Pulling Out The Stops (POTS)
A friendly weekend for early-stages organists and pianists who want to play the pipe organ
This annual residential weekend course for those at the start of their organ studies is always very popular. We welcome young organists (typical age range 10-15) up to and including Grade 5 standard or young pianists at or above Grade 4 standard who wish to try the pipe organ. Our inspiring tutors will fire up your enthusiasm, and you’ll have great fun meeting other young musicians.
Tom Bell (Course Director)- ‘Charismatic and virtuosic’, a great communicator and an enthusiastic advocate for the whole of the organ repertoire, Tom is a performer, teacher and recording artist based in London, whose career has taken him across Europe and to the USA. POTS is close to his heart as he was a student on the very first one! The experience has stayed with him ever since, and he hopes the students in 2016 will be as inspired as he was in 1997.
Tom is joined by three other tutors, all operating at the forefront of the profession, and all renowned for the inspiring work they do with young musicians.
Libby Burgess – Former Organ Scholar at Christ Church, Oxford – the first female organ scholar at any of the all-male Oxbridge choral foundations – and now a sought-after accompanist and chamber musician, Libby gives masterclasses across the UK, and is Head of Keyboard at Eton College.
Richard Pinel – Assistant Director of Music at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle. An internationally renowned recitalist, and winner of the 2012 Breda International Organ, Richard is also a Junior Fellow at Birmingham Conservatoire and a Visiting Music Tutor at Eton College.
Nicholas Wearne – An experienced tutor, with a post at Birmingham Conservatoire, Nick also enjoys a wide-ranging freelance and recording career and has also held posts at New College and the University Church, Oxford; St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, Edinburgh and St Martin-in-the-Fields, London.
