EVAN LAWRENCE

The Oratory’s organ scholarship was endowed in 2011 by Mr Ian Pettman in lasting and loving memory of his late wife June. Ian and June were both great supporters of the Oratory’s liturgical and musical traditions. June died in 2006 and Ian in 2016.  The scholarship allows a student to gain experience of traditional Roman Catholic liturgical music performed to the highest standards, both through practical involvement and observation. The scholar is principal accompanist for the Oratory Junior Choir and also assists and participates in the Latin liturgies. A distinctive aspect of the Pettman scholarship is that it also supports other aspects of the scholar’s training, including organ tuition and travel to study historic organs abroad. Previous scholars now hold significant cathedral and collegiate posts.

Evan Lawrence became our ninth Pettman organ scholar in September 2024. Growing up in Dublin, Evan studied violin and piano as a scholar of the Royal Irish Academy of Music and sang with RTÉ Cór na nÓg.  He became an organ student of Dr Carole O’Connor and at 15, he was appointed Junior Organ Scholar of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin. In 2021 he received the Sr Catherine McCauley Cup for the most promising organist in the Feis Ceoil national competition, giving a prize recital for Dublin’s Pipeworks Organ Festival.

Evan is currently in the final year of his degree in violin performance at the Guildhall School of Music and is a private organ student of Daniel Moult.  He held the Champniss Organ Scholarship at the Grosvenor Chapel 2023-4, and before that was organ scholar of St Mary’s Church, Battersea 2021-3, while studying with Anne Marsden Thomas. He has taken part in masterclasses with distinguished organists including Katelyn Emerson, Henry Fairs and Eric Lebrun.  Evan was recently invited to give a recital in Westminster Abbey and in January 2024 gained his Fellowship of the Royal College of Organists, winning the Limpus and Dixon prizes for top marks in performance and improvisation.

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