Edinburgh Society of Organists

06/09/2026

The first event in our 2026-2027 season is the Young Organists' Recital at Reid Memorial Church on Saturday 12th September 2026, starting at 2.30pm. Please do attend if you can and support the next generation of talented organists!

19/05/2026

Just a last minute reminder that tonight we have the ESO AGM followed by a recital given by John Kitchen. Light refreshments will be provided : Tuesday 19th May 2026 at 7.00pm (access from 6.30pm) at Old St Paul's Church, Jeffrey Street, Edinburgh

15/04/2026

15/04/2026

Saturday 18 April at 2.30pm, Palmerston Place Church

Simon Leach, Organist of Canongate Kirk (and a one-time pupil of Naji Hakim) will present a lecture-recital on the organ music of Hakim, considering his composition, his improvisation and his teaching.

10/03/2026

We would like to make you aware of the following event.

RSCM Scottish Voices will sing a special Choral Evensong at St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral in Edinburgh at 4pm on Saturday 14 March.

Former members of the choir are returning for the day to sing and pay tribute to co-founder and director, Frikki Walker who is stepping down from the role after 18 years.

The service will feature Scottish Voices' second performance of "O Sing Joyfully", an anthem based on Psalm 81, written for and dedicated to the choir by Frikki Walker. The service also features Bairstow, Rose and Walmisley. The organist is Steven McIntyre who has recently taken up the position of Director of Music at Dunblane Cathedral. The voluntaries are by Pamela Decker and JS Bach.

https://www.facebook.com/events/1241023008137969

Choral Evensong at St Mary's
This Saturday at 4 PM

01/03/2026

This is a reminder of our next ESO event which will take place on Saturday 7th March 2026 at 2.30pm at St Joseph's RC Church, Kilmarnock where we will join members of the Glasgow Society of Organists . We will hear John Kitchen play the beautifully restored Harrison organ there and he will be joined by a small group of string players from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Please do attend if you can - if you require a lift please get in touch as there are a few people taking cars who can offer lifts.

07/02/2026

This year's ESO Annual Dinner takes place on the evening of Friday 20 February, starting at 6.30pm at St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, Palmerston Place with a recital by Jeremiah Stephenson, Assistant Director of Music, All Saints' Margaret Street, London, followed by dinner in the nearby Scottish Arts Club (Rutland Square). There are still a few places left so please do register if you would like to come. To register, please pay and then email the ESO Treasurer, Caroline Cradock. Do just get in touch if you need the bank details, email address, or require any other details.

20/01/2026

President's Meeting, 2.30 pm, 24th January, Reid Memorial Church, West Savile Terrace, Edinburgh.

ESO President Martyn Strachan explains what the event is about: The title is Music for Innocent Ears. In the late 1970s and early 1980s there was an occasional programme on BBC Radio 3 entitled The Innocent Ear. It was hosted by the late Robert Simpson, at the time a significant British composer and the premise was that Simpson would introduce a sequence of pieces which he regarded as worthwhile. They might be newly composed, but equally they could be repertoire which he considered unjustly neglected.

From today’s perspective it is interesting to recall that one of the composers that Simpson included was Carl Neilson, who at the time was regarded as decidedly obscure. The reason that the listeners were ‘innocent’ was because Simpson only disclosed the title and the identity of the composer after the performance. This allowed the audience to listen without any preconceptions. I have adapted this idea for my meeting and I intend to play a group of pieces, the titles and identities of the composers which will be disclosed at the end of the recital. Another way of thinking of it is a musical mystery tour. Please allow your curiosity to be piqued.

We hope to see many of you there.

05/12/2025

ESO PRESENTATION ON REHOMING ORGANS

The Edinburgh Society of Organists are holding a fully illustrated Zoom presentation on rehoming organs, given by John Brennan, and to which all SFO and CSO members are welcome to join. This is on Saturday, 6th December 2025 at 3pm and lasting approximately an hour.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://interaxsglobal.zoom.us/j/88131057786?pwd=AlQM0AAyYvmxta0IT3UsjTh6tafZHn.1

Meeting ID: 881 3105 7786
Passcode: 456983

Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise cloud communications.