In the first week of June I had the great pleasure to visit this year’s international symposium at the Orgelpark in Amsterdam: „Interfaces“ was the overall motto of this event and it was an immensely enriching experience.
On the one hand, I’m a bit sad that I had to miss the third day because I had to travel back for my Sunday work as an organist, but on the other hand, the two days were so intense that my brain is still busy processing all the information and ideas from the talks and the musical contributions.
There is a lot going on in contemporary organ music and several composers presented their work on the first and second day of the symposium.
We heard „Three pieces for the end of the world“ by Jasmine Karimova, a composer based in Amsterdam, performed by herself.
Franz Danksagmüller performed „Misfold“ by Carla Scaletti.
Sarah Proske performed her piece „Auf Erden“ for organ and electronics, and Anne Michael performed her piece „Pust“ for organ and live electronics (and voice).
We also heard music by Katta, George Rahi, Dante Boon, Bernardo Mario Kuczer, Maximilian Schnaus, Dominik Susteck, Franz Danksagmüller and the ensemble TCP/IP.
The Utopa organ played a major role during the symposium, but other organs were heard, too, and when you’re in Amsterdam, check out the varied and comprehensive concert programme at the Orgelpark. It’s definitely worth a visit!