SPOTLIGHT ON... Zosia Herlihy-O’Brien, Organ Scholar at the Royal Albert Hall and SWO’s new Spotlight Officer

How did you become the Inaugural Organ Scholar at the RAH and what does itwork involve?

During my final Winter Term at the Royal Academy of Music (RAM) I saw the advertisement on Anna Lapwood’s Instagram page and I gave it a shot! The audition was great fun –an early morning warm-up in the fabulous 1871 Bar, and then the playing and talking.

As the Inaugural Organ Scholar, I’ve shadowed Anna in both rehearsal and performance settings. She is an incredible musician and a wonderful person, and her cheery and nurturing disposition is so inspiring. The first ‘pinch-me’ moment was a telephone call from comedian Aziz Ansari asking whether I’d like to close his Saturday night show with my own arrangement of Oasis’ “Wonderwall”. 5,000 people singing along at the tops of their voices, after I had to army-crawl into the organ loft to avoid being spotted… it was insane and I loved it. I recently performed with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra in a live screening of Top Gun: Maverick – absolutely electrifying! The Organ Scholar must be ready for anything, an overnight practice slot, a social media collaboration, or an invitation to perform at short notice. The greatest joy of all is getting to play the Voice of Jupiter – she is a beautiful, powerful instrument, and every time it’s like greeting a friend.

How is it working with Anna, given her huge profile and the pressure under which she operates?

It is fantastic – she is so bright, warm and generous. Recently she offered me her own practice time and her help with registration, knowing that I had an upcoming concert with orchestra. She is much larger than life, and her personality veritably fills the Hall. I love working with her – she is kind, but direct.

And you are organist at The Charterhouse, London, only the second woman to hold the position in 700 years! Is that a busy role?

It’s just one solid morning service each Sunday; I live very close to the Chapel and so I’ve spent many nights at the organ. Mary Taylor was the first female organist to hold the post, starting in 1884, and I’d so love to know more about her; very little is documented about her life and work. I arrange visiting choirs once a month, and in Holy Week this year I brought the community choir I founded in Goodenough College to sing their first Choral Evensong, featuring Allegri’s ‘Miserere’.

I believe that violin was your first study in your post-graduate course at the Royal Academy of Music, with organ second study. How have you balanced violin, organ and conducting?

During my time at the Academy, I studied with the knowledgeable and kind Dr David Ponsford, who got me especially fascinated by the French Classical tradition. Prior to that, I studied with the inimitable Dr Philip Smith (who is originally from the UK) in Auckland, New Zealand – from dear Philip I gained my love of improvisation and “blowing the roof off the building” with the volume of the organ, and my experiences as Holy Trinity Cathedral Organ Scholar equipped me for much of the performance-work, sacred and secular, that I’ve done here in the UK. I achieved an equal balance between violin and organ whilst at the Academy, though I wasn’t permitted fully to engage with things offered to the other organ students, including practice time. Nevertheless, I premiered works by friends of mine who were composition students at Academy, and several violin and conducting gigs blossomed out of these contemporary organ sessions.

And now?

As an organist, I am increasingly busy with shows linked to the Royal Albert Hall and recital work around the UK and Europe. At Charterhouse I can fuel my enthusiasm for sacred music. I’ll soon be an accredited organ teacher with the Royal College of Organists. As a violinist, I’ve played with the Woolf Quartet as one of its founding members, I’ve taken violin solo roles and played in various London orchestras, and I’m also in the hotseat for a new contemporary chamber ensemble, Axis Mundi. Conducting is trickier to keep in the mix, but doubtless I’ll pull a choir together before long!

Before coming to London, you studied conducting in New Zealand with a woman, Karen Grylls, and the Woolf Quartet, takes the name of a woman writer. As there a pattern here?

Yes! Violin, the history books prove that organ and conducting have always been dominated by white men. And I believe that women can do things five times as well as any man, because first they have to prove themselves. During my undergraduate years, I had the honour of studying ensemble direction and communication with Dr Karen Grylls, respected and beloved New Zealand musician and educator. She instilled in me a love for choral music, and what I think of as ‘anti-ego’ when it comes to the podium –just to be a conduit for shaping the music.

For me, to make music is to do it with kindness, to always play from the heart, because that’s what connects performer with audience, teacher with student. To give your best, to do it with love, and not be afraid. Making music doesn’t mean climbing over men or pushing anyone out the way. As St Madeleine Sophie Barat says: “Be humble, be simple, and bring joy to others”.

Not being afraid is something that women still grapple with! How and where did you learn to overcome fear?

Performing from a young age acclimatised me to public scrutiny, but in a nurturing environment. As a young teenager I entered a masterclass with a ferocious violin professor, and afterwards local teachers complained of the professor’s brutality towards me. Yet I was unfazed, as I felt it good preparation for more public scrutiny and criticism!

What prompted your interest in the organ?

My first experience of the organ was listening to my Mum’s community choir and experiencing the rumble of an organ is one of my earliest memories. I’m cheerfully informed by my family every few years that I, as a very young child, decided to join in with the singing at the top of my little lungs! Many years later as a school girl I heard that they were auditioning for the organ scholarship. I won it, began studying with Philip, and have loved it wholeheartedly ever since!

What prompted your move to the UK?

My quartet in New Zealand won the Pettman/Royal Overseas League Competition, and the prize was a fabulous tour throughout the UK: concerts, festivals, lessons and sight-seeing. I met the violinist Philippe Honoré and planned to study with him at RAM in London.

How did you encounter SWO?

I forget exactly: either through Anna Lapwood’s Instagram or the New Zealand Organ Association. I saw that SWO links women organists around the world and I wanted to be part of it!

Zosia, thank you for taking on the role of Spotlight Officer, starting from the next interview! We welcome you to the SWO Committee, too, looking forward to your contributions.