I feel very lucky to have been Assistant Organist and Tutor to the Choristers at Magdalen College for nearly eight years, especially for the chance to see a significant new organ in Oxford take shape. I arrived in January 2017, at the same time as a new Informator Choristarum (the Latin title of the Director of Music), Mark Williams.

Have you ever worried because someone has said that “to play Bach on the organ you should be using toes only and no thumbs”? A lot of guilt surrounds this question. It’s a bit like New Years’ resolutions: you’re determined to start doing the ‘right’ thing but today isn’t really a convenient day to start, so we’ll do it tomorrow. Or next year. But is this statement actually true?

The Royal Birmingham Conservatoire has a long-standing reputation for producing organists of the highest calibre, and a rich history of organ culture. But for years there was one major problem: suitable instruments – or, rather, a lack of them. There was always an aspiration that the quality of the teaching would be matched with responsive and inspiring organs.

In 1923, just two years before his death, Eugène Gigout celebrated sixty years as organist at the church of Saint-Augustin in Paris. As part of the celebrations, his closest friend Gabriel Faurédelivered an effusive and public hommage testifying to Gigout’s many musical achievements.

Christopher Bowers-Broadbent celebrated his eightieth birthday in January. He has forged a career as an organist and composer, distinctively combining church, synagogue and teaching roles, and particularly championing contemporary music.