International Organ Improvisation Competition 16 - 20 July 2012
General information
last update: 1 October 2011
In 1951, Louis Toebosch won the first International Organ Improvisation Competition. He was to be followed by Anton Heiller in 1952, Piet Kee (1953, 1954, 1955) and many other organists who later became internationally known names. Winning 'Haarlem' was, and is, the first step to an international career. Even just taking part in the competition has helped launch many a career, as the names of the numerous famous organists among the previous participants testify.
The 49th international improvisation competition will be held from 16-20 July 2012. It will take place on the
Müller organ ((1738 / IIIP / 62) of the St Bavokerk and the
Cavaillé-Coll organ (1875 / IIIP / 47) in the Philharmonie concert hall. There will be three rounds:
Monday 16 July, St Bavokerk, all contestants
Wednesday 18 July, Philharmonie concert hall, all contestants
Friday 20 July, St Bavokerk, final round
The International Haarlem Organ Festival will officially commence on Saturday 14 July 2012. The jury concert will take place on Thursday afternoon 19 July.
The winner of the competition will receive a prize of 5,000 euro. The other finalists will each receive a gross fee of 750 euro. An Audience Prize will also be awarded.
Jury:
The jury will consist of Klaas de Vries and Joost Langeveld (Netherlands), Lionel Rogg (CH), Naji Hakim (France) and Wolfgang Seifen (Germany).
Application procedure:
Candidates are invited to submit a recording of an improvisation on themes to be made available on this site on 1 December 2011.
Recordings and applications must be received by 1 February 2012. Seven contestants will be selected by a committee of prominent Dutch organist-improvisers and candidates will be informed by 15 March 2012. The eighth competitor will be the winner of the Dutch National Improvisation Competition 2011.
Improvisation themes:
The themes for the pre-selection can be found here.
