The Magnificent Disruption of Anna Lapwood
The Magnificent Disruption of Anna Lapwood
The organist on finding partnership with her instrument, building authentic community through TikTok, and why classical music doesn’t need to change, it just needs the right platform.
Words by Susan Hansen
In a world where TikTok rules, it’s fulfilling to see the platform used for building an authentic community to reach different audiences. Used with originality, it’s a powerful digital tool capable of educating and broadening horizons. An artist using it in such ways is Anna Lapwood. Living and breathing musical creativity, the prodigious player and composer offers infectious listening experiences through her recordings and live performances. There is a lot to discover about the groundbreaking musician. A couple of days before her first headline concert at Royal Albert Hall in London, she walks blank mag through the latest chapter of her career. It’s easy to assume that she always loved the organ; the truth is complex, however.
Not initially warming to the instrument, Lapwood picks it up with some unease. “I found it hard. Music was my most natural form of communication, far more natural than talking. Then I took up the organ, and it was like I was up against a wall. I couldn't get my head around it, but there was something about that that made me really determined to try and conquer it, try and figure out how to do it.”
"I feel like when you are lucky enough to be in the public eye, you have a responsibility to help shine a light on some of it.”
The energy to view the not-being-in-love with the instrument as a challenge, rather than a hindrance, starts a competition with oneself. Prior harp and violin fluency likely aided the learning, she estimates it has taken about five years to reach the level she is at now. When discipline and hard work suddenly turn into passion, it becomes harder to just stop, especially if there is no actual need.
“The big catalyst was the music that I was playing. It's when I've been doing all the writing of my own transcriptions, playing the film scores, collaborating with different artists, this is when I have stopped feeling like there's a separation between me and when I sit down at an organ I know well. It feels like you're almost one with the instrument, making music together as a partnership.”
Lapwood’s ambitious, deeply absorbing album release ‘Firedove’ depicts the newly formed partnership. A listener is most certainly going to feel the electricity, the zest fuelled in the process. As a form of examination that continues throughout, it’s the recognisable element that glues everything together. “It's about my personal exploration of the instrument. I hope that other people might find that interesting too. This feels like the one where something has just ignited inside me in terms of looking at different styles. It's the record I am most proud of.”
Taking this idea all the way, the album also confronts perceptions of what the classical genre covers, who it’s for and conventional expectation. Literally shaking up preconceived ideas, encouraging conversation, she raises important questions along the way, such as what stops a song Robbie Williams sings from appearing immediately after a more traditional piece of composition? It’s healthy and freeing.
The sense of empowerment is hard to shake off; it keeps the listener hooked. If her journey comes across as a smooth walk in the park, it’s time to think again. Picking her own battles, she is only too aware of the difficulties faced by young musicians today, for young women who want to break into the industry. Quick to put herself in their shoes, she relates to how they feel; this is not hard for her. “I was put into the banging the gender drum box. Often, people want to put you in there, so that they can understand what you're doing and what you're about. I've talked so much about the need to make space for female artists and conductors, because they historically haven't had the opportunities.”
The overall need for change is undeniable. As is her tireless engagement, the urge to do good is noticeable from afar. She commissions pieces from female composers and performs them with choirs and on the organ. “I get to work with some incredible composers. I just feel so inspired by working with these incredible people. It’s about thinking, here's the work that we all know and love. What about all this other music that exists or could exist? I feel like when you are lucky enough to be in the public eye, you have a responsibility to help shine a light on some of it.”
"We don't need to patronise; we don't need to change anything about what we're doing. We can just use the platforms that are already there."
Social media has come to play a key role in her career. A critical tool to draw in a wide range of people, she emphasises how the idea of using TikTok isn’t hers to start with; it’s the product of two teenage girls she has been teaching. Initially viewing it as an experiment, approaching it with an open mind, the impact has been transformative. “It's an amazing community, a community that's given me the confidence to explore these different experiments with genre, given me the confidence to figure out who I actually want to be as a musician, as opposed to who I have been told in the past I should be.”
“It's a liberating thing. Then the fact that people turn up to concerts. The best bit is the fact that the audiences have been growing in real life, too. So many people come to these concerts and queue up afterwards to say hello, saying they have never been to a classical concert before.”
“‘I've never been to an organ concert, but I found you on TikTok because of this video, and now I want to come again. ’ That's the power of social media, the power of using contemporary digital spaces to harness an audience who are eager and raring to go. We don't need to patronise; we don't need to change anything about what we're doing. We can just use the platforms that are already there.”
Seemingly happy to go with the flow for now, she is excited about being a soloist with orchestras. “I'm very much focusing on the organ for the time being. I don’t want to go to another choir, I want to really put some time into it, maybe come back to choral a little bit later. So, it’ll be lots of orchestral, some touring and more commissioning.”
Anna Lapwood’s liberating, life affirming route of growth carries on. With creative opportunities aplenty, picking the right ones is vital, and she shows nothing but agility in this area. Just like everything else, she approaches it with composure and brightness.
