Organ Scholar - Toby Best 

Toby, having played for evensong at St Thomas'






The Organ Scholarship is part of The St Thomas’ Organ Rebuild and Musical Outreach Project. During 2022, the organ was dismantled, mended, cleaned and completely rebuilt by early 2023. Now we have started the second phase of the project – Musical Outreach. An important element of this outreach is encouraging a new generation of young organists. As part of this aim, we are delighted to announce that we have appointed the first St Thomas’ Organ Scholar.  Following an open application process, Toby Best was selected as the first organ scholar and was formally appointed at the evensong service on 1st September 2024.
Toby has lived in Goring since he was born and became involved in St Thomas’ church through Goring Primary School. He stayed active in the church in the choir and Discoverers, while pursuing other music through Langtree School and music making in the village. He is currently at Cranford School sixth form and participates in the Starter Band and Roy Bailey Big Band in Goring. Toby first had the opportunity to have a go on the organ in 2019 and enjoyed the power of the instrument! He has taken part in a few courses run by St Thomas’ as a ‘try out’ of the organ and decided, when the opportunity for a scholarship came up, that he would like to continue learning more seriously. He enjoys playing at different churches as well - and finding how the different organ’s sound and work. Toby says, “I am looking forward to playing at St Thomas’ much more regularly with the scholarship and I am very grateful for the opportunity I have been given.”