The Edinburgh Society of Organists (ESO) was founded in 1913 by Dr William Baird Ross, whose original aim was to provide "social intercourse and friendly interchange of opinion".
Church (now Lyon and Turnbull's showroom), its principal raison d'être was to give Edinburgh's organists the chance to meet each other and to learn about each other's work and experiences.
Over the decades, the ESO has strived to encourage potential young organists, to negotiate with church authorities over salary scales at a national level, to provide an organ advisory service to help churches maintain their instruments in a cost-effective way, and to provide finance and other initiatives to assist with organists' training.
Since its formation, the ESO has held monthly meetings for its members that range from recitals, lectures, visits to organs and social events.
These are normally people who have a link to the Society and made a significant contribution to local, national or international church or organ music.