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The month of February began with a masters
concert by the Dutch organist Hayo Boerema,
winner of the Grand Prix d'Improvisation at
the 1999 International Organ Competition in
Paris. He received a cash prize and the chance
to perform fifty concerts on selected organs
in five continents, including the Los Venerables
organ, the only one in Spain chosen to be part
of this prestigious competition.
The concert traditionally organised by the St
Elizabeth of Hungary Royal Academy of Fine Arts
(Real Academia de Bellas Artes de Santa Isabel
de Hungría) at the Los Venerables church
was held on the 26th of the same month. The
concert was performed, as always, by Father
Ayarra, the official organist at Los Venerables
and a permanent member of the Academy, who on
this occasion performed a selection of pieces
from the universal repertoire (Bach, Couperin,
etc.), and by musicians associated with Seville
Cathedral. In April José Jesús
Ciero, the organist of El Salvador church in
Seville, brought the series of recitals by new
talents to a close with a brilliant performance
of works by Correa de Arauxo, Grigny, Bach,
Mendelssohn and Reger.
Also in April, the Foundation organised an organ
master course conducted by the acclaimed French
organist André Isoir, the official organ
player at St Germain des Prés in Paris,
on the theme of French Baroque music. It was
attended by twenty-four organists from all over
Andalusia, who followed the course with great
enthusiasm and were keen to repeat the experience
in the future. The course closed with an exceptional
concert performed by Prof. Isoir, entitled Five
centuries of French organ music, with works
from the 13th to the 18th century.
Two other important events involving the Los
Venerables organ took place in April. The first
was a concert-mass held in memory of our departed
President, Javier Benjumea Puigcerver (RIP),
in the chapel on Friday, 5 April. It was a highly
memorable, emotional event with performances
by the soprano Teresa Loring, the Santa Cecilia
Chamber Choir of Seville, under its regular
conductor Ricardo Rodríguez, and José
Enrique Ayarra on the organ.
The second event was the organ concert offered
by Abengoa at the World Biofuels Conference,
at which Father Ayarra performed works by Bach,
Lefebvre and Saint-Saens, among others.
The Danish organist, B. Katrine Bryndorf, gave
a masters concert on 7 May, performing pieces
that were strictly in keeping with the instrument's
Baroque characteristics. The Scandinavian organist
chose works by the composers Scheidemann, Weckmann,
Buxtehude and Bach, with which she revealed
her outstanding mastery of technical skills
and her exceptional sensitivity.
The traditional organ and orchestral concert,
subsidised by the Ministry of Culture and performed
by José Enrique Ayarra on the organ and
the Chamber Orchestra of the Royal Symphonic
Orchestra of Seville, brought the season's masters
concerts to a close with Handel's organ concerto
no. 9, conducted by Serguei Teslia, a former
first violin with the Royal Symphonic Orchestra
of Seville.
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