Sunday 16th July 2023 – “A Byrd in the Hand” a lecture-recital by Dr Richard Overill on the life and music of William Byrd at St Nicholas

In this, the 400th anniversary year of the death of the Essex composer, William Byrd (1540-1623), for our July event, EOA members were very pleased to be able to support EOA Member Dr Richard Overill’s lecture-recital, “A Byrd in the Hand”, at St Nicholas Church in Witham.

Saturday 5th August 2023 – Summer Party in Colchester

We were very grateful to EOA President Philip Prior and his girlfriend, Emma, for hosting this year’s summer party at their house in central Colchester. 10 EOA members and friends joined together for what was a very enjoyable time of good food, drinking, chatting and friendship. In true tradition for a summer party it rained, precluding us from sitting outside. Nonetheless, Philip and Emma had provided a varied hot and cold buffet for us to consume and the G & Ts and wine flowed around the dining table as well. Some members also tried out Philip’s 3 manual & pedal Viscount electronic organ in the organ studio. There was also a chance to bring and buy second hand organ music in aid of our Christopher Kingsley Fund for Young Organists. Bargains were to be had, and so this is something which your committee has decided that will carry on at future events: see details in separate section below. Our thanks to Philip and Emma for their hospitality in hosting this year’s summer party.

Saturday 20th September 2023 – All day visit to organs in Basildon inc. St Martin’s

We visited two very different venues for this all-day visit to the Basildon area, which yielded unexpected surprises for all both musical and architectural! Eight members took part in the event. First was St Michael’s Fobbing which is a lovely medieval church, overlooking the modern Thames Gateway development by the River Thames. Daryl East hosted our visit here in the morning, and very kindly provided refreshments. After an excellent lunch at The White Lion in Fobbing we drove to the large modern church of St Martin of Tours, in central Basildon, designed as part of the development of the new town, by Sir Walter Tapper. Along with generous playing time, and more excellent refreshments, we were able to visit the chambers of the newly installed chancel organ with its interesting array of pipework. Our thanks to EOA Committee member Andrew Stevens for organising an excellent and fascinating day for players and non-players alike.

Tuesday 24th – Thursday 26th October 2023 – Extended visit to organs in the Portsmouth and Southampton area

A handful of intrepid EOA members booked into the Holiday Inn in Portsmouth for a few days of friendship together as part of visits to an extremely wide range of pipe organs in Portsmouth and Southampton, all organised by EOA Committee member Lyndon Ford. We began on the afternoon of Tuesday 24th October, at Southampton Guildhall, with its unique 1937 John Compton organ, complete with two consoles: (one classical of 127 stops and one theatre organ of 196 stops), creating two very different large instruments in the same hall. After the Guildhall, we headed to the rather unusual parish church of St Faith’s, Lee on the Solent. On Wednesday morning, after breakfast, we walked to Portsmouth Guildhall, which has one of the last organs that the John Compton Organ Company built in 1963. From there, we drove out to St Mark’s Church, North End, a modern Anglo-Catholic church keeping a weekly choral tradition during Sung Mass, and then to the church of All Saints, Denmead. For our last day in Portsmouth, Lyndon had fixed for us to play the organs in the Roman Catholic Cathedral of St John’s, and the Anglican Cathedral of St Thomas. Our sincere and very grateful thanks must go to EOA Committee Member (and Hampshire resident!) Lyndon Ford for the incredible amount of time that organising such a visit takes, and for the wonderful range of playing opportunities which he arranged for us over the three days, with organs both classical and theatrical!

Saturday 25th November 2023 – Members’ Composite Recital at St James the Great, Colchester

Four EOA members accepted the invitation to perform a wide variety of pieces of their own choice to an appreciative audience of 20 people at St James the Great, East Hill, Colchester. All four players sounded comfortable playing on the very fine organ there, originally built in 1872 by Morten and Taylor and then reduced in size to 2 manuals & pedals when it was installed in St James the Great by J W Walker in 1954, to be followed by later tonal additions and changes by Cedric Arnold in 1970. Our thanks to Philip Prior for organising this exciting event for us and to those others who performed so well for us.

Saturday 20th January 2024 – Music Quiz Night at Broomfield Church Hall

Under the excellent quiz mastering of EOA Committee member, Jonathan Lilley, two teams (one from the EOA and one from Broomfield church led by its organist Jill Parkin) fought a very competitive quiz night at Broomfield Church Hall. Jonathan’s carefully put together quiz combined aspects and styles of several quiz styles. Rounds were wide-ranging, all involving listening to recordings or Jonathan’s excellent piano playing. Our thanks must go to Jonathan for all the time he put into organising what was an excellent event, with lots of fun and laughter as well as music!

Saturday 24th February 2024 – All day visit to organs in Halstead and Earl’s Colne

Our day in visiting churches in the Colne Valley in North Essex, began at St Andrew’s Parish Church, Halstead, the medieval parish church of the town. We then moved to the next venue, just a few minutes away, St Francis RC Church, in Halstead. After lunch at the The Lion Pub, at Earls Colne, the party moved across the road to St Andrew’s Parish Church, Earls Colne. Everyone who participated enjoyed the day and the wide variety of organs we visited, and it was good to hear newer members taking to the organ bench as well.

Saturday 23rd March 2024 – “Bring and Share organ music for Lent and Easter”

6 EOA members and friends accepted the invitation to bring along a couple of pieces with a Lenten or Eastertide theme to introduce, share, and perform on the fine organ 3 manual and pedal organ of St Peter’s Bocking, which offers much to the inventive player as provide a wide palette of colours needed for range of organ schools. There was a huge range of styles and periods shown in the choice played. Everyone encountered some new seasonal pieces which they hadn’t heard before, as well as being reminded of some old favourites, and all were left with plenty of new ideas to add to their own repertoire and usefully include in services during Lent and Easter next year!

Saturday 20th April 2024 – A Masterclass to celebrate the centenary of the death of Sir Charles Stanford

In this, the centenary year of the death of Sir Charles Villiers Stanford, your committee were keen to organise at least one event to celebrate this important figure in British Organ Music, and that would encourage us all to explore Stanford’s organ music a bit more deeply. We were very pleased to return to Broomfield Church for this event, with an excellent 2 manual and pedal 1926 Hill Norman and Beard pipe organ, recently restored by Andrew Stevens. We were absolutely delighted that Dr Antony Gritten (Head of Undergraduate Programmes at the Royal Academy of Music) agreed to lead a masterclass on Stanford’s organ music for us. Antony is a very respected academic and international recitalist and will himself be performing all of Stanford’s organ sonatas this year in recitals: he is no stranger to the technical challenges that Stanford’s music brings for the player.

Saturday 4th May 2024 – Visit to All Saints and St Andrew’s Churches, Hertford and Haileybury College

Our final visit for the year was an all-day visit to Hertford and Haileybury College, once again organised by Andrew Stevens, and where a small number of EOA members we were delighted to be joined by a handful of members of the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Organists’ Association, led by their current President Gary Sieling. This event was important in that it provided an excellent opportunity for EOA members and committee to meet and chat with their colleagues in the Beds and Herts Association, and to consider ways forward for the future which may include a joint event each year, along with larger bi-annual IAO Eastern region events, similar to the Couperin Day that we hosted in Chelmsford Cathedral in May 2023. Our thanks to Andrew Stevens for organising an excellent day’s playing!

Saturday 15th June – The 74th AGM of the Association

Although only 5 EOA Members were able to attend the 2024 EOA AGM held in the Octagon Hall of St Mary’s Church, in Maldon to celebrate and review the Association’s year from 2023-2024, the meeting received full and inspiring reports from its President and Treasurer leaving no doubt about the secure financial state the Association is now to be found in, after a very successful year, with membership remaining at around 50 members. After the business part of the meeting, and tea and cakes provided by the church, it was a great pleasure to have Samuel Bristow (Assistant Organist, Chelmsford Cathedral) to play for our AGM recital this year, on the Klais organ of St Mary’s Church, Maldon. His North-German influenced programme showed off the colours of the organ and his excellent playing skills, honed at venues including Coventry, St Paul’s and Salisbury Cathedrals.