup.org.uk), agreed to talk to EOA members in Broomfield Church Hall in November about the somewhat depressing future for pipe organs, in a talk entitled “Getting Disorganised?”. ‘Pipe Up for Pipe Organs’ is a charity set up in 2022, which aims to save pipe organs threatened with destruction. Perhaps the most well-known organ rescued by ‘Pipe Up’ is the Henry Jones organ (known as Henry) which is available for the public to play at London Bridge Station.
George Allan is a retired solicitor and an adult learner of the organ. After many years involvement with building conservation, his passion is now for organ conservation. His excellent talk contained many depressing statistics. For example, in Victorian times there were 43,000 organs, now there are 15,000. 1,280 Anglican churches closed during the 20-year period 1969-1989 and it is estimated that 2,000 churches will close over the next 5 years. But pipe organs are being lost even when churches are not closing. It is estimated that 1,520 churches have organs in urgent need of repair, and a further 6,000 need major repairs. On top of that, it is reckoned that 20% of organ-builders will retire in the next 10 years and won’t be replaced. Longer term projections suggest that half of Britain’s remaining organs could be lost or unplayable by 2040 (i.e. in just 15 years’ time). By 2065 it is possible that there will only be a handful of playable organs (estimated to be 165 instruments) remaining outside of cathedrals, Oxbridge colleges and major parish churches.
Unfortunately, there is no easy solution. One possibility might be to train churchwardens and people with responsibility of the care for church organs as to what can be done to keep their instruments playable. Money is clearly an issue, and George explained how the National Lottery Heritage Fund now rarely provides support for organ projects. The only other thing that can be done, it seems, is to advocate for the organ, by raising public awareness and increasing appreciation of the organ, attracting new audiences and encouraging more people – young people in particular – to take up the organ.
There then followed a very stimulating discussion and refreshments.

EOA 75th Anniversary Luncheon with special Guest Speaker Daniel Moult
2026-01-31 12:30 - 15:30 | County Hotel, Chelmsford
Eighteen people attended the EOA 75th Anniversary Luncheon that took place at the end of January in a private dining room at the County Hotel in Chelmsford. We were delighted to be joined by special guest Daniel Moult who, in addition to being Head of Organ Studies at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, is well-known as an international concert organist, recording artist and film presenter.

Attendees enjoyed a delicious two-course lunch, followed by tea/coffee, and Dan changed tables between courses so that everybody got a chance to talk to him. Whilst we were waiting for tea/coffee to be served, Dan delivered a brilliant 15-minute carefully-prepared speech about organ performance, commenting that musical feeling is more important than accuracy, and recounting some hilarious tales of when things go very wrong. As Dan helpfully pointed out, the Royal Festival Hall is also 75 years old, and so Dan topped-and-tailed his speech by talking about the organ therein.

Following the success of this year’s Luncheon, your committee is considering holding another Luncheon next year and we already have a special guest speaker lined up.

Composite Recital in aid of the Christopher Kingsley Memorial Fund
2026-02-28 14:30 - 17:00 | St Mary the Virgin, Shenfield, Hall Lane, Shenfield, Brentwood, Essex, CM15 9AL, United Kingdom
Do come along, if you are able, to the EOA Composite Recital taking place at Shenfield Parish Church (St Mary the Virgin, Shenfield CM15 9AL) on Saturday 28th February at 2.30pm. It promises to be a very varied and interesting programme. Several EOA members, together with a couple of special guests, are kindly donating their time and their talent in order to raise funds for the EOA’s Christopher Kingsley Memorial Fund (CKMF), which offers financial support towards the cost of items such as organ shoes, organ music and organ lessons to young organists who are living, working or studying in Essex. There is no charge for entry, but there will be a collection for the CKMF, so please bring some cash with you (payment by card or BACS is also possible) and please give generously! Donations for the refreshments will go to the church.
The recitalists are as follows (not in playing order):
Linden Carey-Bennett (Chorister, Chelmsford Cathedral)
Chris Denney (Southend-on-Sea)
Lyndon Ford (Portsmouth)
Emma Gibbins (Director of Music, Chelmsford Cathedral)
Krystian Kaniecki (Halstead)
Jonathan Lilley (Director of Music, Waltham Abbey Church)
Helen Lunn (Organ Scholar, Chelmsford Cathedral)
Philip Prior (Director of Music, St James the Great, Colchester)
The NPOR entry for the (3MP 32 stop) organ that the recitalists will be playing can be found at https://npor.org.uk/survey/E00670
If you require any further information about this event, please email organistassociation@gmail.com.

All day visit to organs in the Southend area
2026-03-21 10:00 - 17:00 | Southend
Members travelled to the Southend area on Saturday 21st for a visit hosted by committee member Chris Denney and Nancy his wife. We started at St Clements, Leigh on Sea, which dates from 1460. The Director of Music, Rory Windass, showed us the organ and demonstrated it for us. Our second stop was at St Mary’s, Prittlewell, where there has been a church on site since Saxon times in the 7th century, the Norman nave dating back to the 11th century with later additions. Unfortunately they do not have a regular organist at the moment but Paul Mckay (Vicar) welcomed us and the 1916 Hill organ performed excellently, filling the church with some wonderful sounds as well as having beautiful flute tones. Bach, Finzi, Cozyn and others sounded very fresh and all members very much enjoyed this instrument. After an excellent lunch at The Saxon King, we proceeded to St Alban the Martyr, Westcliff on Sea where we were met by Trish (churchwarden) who supplied us with refreshments, and David Adkins who talked about the church and the organ and gave us a short demonstration. Thanks to all the lovely people who looked after us and to Chris Denney for organising this enjoyable day.

A Celebration of the Life and Music of Percy Whitlock (1903-1946)
2026-05-09 14:30 - 17:00 | Waltham Abbey Church, Highbridge Street, Waltham Abbey, EN9 1DG
On Saturday 9th May, we were delighted to welcome renowned Whitlock scholar, Malcolm Riley to give an illustrated talk about Percy Whitlock at Waltham Abbey Church. The talk was attended by members of the EOA, members of neighbouring Organists’ Associations and even attracted some non-members.
Malcolm gave a fascinating talk with plenty of insights into Whitlock’s life and music. We learnt about those who influenced Whitlock and helped him develop his own distinctive, idiomatic style, which combined elements of his teacher at London’s Royal College of Music, Vaughan Williams, elements from Elgar, Stanford and Rachmaninov, the influence of folksongs and traces of the lush harmonic style of Gershwin and other popular composers of the 1920s. The audience was particularly interested to learn about all the links and connections between musicians at that time.
Malcolm talked in some detail about Whitlock’s life, illustrated by many interesting photographs from his childhood, from his time at Rochester Cathedral, St Stephen’s Church in Bournemouth and as Bournemouth’s borough organist, playing at the Pavillion Theatre, regularly working with the Bournemouth Municipal Orchestra.
We heard several musical examples, including the only known recording of Whitlock playing his own music, a tiny 16 second fragment of him playing the Scherzetto from the Organ Sonata, recorded in October 1945 on the Compton organ of St Osmund’s Parkstone.
After a break for refreshments, Jonathan Lilley, Director of Music at Waltham Abbey Church, gave a brilliant rendition of Whitlock’s Sonata in C minor. This was a truly breath-taking and magical performance, on a magnificent organ perfectly suited to Whitlock’s music. Everybody appreciated the variety of colours in Jonathan’s registrations, which really helped communicate the structure and form of this epic work, from the brassy four-note theme in the first movement, through the lyrical, wistful Elgarian motifs, the sombre chorale sections, the melodies on the solo clarinet to the grand fanfares and flourishes.
It was a thoroughly enjoyable and informative event.

Recital, Masterclass and Playing Opportunity at the Moot Hall, Colchester Town Hall
2026-05-12 11:30 - 17:00 | Colchester Moot Hall, High Street, Colchester CO1 1PJ
EOA President Emma Gibbins will be giving a recital and masterclass on the Moot Hall organ in Colchester Town Hall on Tuesday 12th May. It would be lovely to see other EOA members there. If you can come, you would be very welcome to join us for a late brunch / early lunch beforehand, from 11.30am, and there will be an opportunity to play the organ following the masterclass. There is no charge for this event, though members will be responsible for paying for their own brunch / lunch and there will be a retiring collection following the recital, in aid of the Friends of the Moot Hall Organ.
The proposed schedule for the day is as follows:
11.30am Brunch / Lunch at a nearby restaurant (probably Bill’s)
1pm Emma’s recital on the Moot Hall organ
2pm Emma’s masterclass on ‘Confidence at the Console’
3pm An opportunity for EOA members to play the Moot Hall organ
If you would like to join us for lunch and/or if you would like to play the Moot Hall organ, please contact Michaela Cottee (organistassociation@gmail.com) no later than Monday 4th May. If you would like to take part in the masterclass, please contact the Colchester City Organist, William Saunders, via www.moothallorgan.co.uk/contact.

EOA AGM plus lunch and a concert at Chelmsford Cathedral
2026-06-27 12:00 - 16:00 | Chelmsford Cathedral, Chelmsford, Essex
We are planning to combine this year’s AGM with a concert taking place in Chelmsford Cathedral on Saturday 27th June and a meal. The provisional programme is as follows:
12pm Lunch in Chelmsford
2pm Samuel Bristow (Assistant Director of Music) will be performing Prokofiev’s musical fairytale ‘Peter and the Wolf’ at Chelmsford Cathedral, with narration by storyteller Mike Dodsworth.
3pm AGM in the Cathedral
Further details to follow. In the meantime, please save the date. If you require any further information about this event at this stage, or wish to express an interest in taking part, please contact Emma Gibbins on emmagibbins1978@gmail.com.

EOA Summer Social in Thaxted
2026-07-25 12:00 - 17:00 | Thaxted
This year’s Summer Social will take place on Saturday 25th July in the pretty little market town of Thaxted. We have arranged to visit Thaxted Parish Church, which is home to three organs: the historic 1821 3MP 23 organ by Henry Lincoln; a 1MP 8 organ by Cedric Arnold; and a 3MP digital organ (the Thaxted Festival organ) by Makin. We are also hoping to visit Bolford Street URC, which is home to a 2MP 14 organ by Cedric Arnold with painted pipes. We are planning to combine our visit with an early evening meal at the India Villa opposite the Parish Church. Further details to follow. In the meantime, please save the date. If you require any further information about this event at this stage, or wish to express an interest in taking part, please contact Michaela Cottee on organistassociation@gmail.com.

All Day Visit to Organs in the Bishops Stortford Area
2026-09-19 10:00 - 15:00 | Bishops Stortford
We were hoping to run this event last year, but it was cancelled because there were insufficient expressions of interest in a timely manner. A number of people subsequently said that they were planning to take part, so we are rescheduling the planned visit to organs in Stansted Mountfitchet, Birchanger and Bishops Stortford, to take place on Saturday 19th September. This will be run as a joint meeting, organised by the EOA, to which members of the Enfield & District Organists’ Association and Beds & Herts Organists’ Association will also be invited. If you require any further information about this event at this stage, or wish to express an interest in taking part, please contact Andrew Stevens on a.stevens50@btinternet.com.
The timetable for the day will be:
10.00am St Mary the Virgin Church, Stansted Mountfitchet (CM24 8UB) – 2 manuals &
pedals (15 stops), originally built by Hill & Son in 1874 but rebuilt and moved by Hill, Norman
& Beard in 1950.
NPOR: npor.org.uk/survey/N18642
12.00 noon St Mary the Virgin Church, Birchanger (CM23 5QH) – 3 manuals & pedals
(24 stops), built by August Gern (previously foreman at the Cavaillé-Coll works in Paris) in
1884. Grade I Historic Organ certificate.
NPOR: npor.org.uk/survey/N08628
1.30pm Pub Lunch at The Three Willows, Birchanger (CM23 5QR)
3.30pm St Michael’s Church, Bishop’s Stortford (CM23 2ND) – 3 manuals & pedals (44
stops), recently rebuilt (2016) by Mander Organs.
NPOR: npor.org.uk/survey/V00394

EOA Extended visit to South Wales
2026-10-27 08:00 - 2026-10-29 17:00 | South Wales
EOA President Emma Gibbins has organised an Extended Visit to South Wales, which will take place during half-term week. We will be visiting and playing several interesting organs over three days, from Tuesday 27th October to Thursday 29th October. Given the distance from Essex, members might like to plan to arrive on the Monday and depart on the Friday. Some people will be taking their car, so for people going by train it should be possible to have a lift between venues. Please see the information sheet below for full details:
Wales extended visit October 2026 INFO SHEET July 2026
If you require any further information about this event, or wish to express an interest in taking part, please contact Emma Gibbins on emmagibbins1978@gmail.com.

Bring & Share Music for Advent, Christmas and Epiphany, at Christ Church, Chelmsford
2026-11-21 14:00 - 16:00 | Christ Church, Chelmsford
The idea of this event is to bring and “share” – by talking about and playing – organ music that is appropriate for Advent, Christmas or Epiphany. This event will take place at Christ Church Chelmsford on Saturday 21st November 2026. Further details to follow. In the meantime, please save the date. If you require any further information about this event at this stage, or wish to express an interest in taking part, please contact Emma Gibbins on emmagibbins1978@gmail.com.
