Catherine gave this interview in 2013.
On Christmas Eve 2020 we heard the sad news that Catherine had died, from cancer. I leave this here as a memorial to a fine organist and hugely admired personality, who will be greatly missed.
Catherine Ennis takes up her post as President of the Royal College of Organists in the UK in its 150th anniversary year. This is highly appropriate, as she was one of the guiding lights behind the evolution of the RCO into the organisation it is today, with strong education and outreach activities as well as its famous examinations. Catherine is one of the most experienced organists in the UK, giving numerous concerts and recitals both in the UK and the USA, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe. She is Organist and Director of Music at St Lawrence Jewry, in the City of London, a post she has held for 27 years. The Tuesday lunchtime organ recitals at St Lawrence are particularly good – you get to hear talented young organists from around the world, and Catherine herself plays in many of them, on the colourful 2001 Klais organ, installed under her supervision. More on the organ recitals at St Lawrence Jewry from their website. In the meantime, here are Catherine’s answers to my five questions:
Which piece of music are you studying at the moment and why?
Fantasia and Fugue on a theme of Bruckner by the late John Gardner, in preparation for a recording of John’s organ pieces. It’s a lyrical and beautifully crafted work which is imbued with a yearning quality derived from the short chordal sequence from Bruckner on which it is based.
What has been your best experience as an organist?
I am still awaiting it! Playing fine music on great instruments just keeps on getting better.
What has been your worst experience as an organist?
Any performance compromised by limitations of instrument.
What’s the best piece of advice you were given by an organ teacher?
From Nicholas Danby: On registration of early music on average British organs: always under-register.
From Gillian Weir: On performance fear: each performer brings his or her own recreation of a composition to life and each is potentially valid. So don’t fear negative comparisons! ….. or words to that effect.
What would be your own best piece of advice for student organists?
Learn to love your practice sessions, and even find beauty in technical exercises.
Catherine also founded the London Organ Concerts Guide – for anyone interested in the organ and its music in London and surrounding areas.
