Pulling out the stops for St Albans International Organ Festival

Published: 9:51 AM April 2, 2010

Updated: 2:42 PM November 1, 2020

YOUNG organists from around the world are once more being invited to St Albans to compete for a total prize fund of more than �17,000 in next year s International Organ Festival. Artistic director Professor David Titterington revealed at the official lau

YOUNG organists from around the world are once more being invited to St Albans to compete for a total prize fund of more than �17,000 in next year's International Organ Festival.

Artistic director Professor David Titterington revealed at the official launch of the competitions last Tuesday that a new work by renowned British composer John McCabe had already been commissioned as one of the test pieces for the Interpretation Competition.

The competitions were formally launched by BBC presenter Graeme Kay at an event attended by the Mayor of St Albans, Cllr Chris Oxley and the Lord Lieutenant of Hertfordshire, The Countess of Verulam, who is a patron of the festival

The festival will take place in St Albans between July 7 and 15 next year (2011) and Prof Titterington said competitors were already asking for information.

He said: "The reputation of the competition continues to grow globally and we began to get enquiries from potential competitors almost as soon as last year's festival ended."

For next year's competition the international jury is being increased from five to seven members. They will be Bine Katrine Bryndorf, president of the jury at the international competition in St Albans' Danish twin town of Odense, Helmut Deutsch, professor of organ at the University of Freiburg, Germany, Martin Jean, director of the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, Tong-Soon Kwak from South Korea, Richard Morrison, chief music critic of The Times, leading French organist Daniel Roth and award-winning British organist Simon Preston.