RCO Academy Organ School | Scheduled Classes
Through the RCO Academy Organ School we deliver educational opportunities for hundreds of organists, both amateur and professional, through both our individual teaching service and our scheduled classes.
Current scheduled events and classes from RCO Academy Organ School are listed below. All players are welcome, regardless of age or aspiration: you don’t have to be a member of the RCO, or be having lessons with an RCO Academy Organ School teacher, to attend one of these classes.
Most sessions are limited to 6 active participants, to maximise hands-on tuition; when a class is full we may sometimes take observers, hold a waiting list or run a second event (either the same day or at a later date), depending on circumstances.
Scheduled classes can be booked online by following the Book Online links beneath each event. If you prefer to book by post, you can find a booking form on the RCO Download page (scroll down to the RCO Academy section). Class preparation sheets and any other additional information can be found on that same page.
If you have a question about these classes, please e-mail the College at courses@rco.org.uk
Please note times (the 24-hour clock is used).
Saturday 24th January 2015 (14:00 – 17:00)
Practise perfectly
Lincoln College, Oxford OX1 3DRGabriele Damiani
Everyone knows that practice is the key to improvement, but fewer people know how to practise well. Gabriele provides strategies for getting the best results from your practice by showing you how to be more focused and inspired. Bring any repertoire you like! (ABRSM Grades 1–5)
Fee: £57.00
Tuesday 27th January 2015 (17:30 – 20:30)
Towards ARCO
St Giles, Cripplegate, Barbican, London EC2Y 8DADaniel Moult
A class giving in-depth guidance to students in any repertoire from the ‘non-Bach’ lists on the ARCO syllabus: lists B, C and D. Dan welcomes everyone to this class, whether or not you are preparing for a diploma. (ABRSM Grade 7 upwards)
Fee: £67
Saturday 31st January 2015 (14:00 – 17:00)
Spotlight on Vierne’s 24 Pièces en style libre, op. 31
All Saints, Margaret Street, London W1W 8JGTimothy Byram-Wigfield.
Vierne’s 24 Pièces contain some of the most beautiful – and liturgically useful - music in the repertoire. Choose any piece from the collection, perhaps guided by our graded list. This is the first time St Margaret's vintage 4-manual Harrison & Harrison organ has been used for an RCO Organ School class, which is taught by the resident organistt. (ABRSM Grade 6–diploma)
Fee: £67.00
Saturday 7th February 2015 (11:00 – 14:00)
How to learn Bach
St Giles, Cripplegate, Barbican, London EC2Y 8DAAnne Marsden Thomas
Most student organists long to play Bach but find that it is harder to learn than they expect. Anne Marsden Thomas helps your brain, fingers and feet to absorb this great music in a comfortable, accurate and stylistically informed way. Choose a piece from our graded list and bring it unexplored to the class. Topics will include articulation, fingering, footing, registration, ornamentation and strategies for practice. (ABRSM Grades 6–8)
Fee: £67.00
Saturday 14th February 2015 (14:00 – 17:00)
Share your repertoire
Old St Martin, Worcester WR1 2PLGerdi Troskie
The organ repertoire seems infinite, and building a repertoire is itself an art. Bring your favourite pieces to this class, including perhaps something a little off the beaten track if you can, to perform and share with other class students. Gerdi Troskie will hone and support your performance. Not only will you gain in performing experience, but fruitful discussions and cross fertilisation of ideas for expanding your repertoire are bound to occur. (All standards)
Fee: £47.00
Saturday 21st February 2015 (14:00 – 17:00)
Advanced performance class
St John, Notting Hill, London W11 2NNAndrew Cantrill
It is hard indeed to find occasions to try out performances before an important recital or exam. This class offers the more advanced player the chance to get the adrenaline flowing a little, but still in a supportive environment, to help iron out the wrinkles in your performance of current repertoire. Expect invaluable advice and tips from the teacher of this class, Andrew Cantrill, and no doubt from fellow participants. (ABRSM Grade 6–diploma)
Fee: £67
Saturday 28th February 2015 (14:00 – 17:00)
Three French toccatas
St George’s Metropolitan Cathedral, Southwark, London SE1 7HYGerard Brooks
The toccatas by Gigout, Dubois and Boellmann are popular with both organists and audiences for good reason. Because they present similar technical challenges this class deals with them together. Bring one or more of these works. Gerard Brooks teaches this class on the Cathedral's large Compton organ, the first time this instrument has been used for an RCO class. (ABRSM Grade 6–diploma) We regret that there are no observer places for this class.
Fee: £67
Saturday 21st March 2015 (14:30 – 17:30)
Technique clinic
Christ’s Chapel of God’s Gift, Dulwich, London SE21 7ASMarilyn Harper
Getting an outside view of our organ technique can be helpful at any stage. Bring some favourite pieces to this class and let Marilyn identify not only your strengths but also where you could consider improving your technique – and how. Areas for discussion will include general posture, hand position and footing. Expect hard work but also inspiration. (All standards)
Fee: £67
Saturday 28th March 2015 (13:30 – 16:30)
Confident sight-reading
St Michael, Mytholmroyd, West Yorkshire HX7 5DSAnne Marsden Thomas
Church organists have to read huge numbers of notes in the course of their work, and confident sight-reading is therefore important for any player. This class, in collaboration with the Halifax Organ Academy, is taught by Anne Marsden Thomas, and provides guidance to help students develop their skills, dispelling the myth that sight-reading is either something you can, or cannot, do. (All standards)
Fee: £30
Saturday 18th April 2015 (14:00 – 17:00)
Supersize me
St George’s Metropolitan Cathedral, Southwark SE1 7HYTom Bell
Many students of whatever age learn on only perhaps a couple of organs, often smaller ones. This class gives such students the chance to confront the technical challenges and enjoy the thrills of exploring their repertoire on a big cathedral organ under the guidance of Tom Bell. (ABRSM Grades 2–5) We regret that there are no observer places for this class.
Fee: £67
Saturday 25th April 2015 (14:00 – 17:00)
Contemporaries of Bach
St Michael & All Angels, Bedford Park, London W4 1TTRoger Carter
The Baroque period is the core of the organ repertoire. Bring any music of any nationality written between about 1600 to 1750 – but not by J.S. Bach himself – and get detailed coaching from Roger Carter. From Couperin to Buxtehude – there is a huge range of superb repertoire from which to choose. St Michael's has a beautiful new organ, ideal for this musical period, and this is the first RCO class to be held here. (ABRSM Grades 5–8)
Fee: £67
Saturday 2nd May 2015 (14:00 – 17:00)
The English 18th-century voluntary
St Giles-in-the-Fields, London WC2H 8LGJonathan Bunney
Jonathan Bunney leads students in the attractive repertoire of the English baroque voluntary on an organ that is ideal for this repertoire. The focus will be on understanding fundamentals of historically-informed performance, including articulation, ornamentation and registration. Suggestions for repertoire will be given upon application. (ABRSM Grades 3–6)
Fee: £67
Tuesday 5th May 2015 – Thursday 7th May 2015
German Study Visit
Leipzig and Naumburg, GermanyFrederick Stocken
Full details of this trip are available from Downloads section of the website. What follows is only the outline. The Organ School visits Bach’s own church, St Thomas’s, Leipzig and St Wenzel, Naumburg, where the 1746 Hildebrandt organ was personally approved (and possibly part-designed) by Bach himself. Wednesday afternoon’s class in Naumburg, given by St Wenzel’s organist David Franke, is preceded by an optional recital and organ tour; we then return by train to Leipzig for a class on Thursday morning with Ullrich Böhme at St Thomas’s. The itinerary also allows time to visit St Nicholaikirche in Leipzig (the other church in Leipzig where Bach worked), and the extensive and scholarly Bach Museum in Leipzig. Our preparation sheet suggests travel and accommodation options which you book independently. Bursaries may be available; please outline your circumstances. This trip is suitable only for those over 18 years old. (ABRSM Grade 7 and above)
Fee: £150
Saturday 16th May 2015 (14:00 – 17:00)
Keyboard musicianship
St Mary & St Joseph, Poplar, London E14 6EZFrederick Stocken
This class concentrates on five related subjects of keyboard musicianship – figured bass, score-reading, transposition, harmonisation and improvisation. Frederick Stocken, the teacher of this class, has developed carefully graded material in collaboration with Anne Marsden Thomas to provide a new pathway to gain gradual confidence in these skills. (ABRSM Grades 4–8)
Fee: £67
Saturday 23rd May 2015 (13:00 – 16:00)
Introduction to advanced interpretation
St Chad’s Cathedral, Birmingham B4 6EUJames Parsons
Developing an individual musical personality is highly desirable in the more advanced player, and essential for anyone hoping to enter the musical profession. James Parsons motivates students to expand a sense of interpretative independence in a thought-provoking class, based on any repertoire you care to play, pre-Bach to contemporary. The 3-manual 42-stop, mechanical action Walker organ at St Chad's is inspirational and speaks into a resonant space. (ABRSM Grade 6–diploma)
Fee: £67
Saturday 30th May 2015 (11:00 – 14:00)
Securer feet
St Giles, Cripplegate, London EC2Y 8DAAnne Marsden Thomas
With a pedal-board for each student, this class helps students develop securer footing using methods developed over many years, and now supported by an array of material in a newly-published tutor on pedalling by the leader of this class, Anne Marsden Thomas. (All standards)
Fee: £67
All prices quoted are inclusive of VAT @ 20%