Alice Phillips is Headmistress of St. Catherine’s School, Bramley which has hosted the Jennifer Bate Organ Academy, since 2004. Alice played the organ briefly in her teens, but at university moved to choral singing and conducting and is a member of the Guildford Chamber Choir. She takes great pride in the reputation of St. Catherine’s as a ‘home’ for women organists and in the illustrious list of alumnae of JBOA who also continue to support its work.

Beverley is Director of Music at St Mary’s Anglican Church in North Melbourne and part of the music team at St Francis Roman Catholic Church in Melbourne. She is also the accompanist to Ballarat Choral Society and gives occasional recitals on organ and harpsichord. She is the Western Region member of the RSCM Vic Committee and lives in the bush outside of Melbourne. She has performed the Clavierubung III for a Masters recital. Nearing retirement, she takes pride in accompanying liturgy and directing a choir to her very best ability.

Tina studied piano from an early age at the Nõmme Music School in Tallinn, Estonia, and gained a degree in choir conducting and music teaching at the Viljandi Culture Academy. She worked with a large number of children at the Nõmme Cultural Centre teaching singing and organising concerts.

She studied organ with Marika Kahar at the Kaarli Church (Charles Church) in the centre of Tallinn.

Tina came to England to study organ in London, but soon afterwards moved to Norway, where she worked as organist on the west coast and later in Oslo. She also did concert work and music teaching.

Returning to England, she held the position of organist at St. Barnabas, Beckenham, playing the Father Willis organ. In addition to her musical work, she also worked as an interpreter.

Now in Edinburgh, Tina is teaching piano and also composing music for piano, organ, and computer.

Rachel is based in Twickenham in south west London. She is a liturgical organist, playing for weddings and funerals, as well as for Sunday services.

Lucy is Director of Music at St Dunstan's , Mayfield and also teaches organ and accompanies various ensembles. Lucy's earliest influence was cathedral organist David Poulter, with whose help she became organ scholar at Jesus College, Oxford. Lucy's chief passion is all things Bach!

Alex has loved the sound of choral music from a young age. Through her choral singing she was introduced to the organ and was fortunate to start taking lessons at the age of eleven. This sparked her passion for organ music which she combines with her love for choir.

Alex enjoys playing different organs, and has played at St John's Hyde Park Church (Nicholson), Edington Priory Church (Harrison), and her school organ.

Mel retired after a 41 year career in audio and broadcast engineering and now works as a freelance player based in NW England as well as being resident organist in one Anglican and one RC Parish. She took up the organ in the 1960s with an organ scholarship at the Darlington Grammar School studying initially with Hector C Parr and later with Conrad Eden at Durham Cathedral. She focusses primarily on service playing, but gives the occasional recital to forgiving audiences. She is secretary of her local organists’ association and also actively involved with social media for BIOS. www.phmusic.co.uk/musicbakgnd1.html

Facebook: Mel.Plumley Twitter: @Organist55

Rosemary Ponnekanti is an assistant organist at Christ Church Cathedral in Newcastle, NSW, Australia. With a B.Mus.A and Performance Diploma in double bass, she has played professionally in orchestras around Australia, and served as church organist in Tacoma, Washington, USA where she directed a handbell choir and instrumentalists. Rosemary also composes, teaches and plays flute and piano, and has had a successful career in festival direction and arts management.

After a Bachelor of Music from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and a Masters in piano performance, a European Monteverdi tour led to the harpsichord. A church offered Theodoira an organist position but she had to learn the pedals. She became their organist for 16 years. she also taught music at Glendale College for 20 years.

Hilary is Assistant Organist and Director of the Girls’ Choir at Chelmsford Cathedral. A native of Canada, Hilary studied at McGill University, Montreal, where she was also Assistant Organist at Christ Church Cathedral. In 2011 she moved to England, and has since worked as organist at Southwell Minster, All Saints’ Church, Northampton, and Lincoln Cathedral. Outside her work at Chelmsford Cathedral, Hilary is an accompanist, singer, teacher, recitalist, and choral conductor.

Justina is a Lithuanian junior student based in London, Greenwich. She discovered her passion for the organ at the age 15 and took up the organ at the age of 16 with Prof. Gerard Brooks. She is a Junior student with the RCO and is passionate about organ music of all centuries. In November 2018 she took the ABRSM Grade 5 exam and gained a Distinction. She is a regular attendee of the RCO Summer School. She attends additional RCO courses and masterclasses, and is now a sixth form student, studying music, conducting and art. Sometimes she plays hymns for services on Sundays. She sings with the “Docklands Singers” chorus and rings the bell in St. Alfege Church tower (Greenwich). She is now preparing for ABRSM Grade 7 or 8, and her dream is to continue organ studies at the Royal Academy of Music.

Organist and composer Christa Rakich teaches organ and clavichord at Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio, USA. An ardent supporter of women performers and composers, her CD recordings include Deferred Voices: Organ Music by Women (Mendelssohn, Smyth, Amy Beach, Emma Lou Diemer, Demessieux, and others), Transcriptions from St. Justin’s (Clara Schumann), and Tribute to Yuko Hayashi (Cécile Chaminade). Her programming routinely features works by women. Her organ compositions are primarily hymn-based, and include Hommages à Bach, Pachelbel, Gershwin, William Walton, Henry Mancini, and others. They may be downloaded for free from IMSLP.

www.christarakich.com