Organ lessons for young person through Project Bursary Scheme

One of the aims of the Organ restoration and Conservation project was to stimulate the interest of children and young people in the organ  as a musical instrument.   There were a number of aspects to this which included workshop opportunities for small groups of young people to have a taster session.  This included an organ workshop for 10x year 7 students at Perins School, and, a lighter opportunity for Year 5/6 children at Preston Candover Primary School to have an exploratory play on the organ  when they came to St John’s as part of their Creative Music Project.

Following on from this, Amery Hill School in Alton identified a promising young person who they felt would be really interested in the opportunity to benefit from an initial set of 10 lessons with professional organist and teacher, John Purver.

“I’m so very grateful to be a part of this incredible bursary scheme, I feel honoured and delighted to have been picked. This is so important to me as I consider it the start of my organ journey” (words of the young person).

Amery Hill School is an 11-16 fully inclusive secondary school and aspires to provide a welcoming and supportive learning community where all students are encouraged to become independent, creative, active, and resilient learners. The School identified a keen and talented young musician already progressing towards Grade 5 standard in piano who had often expressed interest in exploring the organ. it is unlikely however that he would otherwise have been able to take up the organ without the offer of the bursary support. While, due to local transport issues, the organ lessons will take place in St Lawrence Church, Alton, John Purver will also ensure there are opportunities to also explore the organ in St John’s.

“The organ has always been a part of my life as my dad was an intermediate organist, but it’s only been recently that I’ve taken an interest in it. Now with these lessons I can pursue my passion and interest and hopefully one day achieve my goal of becoming a professional organist” (words of the young person).