The 29-year-old celebrity organist, Anna Lapwood, will be leaving her role as the Director of Music at Pembroke at the end of this academic year, in order to devote more time and energy to being a concert organist.

She joined the college in 2016, the year after graduating from Magdalen College, Oxford, where she was the first ever female organ scholar. In 2020, she was elected a by-fellow of Pembroke, and in 2024 she received an MBE for her services to music.

During her time at Cambridge, she founded the Pembroke College Girls’ choir and strengthened the reputation of the College Choir which now frequently appears on BBC Radio 3 and Classic FM. Her ‘Play Like a Girl’ initiative and annual Cambridge Organ Experience for Girls has also encouraged more women and girls to pursue the organ.

Master of Pembroke, Lord Smith said: “Anna has transformed Pembroke’s music and choirs.”

During the pandemic, Lapwood ran both college choirs online and also created the NHS Chorus-19, a virtual choir made up of 1,000 NHS staff.

Her talents have reached people around the world from her broadcasting and her TikTok, @annalapwoodorgan, which has one million followers and 35 million likes.

Lapwood writes “I can’t describe how much I’m going to miss the wonderful musicians in the Chapel Choir and Girls’ Choir […] I have cried in almost every service since telling them I was leaving.”

A statement published by Pembroke College reads: “While the college is saddened to lose such a trailblazing individual, it wishes Anna well and looks forward to watching the development of her future career with close interest.”