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21.05.2019 Results for the European round of the 11th Mikael Tariverdiev International Organ Competition
On 17th May in Hamburg, results were announced for the first round of the 11th Mikael Tariverdiev International Organ Competition. This year, the competition auditions and the closing concert have been part of the international Russian Seasons in Germany project. The 11th Mikael Tariverdiev International Organ Competition is also part of the Year of the Organ 2019, held in Hamburg to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the famous master organ builder Arp Schnitger.
The auditions for the competition’s European leg were held at St Michael’s Church on 15th, 16th, and 17th May. The panel consisted of renowned musicians including Wolfgang Zerer, Thomas Dahl, Christoph Schoener (Germany), Daniel Zaretsky (Russia), and Ben van Oosten (the Netherlands).
20 organists from Russia, Germany, Austria, Italy, the USA, Japan, South Korea, China, and Uzbekistan took part in the competition’s first round in Hamburg.
Following the three daytime auditions, on the evening of 17th May, the head of the European panel, Wolfgang Zerer, organ professor at the Schola Cantorum in Basel; announced the results. 11 organists advanced to the second round:
Jinjoo Song (Korea)
Hee Yeon Kang (Korea)
Julian Handlos (Germany)
Martin Rabensteiner (Italy)
Christian Gross (Germany)
Vladimir Korolevskij (Russia)
Wenying Wu (China)
Mahela Reichstatt (Germany)
Sunkyung Noh (Korea)
Victoria Shorokhova (Russia)
Liliia Pechenkina (Russia)
Wolfgang Zerer noted the high level of all first-round participants in Hamburg, adding that it made the choice very difficult for the panel.
As is custom, the announcement of the qualifying round results was followed by a closing concert, titled 300 Years of Organ Music on Three Organs, with participation from prior competition winners Jean-Baptiste Dupont, Baptiste-Florian Marle-Ouvrard (France), and Lada Labzina (Russia). The playbill included works by Russian, German, and French composers of the 18th, 19th, 20th, and 21st century. The concert concluded with a joint fantasia improvisation by the three organists on three organs.
For many years, the competition has been held with support from the Hamburg Senate. At the Hamburg City Hall, the Mayor of Kaliningrad, Anton Silanov, and the First Mayor of Hamburg, Peter Tschentscher, signed a Memorandum on Cooperation between Kaliningrad and Hamburg.
All participants who advance to the second round will continue the competition in Kaliningrad, and it is to one of them that the competition’s grand prize, its mascot amber angel, will go. Auditions for the second round will be held from 3rd–9th September at the Cathedral on Kant Island. The Cathedral will also host the competition’s grand closing, the awards ceremony, and the winners’ concert. Representatives of leading Russian and international concert venues will be presenting the awards to the winners.
