News
04.04.2007 On May,4, 2007 at 20.00 at the St. Iohannes Church Altona (Hamburg)
On May,4, 2007 at 20.00 at the St. Iohannes Church Altona (Hamburg) should be held the "Organ Hit-Parade" and the Reception of the Kaliningrad Major Yury Savenko on behalf of the announcement of the First Round’s results of the Fifth Mikael Tariverdiev International organ competition – the image project of the Kaliningrad Region.
For the second time the Fifth Mikael Tariverdiev International organ competition starts in Hamburg. For this short time the competition became not only a unique international project but a bright event in the cultural life of Hamburg. During few days the residents of Hamburg will be able to appraise the performing art of young organists from ten countries (Germany, Greece, Italy, France, Russia, Latvia, South Korea, Sweeden, Poland, Nigeria, Ukraine) and also the recognized masters of the organ art whose Organ hou-parade programme is far from traditional genre of church music.
"Organ Hit-Parade" is contemplated as a fashionable event, dedicated to the traditional contacts of two cities – Hamburg and Kaliningrad. Days of Hamburg’s Port – is an occasion for organizing the meetings of the authorities, business partners for further consolidation. The program of the performers - winners of the International Mikael Tariverdiev organ competition J.P.Stivers (the Netherlands), E.Melnikova (Russia), I.Matyas (Hungary) will be dedicated to the Sea theme. The program will contain the popular compositions and transcriptions for organ, specially created for this concert and will include the overture for the Wagner’s opera "The Flying Dutchman", "The Sea" from the Suite "Sheherazade" by Rimsky-Korsakov, paraphrase of the themes of popular films and many others.
Jean-Pierre Steijvers
specialized in organ, piano and church music at the Maastricht School of Music and the Sweelinck School of Music in Amsterdam. His organ teachers were Jean Wolfs, Kamiel D'Hooghe and Jacques van Ootmerssen. He took a Bachelor's and a Master's degree for both instruments. In addition he obtained the Practical Certificate for Catholic Church Music.
During and after his studies he attended various master-classes and interpretation courses with illustrious organists both at home and abroad. Jean-Pierre Steijvers gives many concerts at home and abroad, always with favourable reviews. In addition, he accompanies various ensembles, choirs and soloists, with whom he regularly makes radio and CD recordings and gives concerts. He also appears as organist with the Limburgs Symfonie Orkest.
On 20 May 2004 he was appointed Titular Organist of St. Christopher's Cathedral at Roermond by Bishop F. Wiertz.
He teaches organ, piano and musical theory at the Centre for the Arts at Roermond and works as church musician for various parishes, e.g. the main city church of St. Martin's at Weert. Furthermore, he is on the committee of the Royal Dutch Society of Organists KNOV, the Catholic Society of Conductors and Organists KDOV and the diocesan St. Gregory Society (NSGV) of the Diocese of Roermond.
A CD with organ works of the Russian composer Mikael Tariverdiev was recorded in St. Bavo's Cathedral Basilica at Haarlem in November 2000. A CD with classical French organ works, recorded in Our Lady's Basilica at Maastricht together with the Schola Maastricht will appear in 2004. Jean-Pierre Steijvers has taken part in several international organ festivals and competitions, not only in the Netherlands at Nijmegen 1994, Haarlem 1995, Maastricht 1996 and Alkmaar 1997, but also in Finland at Lahti 1993 and Denmark at Odense 1994.
He won prizes at various organ competitions:
- In 1992 The 7th Dublin International Organ Festival in Dublin, Ireland: third prize.
- In 1994 The 8th Dublin International Organ Festival in Dublin, Ireland: second prize.
- In 1995 2. Internationaler Orgelwettbewerb J.S. Bach at Lucerne, Switzerland: first prize.
- In 1998 Le XVIe Concours International d'Orgue - Grand Prix de Chartres Interprétation at Chartres, France : laureate.
- In 1999 Mikael Tariverdiev First International Organ Competition at Kaliningrad, Russia : first prize and also winner of the "Moscow Philharmonic Society Special Prize".
Many tours through virtually the whole of Russia followed. Steijvers gave several master-classes, was a member of the jury of organ competitions and gave concerts with orchestras from Moscow, Samara and Kazan, the Tatarstan State Symphonic Orchester, Noscow Youth Orchester Orchestra and the Samara State Academic Symphony Orchestra among them.
In May 2003 in co-operation with the Rotary clubs from the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, Steijvers organized a master-class for especially gifted organists from Moscow in Amsterdam and elsewhere.
On 1 October 2003 he was decorated at Kaliningrad for the promotion in Europe of the organ music of the Russian composer Mikael Tariverdiev and the prestigious international organ competition named after him.
Ekaterina Melnikova
was born of a leading Moscow music family. Her early talent was nurtured by the best of the Russian musical tradition. Her performance career includes important venues in Russia, the Near East and Europe.
Ekaterina Melnikova is an Organ Soloist of the Moscow Philharmonic Society, Head organist of Moscow RC Cathedral and teaches organ improvisation at the Russian Academy of Music.
EDUCATION:
Moscow State Conservatoire (Degree Courses in Musicology and teaching, Organ Concert Performance and Chamber Music), Royal Academy of Music, London (Advanced Post Graduate Organ Performance under Nicholas Danby, David Titterington, Naji Hakim and Gillian Weir).
COMPETITIONS AND AWARDS:
1981 Prague (Concertino-Praga International Competition of Chamber Music,Piano, First Prize)
1998 London (Royal Academy of Music,Lady Budge Prize in Organ Improvisation, Organ Accompaniment, First prize).
1999 Russia
The First International Mikael Tariverdiev Organ Competition (Laureate and Special Prize Winner)
RECORDINGS
Published by Bel Air Music and Recorded in Monaco Cathedral
Handel, Organ Concertos, with the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Dmitry Yablonsky.
Tchaikovsky, Children’s Album and Saint-Saens, Carnival of the Animals, both transcribed for the organ by E. Melnikova.
Published by BombaMusic and recorded in St Bavo Cathedral, Haarlem, Holland.
Tariverdiev, Organ Symphony Chernobyl and his other works.
PUBLICATIONS
Published by Wayne Leupold Editions, North Carolina, USA
Saint-Saens, Carnival of the Animals, transcription for the organ by E. Melnikova.
FILMS
1995 The music of Cesar Franc
2004 Film "Quo Vadis?" based on Mikael Tariverdiev’s Organ Symphony
MAJOR PERFORMANCE VENUES
Moscow State Conservatoire, Small and Large Halls
Westminster Abbey, London
St. Petersburg Philharmonic Hall
La Trinite, Paris
St. Pauls Cathedral, London
Tchaikovsky Hall, Moscow
St. Eustache, Paris
Leeds Town Hall
Assembly Hall, American University in Beirut
Moscow International House of Music
Cologne Cathedral
FESTIVALS
Yalta International Music Festival, Crimea
St. Albans International Festival, England
Al Bustan Festival, Lebanon
Northern Palmira, St. Petersburg
Russian Winter, Moscow
International Organ Festival, Almaty, Kazakstan
Days of Russian Culture, Yerevan, Armenia
15th International Organ Festival, Asturias, Spain
Leeds Film Festival
MASTER CLASSES TAUGHT
Tbilisi, Georgia Conservatoire
The American University in Beirut
Oundle, Cambridge, London-International Summer Schools for Young People
Queen Margaret’s School for Girls, York, England
CONDUCTORS
Vladimir Fedoseyev, Dmitry Yablonsky, Vladimir Ponkin, Paolo Olmo
ORCHESTRAS
Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, State Tchaikovsky Orchestra, Moscow Conservatoire Chamber Orchestra, Lebanese Symphony Orchestra
István Mátyás
was born in 1980 in Zalaegerszeg (Hungary). He began with his musical studies at the age of four years at the local music school, where he started to play the organ in 1989. After taking his A-levels at the conservatory of Szombathely (piano with Henrik Hirschberg, organ with András Virágh) he enrolled at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (Austria). He has been studying piano with Roland Keller and Paul Gulda, and organ with Karen de Pastel, Dr. Rudolf Scholz and Martin Haselböck. Since 1992 he has taken part of several international piano, chamber music and organ competitions, his main successes having been the first prize with his piano trio at the Hungarian Chamber Music Competition in Szeged (1999) and the first prize and four special awards at the 4th International Mikael Tariverdiev Organ Competition in Kaliningrad (2005). In the last years he appeared as a soloist at several renowned festivals (Mozart Festival Würzburg, Carinthischer Sommer in Ossiach, Siberian Organ Festival in Omsk, Tallinn Organ Festival &c.). The accent in his repertory is primarily set on late romantic and contemporary works. His world premiere recording of the complete organ oeuvre by the Austrian composer Hans Gál is to be released by NCA this year.