The International Improvisation Competition in Haarlem 2024
by Hayo Boerema | Het ORGEL | Year 120 | (2024) | Issue 5
During the International Improvisation Competition in Haarlem, part of the International Organ Festival, eight participants competed for the title across three rounds. The first round took place at the Doopsgezinde Kerk on the Ahrend organ, where participants were required to improvise on a few bars from the first piece of *Sechs kleine Klavierstücke*, Opus 19 by Arnold Schoenberg. Additionally, they were tasked with improvising a Prelude and Fugue based on their own themes.
In the second round, five participants performed on the Adema organ in the Joseph Church. They were given unique assignments: to musically interpret a praline and to accompany a violinist in a piece inspired by a poem by Paul van Ostayen.
The final round took place at the Bavo, where three participants were first asked to continue an improvisation based on a Japanese flute fragment. The second assignment involved an improvisation on two of the natural elements: Earth, Fire, Water, or Air.
Enno Gröhn won both the jury and audience awards for his performance, while Marcel Eliasch received an additional prize for his interplay with violinist Oene van Geel in the second round. The jury specifically praised the creativity and structure of the improvisations.