Organ scholar

An organ scholar is a young musician employed as a part-time assistant organist at a cathedral, church or institution where regular choral services are held.

The idea of an organ scholarship is to provide the holder with playing, directing and administrative experience.

It is an important part of music-making in Christian worship and is strongly associated with, but is not limited to, Anglican church music in the United Kingdom, Australia and the USA.

An early scholar there was the composer Charles Villiers Stanford, who took up his position there in 1870.

Two notable ex-organ scholars who went on to achieve fame in other fields are Edward Heath, who read Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at Balliol College, Oxford and later served as British Prime Minister 1970–1974; and Dudley Moore, who read music at Magdalen College, Oxford and went on to a career in acting.