Why this popular British organist plays in the key of joy

Anna Lapwood’s rehearsals start at midnight. 

Several times a month, the 20-something millennial locks herself inside London’s Royal Albert Hall after audiences have gone home. Then she practices playing the venue’s mammoth pipe organ until dawn. It’s her opportunity to play loudly without disturbing anyone. 

Occasionally, a cleaner whistles along to her melodies. But at 1 a.m. on May 21, someone yelled out a request, Toccata and Fugue in D minor. She obliged by performing Bach. The heckler was a band member for the electronic musician known as Bonobo, who’d played the hall earlier that evening. One thing led to another and, the following night, Bonobo’s next concert at the