is the official website of the Stichting Internationaal Schnitger Orgelconcours.
The aim of the stichting (foundation) is to increase public awareness of the wealth of historic organs in Alkmaar through the organisation of musical events. The most important of these is ‘Orgelfestival Holland’, which takes place in Alkmaar every 2 years.
The Stichting Vrienden van het Orgel (Friends of the Organ) organises yearly some special events for the organs in the region and also this year for the second time a composition competition ; the submitted works intended for performance on the Van Covelens organ during the "Orgelfestival Holland 2011" >>>
On the 16th of april 2010 ECHO has published a volume of 11 new organ compositions. This will be available from the publishing house Doblinger. Each member-city of ECHO has contributed a work, each of which was composed for one of the historic organs in that city.
For more information about ECHO, please see here: >>>
A year until Orgelfestival Holland 2011, the countdown has begun...
The festival will take place between the 17th and the 26th of June, 2011.
Orgelfestival Holland 2011 will celebrate the 500th birthday of the Van Covelens organ, built in 1511 and today the oldest playable organ in the Netherlands.
The festival will host the Ninth International Schnitger Organ Competition, which, in 2011, will take the form of the first ‘Grand Prix d’ECHO’. The first prize winner will be crowned ‘ECHO Young Organist of the Year’, and will be invited to perform at the various organ festivals hosted by the ECHO member cities.
The following organists have already qualified to take part in the ‘Grand Prix d’ECHO’:
The 3 finalists from the Alkmaar competition held in 2009: Bart Jacobs, Michael Unger and David Boos
The 5 finalists from the Freiberg competition held in 2009: Gilles Leyers, David Schlaffke, Gijs Boelen, Charlotte Marck and Magdalena Hasibeder.
The 4 finalists of the Innsbruck competition will be determined on the 9th of September, 2010.
In addition to the competition, the International Organ Academy will also take place for the eleventh time. An un-missable opportunity for organists to gain unique hands-on experience studying on some of Europe’s most important historic organs, the academy, which is open to professional and amateur organists, as well as students, will focus on repertoire suitable for the instruments under the leadership of international specialists. The masterclasses and workshops will take place in the Grote Sint Laurenskerk, utilising both of the world-famous organs; the Van Covelens organ dating 1511 and the Van Hagerbeer/Schnitger organ dating from 1646/1725. The academy will also visit the beautiful Müller organs of the Lutheran Church (1755) and the Kapelkerk (1755), both in Alkmaar, as well as the Grote Kerk in Beverwijk (1756). Further organs to be visited will include those at Oosthuizen (ca 1521), the Zuiderkerk in Enkhuizen (pipework dating from the 16th century until 1799) and the Lutheran Church in Hoorn (1773).
Read more >>>>>
The Stichting Internationaal Schnitger Orgelconcours is indeed intended to promote the “conservation of the Dutch cultural legacy”, and the historical organs of the Grote Sint Laurenskerk would indeed provide appropriate subject matter for the degree course "Dutch Cultural History, with special focus on historic objects" established in 1991 by the University in Amsterdam, and based on the aims of the Royal Dutch Archeological Society.
However the Schnitger foundation is extremely conscious that the aforementioned organs are not only ‘objects’ of cultural interest, but working musical instrument and, for that matter, historical ones. When an organ stop is engaged and a key pressed, one hears a sound heard by many in the preceding centuries. The 1511 Van Covelens organ takes us, like an acoustical time machine, back to the year 1511, while the Van Hagerbeer/Schnitger organ brings us directly into contact with sounds from the 17th century. The rich palette of sounds and the fabulous organ cases were heard and seen by many generations before our own.
That said, ‘Schnitger’ goes much further than simply promoting the conservation of antique sound monuments. The foundation realises that these instruments have an essential role to play in the musical life of the 21st century. They are not only vehicles for the facilitation of informed performances of historic repertoire, but also for the performance of music of our own time, in the form of new compositions and contemporary improvisation.
The organs of Alkmaar’s Grote Sint Laurenskerk provide a compelling synthesis of antique cultural treasures on the one hand, and the musical reality of today on the other.
