Pipeworks Competition
Jury
Thomas Trotter (UK), chair Thomas Trotter (jury chairperson) is one of Britain's most widely admired musicians. The excellence of his musicianship is reflected internationally in his musical partnerships.He performs as soloist with, amongst many others, the conductors Sir Simon Rattle, Bernard Haitink, Riccardo Chailly and Sir Charles Mackerras. He has performed recitals in Berlin's "Philharmonie", the "Gewandhaus" in Leipzig, both the "Musikverein" and the "Konzerthaus" in Vienna and London's Royal Festival Hall. |
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He has inaugurated new or restored organs in places such as Cleveland's Severance Hall (Ohio), Princeton University Chapel (New Jersey), the "Concertgebouw" in Amsterdam, St David's Hall in Cardiff, and most recently, the Royal Albert Hall in London.
He appears at the festivals of Salzburg, Berlin, Vienna, Edinburgh and London's BBC Proms and performs with leading orchestras such as the Vienna Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic and London Philharmonic orchestras, and in the USA he has appeared with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra.
Thomas Trotter's career is firmly founded on his relationship with the City of Birmingham in England where he was appointed City Organist in 1983 in succession to Sir George Thalben-Ball. In addition to his weekly recitals at Birmingham's Symphony Hall and Town Hall, Mr Trotter is also organist at St Margareth's Church, Westminster Abbey in London and Visiting Professor of Organ at the Royal College of Music, London. A former organ scholar at King's College, Cambridge, he won First Prize at the St Albans International Organ Competition in 1979 making his debut at London's Royal Festival Hall the following year.
In May 2002 he was the recipient of the Royal Philharmonic Society award for Best Instrumentalist of the Year, the first organist to win this award. Past winners include Andras Schiff, Itzak Perlman and Julian Bream. He received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Central England in 2003 and from Birmingham University in 2006. Mr Trotter regularly performs throughout the USA and Europe.
He is an active recording artist and of his several recordings, releases of Messiaen and Mozart have been named 'Critics Choice' by The Gramophone magazine, and he received a Grand Prix du Disque for his recording of music by Liszt in 1995. Engagements this season include performances at London's Royal Albert Hall and St Paul's Cathedral (as part of the South Bank Messiaen series), a concert at the Lahti Organ Festival with the King's Singers, and tours to Germany, Hungary, Netherlands and Russia.
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Besides the many recitals he regularly gives in Europe, he has toured the USA, Canada and Australia. In 2006 he toured Korea and Japan for the first time. Although he as concentrated on early music and music from the romantic period, his repertoire spans the music of all eras. Something of a specialty has been the presentation of a series of concerts that feature the complete organ works of a single composer. Such series have included the complete works of J.S. Bach (three times—the latest took place during 2007), D. Buxtehude, C. Franck, J. Alain, J. Brahms, M. Duruflé and the complete symphonies of L. Vierne.
Hans Fagius has made numerous recordings on the Swedish label BIS. These include a recording of the complete organ works of J.S.Bach on seventeen CDs, the same composer's Die Kunst der Fuge, a disc with music by Mozart, symphonies by Widor, a great part of the organ works by Saint-Saens, two discs with important works by Karg-Elert, the complete organ works of Duruflé (Critics Choice in Gramophone 2003) and recordings with four hand organ repertoire as well as music for organ and piano. His recording of Liszt's three great organ works won the Grand Prix du Disque Liszt in Budapest 1981. Recent releases include a recording with music by the Danish high romantic composers J.P.E. Hartmann and N.W. Gade (Dacapo) and a CD on the newly restored organ in Leufsta Bruk, Sweden (Musica Redeviva). He is currently working on a book for the Scandinavian market about the organ work of J.S. Bach.
Hans Fagius was appointed organ professor at Royal Danish Academy of Music in 1989 after several years as organ teacher at the colleges of music in Stockholm and Gothenburg. He is a sought after teacher for masterclasses (in the summer 2002 at the famous organ academy in Haarlem), and is frequently a jury member at international organ competitions (St Albans, Odense, Calgary, Dallas, Lahti, Erfurt, Leipzig etc.). He was elected a member of The Royal Swedish Music Academy in 1998.
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David Higgs (USA) David Higgs is one of America's leading concert organists and is the chair of the organ department at the Eastman School of Music. He has inaugurated many important new instruments including St Stephan's Cathedral, Vienna; the Meyerson Symphony Center, Dallas; and the Church of St Ignatius Loyola in New York City. His performances with ensembles have included the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Chanticleer, the Orpheus Ensemble, and the Empire Brass. |
For twelve consecutive years he played annual Christmas recitals with the San Francisco Symphony to capacity audiences at Davies Symphony Hall.
Mr Higgs appears frequently at major national and international organ festivals and conventions. Recent engagements have included the international organ festivals of Calgary, Naples, Redlands, San Anselmo; and the summer organ academies of the Interlochen School for the Arts and Mt Royal College-Conservatory in Calgary. His performances for professional colleagues include three national and eight regional conventions of the American Guild of Organists, as well as national conventions of the American Pipe Organ Builders Association and the Organ Historical Society. In England he has appeared several times at the Oundle International Festival, the St Albans International Festival and the Cambridge Summer Festival.
His teachers have included Claire Coci, Peter Hurford, Russell Saunders, and Frederick Swann. In New York City, he was Director of Music and Organist at Park Avenue Christian Church, and later Associate Organist of the Riverside Church, where he also conducted the Riverside Choral Society. After moving to San Francisco in 1986, he became Director of Music and Organist at St Mark's Episcopal Church in Berkeley, and Organist/Choir Director at Temple Emanu-El in San Francisco.
Mr Higgs gives frequent lectures and masterclasses at conferences, workshops, and festivals on both sides of the Atlantic, and for colleges, universities, and chapters of the American Guild of Organists. He was appointed to the faculty of the Eastman School of Music in 1992, and since that time his students have won major competitions and hold many of the top positions in the United States.
Recent and upcoming concerts include solo recitals at Grace Cathedral (San Francisco), Washington National Cathedral, Vilnius University in Lithuania, Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, and a regional convention of the American Guild of Organists in Colorado Springs. Mr Higgs has recorded for Delos International, Pro Organo, and Gothic records.
Maragreta Hürholz (Germany) Margareta Hürholz was born in 1954 and was appointed professor of organ at the Cologne Musikhochschule in 1997 where she had been a student from 1970 to 1978. Further studies followed with Marie-Claire Alain in Paris preceding the commencement of a demanding international playing and adjudicating career. Possessing a wide and eclectic repertoire MH has formed a musical partnership with trumpeter Marcus Stockhausen, specialising in avant garde music. |
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Since 2003 she has initiated an annual series of new music repertoire concerts centred on the Ahrend organ of the Ursuline Church in Cologne where she is organist.
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Daniel Roth (France) Daniel Roth, widely acclaimed as one of the leading French organ virtuosos, has held several prestigious positions as both performer and teacher. At the age of twenty he made his debut at the organ of the Basilique du Sacré-Coeur in Montmartre-Paris, as assistant of his teacher, Madame Rolande Falcinelli. He later succeeded her as titular organist, a post which he held until 1985 when he was appointed titular organist at St-Sulpice, the famous Paris church where is predecessors were Charles-Marie Widor, Marcel Dupré and Jean-Jacques Grunenwald. |
A former student at the Paris Conservatory, Daniel Roth's teachers have included Marie-Claire Alain and Maurice Durufé. He has won several competitions, among them the Grand Prix de Chartres 1971, interpretation and improvisation.
After teaching positions at the Conservatories of Marseille, Strasbourg and the Saarbrücken Musikhochschule, he is currently Professor of organ at the Musikhochschule in Frankfurt am Main. He has been also Artist-in residence at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and chairman of the organ department at Catholic University in Washington D.C. He is frequently invited to play concerts as a soloist and with some of the world's finest orchestras. Furthermore he teaches masterclasses and participates on juries for organ competitions throughout the world. On 11 November 2005 he gave the recital dedicating the new Karl Schuke (Berlin) organ of the Grand Duchesse Joséphine-Charlotte Concert Hall in Luxembourg for which he acted as artistic advisor.
A composer as well as performer, Daniel Roth has several works for organ, for flute and organ, and choir and organ. The City of Ludwigshafen (Germany) commissionned his orchestral work Licht im Dunkel first performed in May 2005 in Ludwigshafen and in April 2006 in Paris, St Etienne du Mont conducted by his son François-Xavier Roth. For his compositions he received the Florent Schmitt prize awarded by the Académie des Beaux-Arts (Institut de France).
Daniel Roth is also well known for his brilliant improvisations which are regularly included in his concerts programs. He has many recordings to his credit covering pieces of the twentieth century to the present time. He is Chavalier de la Légion d'Honneur, Officier des Arts et Lettres, Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Organists (London). In 2006 he received the European Prize of European sacred music from the Schwäbisch Gmünd Festival (Germany).
More information on the Dublin International Organ Competition 2008 can be found on the following pages:
| Competition 2008 homepage |
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| Jury |
Competitors and repertoire |
| Competition Schedule |
Information for competitors |
| Competition Application |
Previous prize winners |