24 Jun 2025
For more than 60 years, the St Albans International Organ Festival has been known in organ networks as “the friendly festival”.
Partly this is because the competitors bind together to form a mutually supportive community – celebrating each other’s successes, and commiserating others when they have not been selected by the expert judges.
Most of all, the “friendly” reputation comes from the army of supporters who make the festival happen, in many ways. Scores of locals support the festival financially, with donations towards its annual running costs. Many of them also donate their time. For some volunteers, it’s a commitment all year round; others are keen to make themselves available during the festival and competitions themselves.
Local legend Annie Brewster – ex-councillor, St Albans Mayor and High Sheriff of Herts – has been a supporter for over 10 years.
She said: “My first involvement with St Albans International Organ Festival was in 2013 when, as the Mayor , I held a Civic Reception for competitors and their generous host families in the old Town Hall before it became the Museum + Gallery.
“That year we welcomed 20 competitors from France, Germany, Hong Kong, Russia, Japan and South Korea and I rapidly realised the magnitude of festival’s reputation and how famous it had made St Albans all over the world.
“Once I had experienced the first of the performances in this 50th festival, I begged to go to them all as, day after day, we were being treated to sensational world class talent on our doorstep. Since then, I have had the great honour to be a Patron of the festival and am its biggest fan.
“Being such an important event in our city’s calendar it appeared on the St Albans Timeline on Victoria Road Bridge to celebrate the international tourist it continues to attract.
“David Titterington and his passionate team continue to create an incredible spectacle which we are all so grateful for. This year’s programme suggests this year might just top them all!”
Philip and Sue Vaughan actually met at the festival in 1997, and have been involved ever since: “That year we remember a performance of Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius by St Albans Bach Choir. We love the big choral concerts and one of the good things about the festival is that it includes a variety of concerts running in parallel with the competitions.
“This year the 21 competitors, aged from 19 to 32, are such a wide range of nationalities and judging from their emails, they seem a really nice bunch! Generally they get on very well together, socialising in their ‘common room’ (the pub! – this year the ‘Spoons) – perhaps due to the novelty of being with so many like-minded young organists.
“One of our tasks is to find accommodation for the competitors and their assistants in local households. The IOF hosts play a key part in the festival, not only offering B&B but also cheering them on through the rounds of the competitions. You might think that matching competitor to host would simply involve finding a common language but in the end, with a fair few competitors allergic/unhappy with animals, it comes down to arrival dates, cats and dogs!
“Sunkyung Noh, the winner of the 2023 competition stayed with us during the festival, with her boyfriend Grant Smith, who acted as her reggistrant. They got married last summer and Grant will be back this year competing in the Interpretation Competition. Sunny (as we call her) is in the UK now for recitals at King’s College Cambridge, Christchurch Oxford, Galway Cathedral and Dun Laoghaire. All part of her prize as gold medal winner in 2023.
“Each festival usually has an element of jazz, in past years occasionally featuring ‘Festival Favourites’ Cleo Laine and Jonny Dankworth. We’re looking forward to their daughter Jacqui’s concert with her jazz trio, including husband and fabulous pianist Charlie Wood. Anna Tilbrook, another piano accompanist in the top league is returning this year, on this occasion with Lucy Crowe singing Richard Strauss’s Four Last Songs – what a treat!”
Former SADC chief executive James Blake is also a passionate supporter: “I’ve been on the IOF Board since 2022. I joined because I think the IOF is St Albans’s hidden gem.
“I first came across it when I had just become CEO of the council in 2013. Artistic director David Titterington was looking for more pro-active council support and engagement.
“I was surprised and somewhat embarrassed that despite having lived in the district since 1999 and loving music and the arts I really hadn’t known much about the festival or really got involved. I think that was partly to do with the challenge for small music charities of getting airtime; but also perhaps because I had assumed that the festival was simply about the organ – a little bit too niche for me.
“It was soon clear talking to David that the IOF was much more! At its heart was of course a unique organ competition – but one that was the envy of the music world across the globe. And one that involved a range of young people from all over the world, uniquely staying with local St Albans residents.
“But the festival also includes a schedule of classical and jazz music of national and international quality that would be the envy of many much bigger cities. At a time when in the council we had a strong aspiration to put St Albans on the map as a leading visitor destination this offered huge untapped potential. And I also hadn’t realised that the IOF also put on a range of free concerts every year to ensure quality music is available and accessible to everyone.
“After moving on from my role in the council in 2017 (to my current job as CEO of the YHA) I’ve continued to take a close interest in St Albans life and keen to support wherever I could, so when David asked if I would consider joining the Board I was more than happy to accept, supporting the IOF team make deeper connections in and around the local community and reaching out to new partners in St Albans and across Hertfordshire.
“I’ve really enjoyed my time as a volunteer trustee. Times for arts organisations have never been harder, so a good deal of our time is spent discussing creative ways to increase income and cut costs to make the numbers add up. And being involved in a small local charity really keeps you grounded, seeing the challenges faced every day to keep the show on the road.
“That sometimes means rolling up your sleeves and mucking in: at the last festival I was variously found selling tickets in the market, encouraging punters in the Cathedral to buy our souvenir programme, sorting out transport for competitors, or locking up St Peter’s Church at midnight after rehearsals.
“And now my wife and I have become regular hosts for the young competitors which really helps us get into the competition with a healthy rivalry with our fellow hosts.
““How many other people can say they’ve had an internationally acclaimed musician playing the piano in their front room?
“The festival will only continue if it has strong local support. I know St Albans is a music loving community. And the best way to support in a festival year is simply to buy tickets to the events. This year we have a brilliant programme: including a gala performance of Beethoven’s 9th, and a wonderful opportunity to hear legendary jazz musician Jacqui Dankworth in concert. We are also really lucky to have a recital by the talented young pianist Alim Baisembayev, who famously had to step in at a day’s notice to play in the Proms!”
“So I’d say to all readers – have a look at the wide variety of amazing music on offer, come along and give it a try!”
