Anna Ruth Ella Lapwood was born on 28 July 1995 and is a British organist, choir director and television and radio presenter, whose recordings have reached a wide audience on social media since she was appointed as an associate artist at the Royal Albert Hall in London in 2022.
15 Facts About Anna Lapwood
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Anna Lapwood's father is an Anglican clergyman and teacher, her mother is a paediatric palliative carer.
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Anna Lapwood studied piano, violin, viola and composition at the Junior Royal Academy of Music and was the principal harpist for the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and the Junior Academy Symphony Orchestra.
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Anna Lapwood was appointed as Director of Music of Pembroke College, Cambridge, in 2016.
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Anna Lapwood inaugurated the annual Pembroke College Bach-a-thon in 2017, initially to raise funds for Pembroke College Choir's tour to Zambia.
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In 2019, Anna Lapwood established another choir at Pembroke College, designed to teach sight-reading skills to singers.
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Anna Lapwood has led choral workshops in Thailand, Perth, Shenzhen, Shanghai and Lusaka, and regularly works in Zambia through her role as a trustee of The Muze Trust.
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In May 2022, Anna Lapwood was unexpectedly invited to play with the electronic artist Bonobo and his band on their fifth and final night at the Royal Albert Hall.
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Anna Lapwood later called the experience "genuinely life-changing" and "undoubtedly, the best moment of my life so far".
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Anna Lapwood later played the Hall's organ for a 2023 show by the Ministry of Sound and a 2024 live performance by Aurora.
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In September 2022, Anna Lapwood played the newly installed pipe organ at London Bridge station, popularly known as "Henry", with her performance of "God Save the King", accompanied by a security guard, going viral on Twitter.
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Anna Lapwood was the main presenter of the televised highlights of the 2020 BBC Young Musician competition, which aired in 2021 due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.
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Anna Lapwood has since been seen as a regular TV presenter of the BBC Proms, including presenting the live broadcast of the 2023 first night of the Proms alongside Sandi Toksvig and Clive Myrie.
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Anna Lapwood played the Organ as part of the 2024 Doctor Who Proms during the show's second half.
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Anna Lapwood was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 2024 New Year Honours for services to music.