NIIOC 2020 Virtual Competition
NORTHERN IRELAND INTERNATIONAL ORGAN COMPETITION FINAL
TO GO ONLINE WITH 14 PLAYERS.
The Northern Ireland International Organ Competition (NIIOC) is to move online for its 2020 edition, in response to the latest announcement about the tightening of coronavirus restrictions in Northern Ireland. An international line-up of 14 young players from five countries has been chosen to take part in NIIOC 2020. The entrants are:
Hannes von Bargen (Germany)
Ilaria Centorrino (Italy)
Johannes Güdelhöfer (Germany)
Joshua Hughes (UK)
Martin Jones (US)
Marcin Knura(Poland)
Johannes Lamprecht (Germany)
Imogen Morgan (UK)
Jonas Schauer (Germany)
Laura Schlappa (Germany)
Joshua Simoes (UK)
James Tett (UK)
George Throup (UK)
Josua Velten (Germany)
Usually held in Armagh, this year’s organ competition for players aged 21 and under had been moved to Belfast in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, because the city’s St Anne’s Cathedral could be adapted to allow for physical distancing more easily than St Patrick’s Church of Ireland Cathedral, Armagh; and travel to the venue would have been easier for the competitors and jury. The event was to have taken place on Friday 23 October (senior competition) and Saturday 24 October (morning masterclass).
The competitors will now be asked to submit recordings of themselves playing their planned competition programmes, with the usual specifications, on an organ in a church, concert hall or other venue of their choice, by Thursday 12 November. The jury will review the submitted video recordings and the announcement of the winners will be livestreamed via Zoom on Wednesday 9 December at 7pm. Highlights of the filmed performances will subsequently be released.
David Titterington, artistic director of the St Alban’s International Organ Festival, partner festival to NIIOC, and head of organ at the Royal Academy of Music, London will now chair the jury. Professor Titterington will be joined by David Hill MBE, artistic director of the Bach Choir, London, the Yale Schola Cantorum, Connecticut and the Charles Wood Summer School, Armagh; and by Simon Harden, Organist and Director of Music at Christ Church Cathedral, Waterford, and lecturer in organ and conductor of the Choral Society at Technological University, Dublin.
NIIOC chair Richard Yarr said: ‘While we did everything possible to arrange in-person performances on the St Anne’s Cathedral organ in front of a jury, we feel that measures to combat the spread of the Covid-19 virus announced by the Northern Ireland Executive on 14 October mean that the competitors would not be able to experience the province at its best or get to know one another and the jury as the young organists have done in Armagh in previous years.
‘However we are determined to offer them an opportunity to compete with one another for our incredible range of prizes and to receive the feedback on their performances from our jury that can be so valuable at this stage in their careers. We have 14 superb entries for our 2020 competition – with glowing references – and the usual mix of international colour. We’re guaranteed a star winner, completing 10 years of unique support of young organists globally.
‘We are very grateful to the funders and sponsors who have supported NIIOC so far and are enabling this year’s event to go ahead in a new format in these challenging circumstances. Special thanks to the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, the Pilling Trust and Wells Kennedy Organ Partnership.’
The rules of the competition have been amended for this year only to enable organists who would have been eligible to enter had it taken place on the usual August dates to take part, even if they have now had their 22nd birthdays.
The first prize winner of NIIOC 2020 will receive £1,500 and recitals in St. Paul’s Cathedral, London; Westminster Abbey, London; St. Thomas Fifth Avenue, New York City; Liverpool Anglican Cathedral; Trinity College, Cambridge and St. Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast. There are also cash and recital prizes for the second and third placed competitors, and recitals the winners of the Dame Gillian Weir Medal and the Bach prize.
A new design for this year’s Dame Gillian Weir Medal has been created by Joel Smyth, commissioned by NIIOC through Ulster University. The front of the medal depicts the pipes of the Mulholland Organ in the Ulster Hall, Belfast, a favourite instrument of Dame Gillian.