In the soaring expanse of the Royal Albert Hall, Anna Lapwood didn’t simply sit at the organ — she became the vessel of another world. Fingers poised above 9,999 pipes, she breathed life into Hans Zimmer’s Interstellar, each note weaving through the gilded arches like stardust. This wasn’t just a performance — it was a voyage through time and space, a private cosmos unfolding for every ear in the audience. Even the brass, fierce and gleaming, bent to her touch, carrying emotion where words could not reach. Sometimes, the grandest stages reveal the quietest magic… and the deepest journeys are told through a single, bewitching voice

Anna Lapwood at the organ loft

Lapwood, recently appointed as the first official organist of the Royal Albert Hall and former Director of Music at Pembroke College, Cambridge, shared the stage with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Anthony Gabriele. The performance began with a delicate keyboard intro, followed by the orchestra joining in. After a brief pause, Lapwood’s organ entry added a mesmerizing layer, bringing two excerpts from the score to life. Highlights included dazzling brass sections and a climactic finale that concluded abruptly, leaving the audience in awe.

Zimmer composed the Interstellar score after reading just a single page of Christopher Nolan’s script, which only included a brief interaction between a father and child. He initially recorded the soundtrack at London’s Temple Church on the 1926 Harrison & Harrison organ, alongside the church’s organist Roger Sayer. Intentionally, Zimmer delayed the album release until two weeks after the film’s premiere, wanting audiences to experience the music in cinemas first: “I wanted people to have the visceral experience of being pinned in their seats, not listening on tiny speakers,” he explained.

Myleene Klass with Anna Lapwood at the organ

The score earned an Academy Award nomination and recognition at the Hollywood Music in Media Awards for Original Score.

Earlier this year, Lapwood made history as the Royal Albert Hall’s first official organist. Her role includes headlining concerts, collaborating with visiting artists, hosting open sessions to broaden organ education, and appointing the Hall’s inaugural Organ Scholar. Harper’s Bazaar dubbed her “classical music’s Taylor Swift,” and she was featured on the Sunday Times’ Young Power List of the UK’s most influential under-30s.

This Classic FM Live at the Movies event marked the first of its kind, following the launch of Classic FM Movies, a sister station dedicated to playing the world’s most celebrated film music.

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