Croydon Music Festival Organ Classes

2007 "Intermediate" class;
2006 and 2005 "Advanced" classes;
2004 "Advanced" class and "Intermediate" class;
2003 and 2002 "Intermediate" classes;
2000 "Recital" class - adjudicated by Simon Preston;
1999 "Advanced" class;
1997 "Intermediate" class (at which Barry Rose awarded First, Second and Third places to her pupils in a well-subscribed competition).

The 2008 Croydon Music Festival organ classes were held on Saturday, 26th of April.  Given that many of Julie Ainscough's pupils were taken up with examinations, her entry was modest in number.  Nonetheless, Mark Kahn won the "Advanced" class (and with it the Hall & Manton Trophy).

The 2007 Croydon Music Festival organ classes were held on Saturday, 28th of April, with only a few pupils being entered into the "Intermediate" and "Recital" classes because numerous others had pressing commitments elsewhere.  The Adjudicator was Alan Thurlow, Organist and Master of the Choristers at Chichester Cathedral.  The "Intermediate" class was won by William Round, whilst Second Place was taken by Mark Kahn (both of Hampton School). Christopher Murphy gained a Distinction in the "Recital" class.

The 2006 Croydon Music Festival organ classes were held on Saturday, 13th of May, with pupils being entered into the "Intermediate" and "Advanced" classes.  The Adjudicator was Malcolm Archer, Organist and Master of the Choristers at St. Paul's Cathedral, London.  The "Advanced" class was won by Christopher Murphy, a Chartered Engineer from Redhill in Surrey, while second place was awarded to Hans Krebs, a medical doctor and businessman from København (Copenhagen) in Denmark. Tim Lambourn and Lawrence Thain of Hampton School, both of whom attained excellent Distinctions in their recent Grade Eight organ examinations, were prevented from competing in 2006 by public examination commitments.

The 2005 Croydon Music Festival organ classes were held on Saturday, 23rd of April, with pupils entered into the "Intermediate" and "Advanced" classes.  The Adjudicator was Christopher Gower, formerly of Peterborough Cathedral. The "Advanced" class was won by Tim Lambourn of Hampton School, with second place being given to his fellow Hampton School pupil, Lawrence Thain - both having attained excellent Distinctions in their recent Grade Seven organ examinations.

The 2004 Croydon Music Festival organ classes were held on Saturday, the 08th of May, with pupils entered into all classes.  The Adjudicator was Christopher Robinson, formerly of St. John's College, Cambridge.  Leon de Wett, from South Africa and one of Julie Ainscough's private pupils, came within a hair's breadth of winning the "Recital" class with a programme concluded by a simply stunning performance of the Langlais "Incantation pour un jour saint".  The "Advanced" class was won by Lawrence Thain of Hampton School, fresh from having attained a superb Distinction in his Grade Six organ examination with a mark of 142.  The "Intermediate" class was won by Richard Jenkins of Emanuel School.

The 2003 Croydon Music Festival organ classes were held on Saturday, the 17th of May, again with pupils entered into all classes.  A candidate for the "Advanced" class had to be withdrawn because of pressure of work at - of all places - a manufacturer of electronic "computer organs"...!  The Adjudicator, Martin Baker - Master of the Music at Westminster Cathedral - awarded the closely-contested First Prize for the "Intermediate" class (Grades 4-6) to Julie Ainscough's youngest candidate, ten year-old private pupil Ryan Drucker from Kingswood in Surrey.  Ryan was invited, immediately after his win was announced, to participate in the Croydon Music Festival Prize-winners' concert, held at the Fairfield Hall, Croydon, on June 15th 2003.

"I just wanted to say how excellent I found Timothy Burke. I think he's a really splendid fellow and he's been exceedingly well-taught.  Many congratulations, Julie." (DAVID SANGER, Monday 31/05/1999).

"The (organ) scholars at the Chapel Royal, Hampton Court Palace, are usually gap year (or older) musicians, so (for Lawrence Thain) to be awarded the scholarship at 14 he must have a pretty good teacher."
(HAMPTON SCHOOL PARENT, Monday 15/08/2005).

"It is clear to me that he (Tim Lambourn) has been extremely well-taught".
(DANIEL HYDE, Jesus College Cambridge, Tuesday 16/10/2007).