Analytics Consent

We use analytics to understand better how people are using this site.

Permit Google Analytics?

Yes No
Skip to main content
Read page text
page 47
SIMON JACOBS SWO co-founders Anne Marsden Thomas (l) and Ghislaine Reece-Trapp ‘Building bigger boats’ Some people feel uncomfortable at the idea, and some think it has nothing to do with them. Yet the Society of Women Organists, founded three years, has already proved it knows how to steer an organisation that nurtures inclusivity, to the benefit of the entire organ-playing community. Stephen Pritchard reports Say the word ‘organist’ and what picture comes into your mind? If you see a man, that’s hardly surprising. Just ten per cent of directors of music and organists in English and Welsh cathedrals are female. Across the nation, only about eight per cent of players booked to give recitals are women. In 2018, a mere six per cent of high-profile London recitals showcased women. And yet the UK has a wealth of female talent. Given these shaming statistics, it’s perhaps surprising the Society of Women Organists (SWO) wasn’t formed many years ago. But as it approaches its third birthday, it is sensing that things are starting to change. In the recent Cambridge University organ scholar trials, for instance, more women were selected than men. ‘I’m not sure that SWO can take any credit for that,’ says co-chair Anne Marsden Thomas, ‘but our presence in the organ world may be building confidence in young women and awareness in appointment panels.’ SWO declares it is dedicated to celebrating the work of women organists and building a world ‘where women and men enjoy equal training, opportunities and encouragement, resulting in confident, ambitious and passionate players.’ That vision has attracted 166 members so far ‘and an extraordinary surprise is that one third of those are men,’ says Marsden Thomas, a distinguished teacher and author. ‘They share our concern and our vision. In the words of one of our patrons, Harry Bramma [former director of the Royal School of Church Music], we “hit a nerve”. The UK organ community was ready for SWO.’ But three years ago, not everyone was quite so ready. ‘I had a blistering conversation with one notable organist – I won’t name him – who was clearly unnerved and alarmed,’ says Marsden Thomas. ‘He saw SWO as a threat, and at the time I heard that other male organists were also worried. But things seem calmer now.’ www.choirandorgan.com DECEMBER 2021 CHOIR & ORGAN 47

Page Text

View plaintext

SIMON JACOBS

SWO co-founders Anne Marsden Thomas (l) and Ghislaine Reece-Trapp

‘Building bigger boats’ Some people feel uncomfortable at the idea, and some think it has nothing to do with them. Yet the Society of Women Organists, founded three years, has already proved it knows how to steer an organisation that nurtures inclusivity, to the benefit of the entire organ-playing community. Stephen Pritchard reports

Say the word ‘organist’ and what picture comes into your mind? If you see a man, that’s hardly surprising. Just ten per cent of directors of music and organists in English and Welsh cathedrals are female. Across the nation, only about eight per cent of players booked to give recitals are women. In 2018, a mere six per cent of high-profile London recitals showcased women. And yet the UK has a wealth of female talent. Given these shaming statistics, it’s perhaps surprising the Society of Women Organists (SWO) wasn’t formed many years ago. But as it approaches its third birthday, it is sensing that things are starting to change.

In the recent Cambridge University organ scholar trials, for instance, more women were selected than men. ‘I’m not sure that SWO can take any credit for that,’ says co-chair Anne Marsden Thomas, ‘but our presence in the organ world may be building confidence in young women and awareness in appointment panels.’

SWO declares it is dedicated to celebrating the work of women organists and building a world ‘where women and men enjoy equal training, opportunities and encouragement, resulting in confident, ambitious and passionate players.’ That vision has attracted 166 members so far ‘and an extraordinary surprise is that one third of those are men,’ says Marsden Thomas, a distinguished teacher and author. ‘They share our concern and our vision. In the words of one of our patrons, Harry Bramma [former director of the Royal School of Church Music], we “hit a nerve”. The UK organ community was ready for SWO.’

But three years ago, not everyone was quite so ready. ‘I had a blistering conversation with one notable organist – I won’t name him – who was clearly unnerved and alarmed,’ says Marsden Thomas. ‘He saw SWO as a threat, and at the time I heard that other male organists were also worried. But things seem calmer now.’

www.choirandorgan.com

DECEMBER 2021 CHOIR & ORGAN 47

Read next page

My Bookmarks

Buy this Book
Skip to main content