EOA

All day visit to organs in the Southend area
2026-03-21 10:00 - 17:00 UTC | 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.
