Anna Lapwood is an organist who has taken social media by storm. Especially after her viral video in which she stunned the audience with the Royal Albert Hall Organ during a concert of DJ Bonobo at the Royal Albert Hall. I have been following her ever since, and have seen her career grow. I have already seen her twice at the last two De Avond van de Filmmuziek concerts, in which she only played a minor role and performed a handful of pieces. She is an amazing performer, and after seeing her at those concerts, I always wanted to hear more from her. When the announcement of her solo concert in Rotterdam came, I was quite excited.
I was quite surprised when I received my ticket, because I noticed that the concert had no assigned seating, which meant having to stand in a long line going around the building before the venue opened. I also heard that there were thousands of people on a waiting list for this concert. Fortunately, I was able to find a good seat with a direct view of the organ and could see Lapwood cheerfully running to her instrument while waving to the audience. She grabbed her microphone to welcome the audience and introduce the “Chevaliers de Sangreal,” the piece that kickstarted her career. It is a fantastic piece, even without the support of an orchestra, as I had experienced before.
The next suite was a late addition to the program: 20 minutes of her new 40-minute The Lord of the Rings organ symphony, which she transcribed by ear after a small girl told her she wanted to hear “Concerning Hobbits”. It was a fantastic piece that started with her singing while playing her instrument. Hearing her voice in the large venue without amplification was a tender and beautiful experience. I was also impressed with the lighting during this suite. There were lights in different colors projected onto the organ, and during a moment in this suite, the lights simulated Sauron searching for the ring. It made for an amazing addition to this fantastic suite, making me quite interested in the full piece when it get its premiere later this year.
The next two pieces on the program were the only ones not related to film music. “Flight” is a stunning piece by Rachel Portman, originally a duet for piano and violin, but Lapwood managed to play all the parts herself. The second piece was Olivia Belli’s “Limina Luminis,” written especially for Lapwood. It was quite a stunning piece and it really fits her, with a bit of Interstellar vibes and having been written exclusively for an organ.
Time flew by that evening because we had already reached the final piece on the program, a suite from Pirates of the Caribbean, in which the audience had to help by singing “Hoist the Colours.” Before the suite started, Lapwood invited all the children – younger than 18 years, because she was very strict about that – to join her by sitting on the empty seats around the organ. It was yet another fantastic piece of music that the children could experience up close. I especially liked the “Davy Jones” part, which is no surprise since that piece was written for her instrument, even though Lapwood doesn’t have the many tentacles that Davy Jones has.
Lapwood wanted us to choose between “No Time For Caution” from Interstellar or “Test Drive” from How to Train Your Dragon as the encore. The audience chose the first one, but I wanted the second one, so, luckily for me, she decided to do both to end the concert officially. For many people in the audience it was still not really over yet, though,, because a lot of them stood in a long line once again for a short Meet and Greet with Lapwood in the foyer.
Like I said at the beginning, I was quite excited for this concert, and I was not disappointed, but it wasn’t a big surprise after seeing Lapwood twice beforehand. What I loved about this solo performance was how much it felt like an Anna Lapwood concert. During the concert, she was no different from how she is on social media. She is a cheerful woman, who is delighted to be there to promote her favorite instrument, and loves to talk about all kinds of things between the pieces: The reason why these pieces were chosen, but also to shout out the people, who were present, she met on the streets or in the MacDonalds before the concert, or to mention she has the hiccups because she is excited. Her cheerfulness was contagious, because I’m sure that the majority of people who attended this concert, including me, left with a smile on their face.
Concert information
Where: De Doelen in Rotterdam, the Netherlands
When: February 18, 2026
Organ: Anna Lapwood
Program
- Hans Zimmer – “Chevaliers de Sangreal” from The Da Vinci Code
- Howard Shore – The Lord of the Rings
- “Prologue”
- “A Knife in the Dark”
- “The Ring Goes South”
- “The Three Hunters”
- “The Grace of Undomiel”
- “The Lighting of the Beacons”
- “The Battle of the Pelennor Fields”
- “The Return of the King”
- Rachel Portman – “Flight”
- Olivia Belli – “Limina Luminis”
- Klaus Badelt / Hans Zimmer – Pirates of the Caribbean
- “Davy Jones”
- “Hoist the Colours”
- “Jack Sparrow”
- “One Day”
- “Drink up, me hearties, yo ho!”
- John Powell – “Test Drive” from How to Train Your Dragon (encore)
- Hans Zimmer – “No Time For Caution” from Interstellar
