06.07.2019

The VII International Organ Festival will take place at the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre from 11 to 19 October

From 11 to 19 October the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre will be hosting the International Organ Festival for the seventh time. Participants this year include musicians from Russia, France, Austria and Italy, many of whom are making their first appearances at the Mariinsky Theatre. There will be solo and duet performances on the organ, as well as together with piano and orchestra, while the concert programmes include transcriptions, improvisations and classical organ repertoire.

On 11 October (19.00) the VII International Organ Festival opens with a performance by acclaimed French organist, teacher and composer Thierry Escaich together with the Mariinsky Orchestra.

New names at the festival include Johannes Zeinler – recipient of the Grand Prix at one of the world's oldest and most prestigious organ competitions, the Grand Prix de Chartres (France, 2018), which opens the path to the world stage for many musicians. On 16 October (19.00) the organist will perform works by Johann Sebastian Bach, César Franck, Robert Schumann, August Gottfried Ritter and Franz Schmidt. Prize-winners and finalists of the Grand Prix de Chartres, where contestants compete once every two years as performers and improvisers, have become regular guests at the Mariinsky Theatre. Since 2016, on the initiative of Valery Gergiev, the most promising prize-winners have been granted a special award – the opportunity to perform at the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre.

Also making his debut at the festival will be the Italian musician Davide Mariano – artist in residence at the Cathedral-Basilica of St. Louis in New Orleans and an acclaimed performer of a vast repertoire ranging from medieval works to contemporary opuses. At the festival, his programme will also include works by diverse composers – from Johann Sebastian Bach to Sergei Prokofiev (12 October, 19.00).

The Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre will be hosting its first performance by French organist Jean-Baptiste Monnot – a pupil of the acclaimed organ maestri Olivier Latry, Michel Bouvard and Jean Guillou, principal organist of the Abbaye Saint-Ouen de Rouen. His concert is to be dedicated to French composer organists, and he will be performing a work by Jean Guillou, one of his mentors. Regular festival participants include the St Petersburg organists Daniil Protsyuk, who together with pianist Zarina Shimanskaya will perform music by French composers for organ and piano (14 October, 19.00), and Marina Väisä, who at the festival will present a programme for a younger audience (19 October, 12.00).

The festival will conclude with an unusual organ duo from France – the titular organist of the Saint Nicholas Cathedral Monaco, Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Olivier Vernet and doctor of medicine Cédric Meckler (19 October, 19.00). For their visit to Russia, the musicians have selected a programme of works by Johann Sebastian Bach and Jean-Philippe Rameau, many of which will be performed in original transcriptions by Olivier Vernet and Cédric Meckler.

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