Society Of Women Organists to celebrate International Women’s Day with marathon performance

The Society of Women Organists (SWO) is set to celebrate this year’s International Women’s Day with a marathon of performances at London Bridge Station. From 7am to 8pm on 8 March, more than 20 woman organists will perform at the station.

Although high-profile organists like Anna Lapwood are raising the profile of women in the field, women are still in a minority in the organ world, especially at the highest levels, representing only 10% of directors of music and organists in English and Welsh cathedrals. SWO was launched in 2019 by Anne Marsden Thomas MBE and Ghislaine Reece-Trapp to address this imbalance.

SWO co-chair Anne Marsden Thomas MBE said: ‘Those who hear our marathon recital on 8th March International Women's Day may be surprised to see that while men have long been disproportionately represented in organ recitals and cathedral music, increasingly, numerous women of all ages take organ-playing seriously, too.’

While an estimated 100,000 passengers pass through the transport hub, performances will take place on the station’s Henry Jones organ. Installed in July 2022 by Pipe Up for Pipe Organs, the organ dates back to around 1880 and is located at the southern end of the Network Rail Stainer Street concourse, close to the St Thomas Street entrance.

Gillian Moore, the late Catherine Ennis, Ghislaine Reece-Trapp, Anne Marsden Thomas attend SWO’s launch at the Royal Festival Hall in February 2019 © Morwenna Campbell-Smith

With 500 members spread across the world, SWO also marks its 5^th anniversary this week. Membership is free to all who support the society’s aims to support all women organists, promote women's activities in the organ world and recruit women of all ages and backgrounds to study the instrument.