During the pandemic, almost all concerts, cultural events, and festivals had to be cancelled. Thanks to live-streaming technology, alternative spaces to meet were created for us. These digital encounters helped our society to function and stay connected. However, our desire for physical meetings, and our need for art and music in times of crisis generated a strong impetus for us to create the theme for this year’s festival: Göteborg International Organ Festival (GIOF) 2021 – ENCOUNTERS. The festival will be performed for live audiences as well as live-streamed around the world.

The organ art brings us together across all borders and boundaries for a multitude of encounters; in concerts, multi-art performances, in artistic, creative, and social processes and interdisciplinary endeavors. Whether we participate in an organ-building workshop for children assembling four hundred parts of an organ-kit in less than an hour, or we work for five years with Rieger Orgelbau and an international reference group to build a new organ for Göteborg Concert Hall, we forget about time and space and engage in creative, musical and social acts. Now, we invite you to join us in a twelve-day organ feast including more than 30 concerts, a two-day marathon concert, the Göteborg Youth Organ Festival, ten workshops, many lectures, panel discussions, and social gatherings.

– The inauguration of the new concert hall organ by Rieger Orgelbau

– Creative Collisions with the meantone four-manual and pedal organ in Örgryte new church

– Church Musician's Day, October 18, a continuing education day for organists and church musicians

– Celebration of Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, Michael Praetorius, and Jeanne Demessieux

– New music by more than ten composers

– More than 30 concerts, 10 workshops, many lectures, panel discussions and social gatherings

The GIOF 2021 begins with the inauguration of the concert hall organ. Gothenburg was founded on June 4, 1621, and the building of a new concert hall organ was initiated as a celebration of the 400th anniversary of our city by HIGAB (Gothenburg Municipality Real Estate Company) and the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. The Göteborg International Organ Academy was given the responsibility to spearhead the project.

The first weekend of the festival presents three inaugural concerts with different programs performed by seven organists from five countries, all members of the international reference group for the prrestoroject, and will include premieres of new works by four composers. Bine Bryndorf, Karin Nelson, Hans-Ola Ericsson, Magnus Kjellson, Nathan Laube, Joris Verdin and Hans Davidsson will perform music from four centuries, including new works by Madeleine Isaksson, Molly Kien, Tebogo Monnakgotla, and Martin Herchenröder. On October 21 and 22, Mattias Wager will join the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra in the premiere of an organ concerto composed by B. Tommy Andersson. In the second weekend, forty-nine organists, representing all of the municipalities of West Sweden, will perform a two-day marathon concert, and people from across the whole region will join the celebration.

The globally unique four-manual and pedal meantone organ in Örgryte new church will generate many contrasting encounters during the festival; concerts and workshops devoted to the music by Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck and Michael Praetorius, both celebrating jubilee years, and encounters with composers from different genres who create new music in a series of concerts labelled Creative Collisions, including Kali Malone, Katt Hernandez, Palle Dahlstedt, Hans-Ola Ericsson, Carl and Åsa Unander-Scharin with the Isagel-Suite for Voice (the Vocal Chorder), organ, and dance (the interactive Observer-system) and vocal ensemble, and Henrik Denerin, Atmen sie mit mir, commissioned by the Swedish Radio.

Several concerts, including dance and other art forms, will be presented in the Vasa Church with the recently restored and renovated Eskil Lundén organ (1909/2020). The Brombaugh (1992) and Marcussen/Åkerman & Lund (1861/2004) organs in the Haga Church will be heard in daily concerts at noon followed by lunches, an important gathering point each day.

The Göteborg Youth Organ Festival will present organ building workshops, organ fairy tales, concerts, the Youth Organ Camp and other activities. The GIOA Young Organ Scholars 2021 will be announced during the festival.

The regional festival program celebrates the rich organ landscape of West Sweden, including the oldest playable organ in Sweden, the Hans Brebos/Elias Wittig organ (1604/1715) in Morlanda Church on the island of Orust.

Morning workshops, afternoon seminars, lectures and panel discussions address a rich variety of themes for organists, scholars, organ builders, and restorers.

Please enjoy the detailed programme and join us for the Göteborg International Organ Festival 2021, a twelve-day organ feast including more than 30 concerts, ten workshops, many lectures, panel discussions and social gatherings – ENCOUNTERS with a world of tactile passion and new sounds - for all!