International Organ Improvisation Competition: Final Round

The hour of truth… Who can call him or herself the winner of the International Improvisation Competition Haarlem 2022?

Reaching the final is an achievement in itself, but for the very best player it opens the door to an international career, as many previous prize winners will attest. The public award has the same impact: during the jury deliberation you can designate your favorite player yourself. This organist will receive the Flentrop Audience Prize. The Jury Prize Winner will receive an amount of € 4,000 and a unique pen drawing of the organ (specially made for the Improvisation Competition 2022 by Barend Klaassen).
The famous Müller organ is well tuned and ready for it!

Afterwards, sit back for a while: the festive award ceremony will take place after the jury deliberation.

The international jury consists of Zuzana Ferjenčíková (SLO/A), Vincent Thévenaz (CH), Dominik Susteck (D), Martijn Padding (NL) and Gerben Mourik (NL). Chairman of the jury is Ansgar Wallenhorst (D)

Seventy years ago, on Monday 2 July 1951, an improvisation contest took place for the very first time in the Bavokerk in Haarlem. Not just for the first time in Haarlem, but for the first time in the world! The Second World War had come to an end six years earlier, and the Müller organ was certainly not in top condition, but it was the dream of the initiators of Haarlem to reunite the European countries in a musical battle on a friendly basis.
Two years later, the first American participant took part and, more importantly, Helmut Walcha was the first German to be invited as a jury member. Who could have imagined that seventy years later we would be here again, with participants from all over the world? The circumstances are completely different, but one thing is clear: the Haarlem Improvisation Competition is very much alive and has a bright future!