Anna Lapwood


Anna Lapwood is an organist, conductor and broadcaster, and Director of Music at Pembroke College, Cambridge. She was the youngest person to hold the director of music position at an Oxbridge college, taking up the position at the age of 21. As a broadcaster, Anna hosts her own live weekly classical music show, on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire, and is a regular contributor to BBC Radio 3, having appeared on Record Review with Andrew McGregor.

Pembroke College, Cambridge

As Director of Music, Anna conducts the Pembroke College Chapel Choir at Cambridge University. In January 2020, she was appointed Bye-Fellow of the College, the youngest ever in the College's history.
In 2018, Anna founded the Pembroke College Girls’ Choir, which consists of girls aged 11–18 from local schools and performs evensong weekly during term time. She also runs the Cambridge Organ Experience for Girls every year. Anna has been running the Pembroke College Bach-a-thon each year since 2017, initially to raise funds for Pembroke College Choir's tour to Zambia. In 2018, all of the organists taking part in the Bach-a-thon were female. In 2019, Anna established another choir at Pembroke college, designed to teach sight-reading skills to singers.
On 15th December 2019, Anna and the choirs of Pembroke College appeared on BBC One's show 'Britain's Christmas Story', presented by Gareth Malone and Karen Gibson.

Education

After completing her A-levels at Oxford High School, Anna gained a first-class degree from Magdalen College, Oxford, and was the first woman in the college's 560-year history to be awarded an organ scholarship.

Music career

Anna 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. As an organist, Anna has performed in the Royal Albert Hall, the Royal Festival Hall and St Thomas Church, New York. In 2019, Anna opened the BAFTA TV awards on the organ at the Royal Festival Hall, and she frequently travels the UK and Europe on tours.
As a conductor, Anna directed the BBC Singers as part of the BBC Inspire Programme. She has led choral workshops in Thailand, Perth, Shenzen, Shanghai, and Lusaka, and regularly works in Zambia through her role as a trustee of The Muze Trust.
As a singer, Anna has released two albums as part of Gareth Malone's professional ensemble Voices. With the ensemble, she has performed at the Classical Brit Awards, Royal Variety Show, and the National Eisteddfod of Wales, among other TV performances.
In 2020 it was announced that Anna would become one of the presenters of the 2020 BBC Young Musician competition.