Jury & Details announced for 10th Anniversary
JURY ANNOUNCED FOR TENTH ANNIVERSARY NORTHERN IRELAND INTERNATIONAL ORGAN COMPETITION
David Titterington, Head of Organ Studies at the Royal Academy of Music, London and Artistic Director of the St Alban’s International Organ Competition, will chair the jury for the Northern Ireland International Organ Competition (NIIOC), which celebrates its tenth anniversary this year, taking place in Armagh 23-26 August 2020.
Professor Titterington will be joined by the French organist Sophie-Véronique Cauchefer-Choplin, Professor of Organ Studies at the Royal College of Music, London, and by regular jury member David Hill, artistic director of the Bach Choir, London, the Yale Schola Cantorum, Connecticut and of the Charles Wood Summer School, which runs concurrently with the organ competition.
The Senior and Intermediate sections of the competition take place in St Patrick’s Church of Ireland Cathedral, Armagh and the Junior Competition in St Malachy’s Roman Catholic Church, Armagh. Full details of the monetary prizes and recitals, and opening and closing dates for entries, will be announced shortly.
For more information contact the competition organisers by email info@niioc.com
Facebook / NorthernIrelandInternationalOrganCompetition
Twitter / @NIIOC1
Press and media enquiries, interview and photo requests to:
Clare Stevens Media Relations
Clare.Stevens@me.com
07968 367079 (mobile)
NOTES FOR EDITORS
The timetable for the competition runs as follows:
Opening Recital by David Titterington: Sunday 23 August at 8pm Senior Competition: Monday 24 August 2pm Junior Competition: Tuesday 25 August 10am
Intermediate Competition: Tuesday 25 August 1pm
Masterclass with David Titterington: Tuesday 25 August 7pm
Performance Etiquette Workshop with David Titterington, Wednesday 26 August 11am
The Northern Ireland International Organ Competition was established in 2011 to provide talented young organists, aged 21 and under, with major recital engagements, financial support and recording opportunities. It is now recognised as the world’s leading international competition for young organists and is officially partnered with the St. Albans International Organ Festival.
Since NIIOC began recital venues have included St. Thomas Fifth Avenue New York, Westminster Abbey, Southwark Cathedral, Christ Church Cathedral Dublin, St. Columb’s Cathedral Londonderry, Trinity College Cambridge, Canongate Kirk Edinburgh, St. Peter Mancroft Norwich, St. Peter’s Cathedral Belfast, Worcester Cathedral and St. Michael's Cornhill London.
International jurors have included Thierry Mechler (France), Kimberly Marshall (USA), Mattias Wager (Sweden), Frédéric Blanc (France), Erwan le Prado (France) and Martin Jean (USA).
The Competition Board is chaired by Richard Yarr.
The Dame Gillian Weir Medal, created by the Belfast School of Art at Ulster University, was commissioned by NIIOC in 2018 to celebrate the exceptional work of our Patron Dame Gillian Weir both as a musician and educator. It will be awarded by the jury, on behalf of Dame Gillian, for the performance of a single work which they consider the most outstanding in the Senior category.
David Titterington was an Organ Scholar at the University of Oxford before continuing his organ studies in Paris with Marie-Claire Alain and Susan Landale at the Conservatoire de Reuil-Malmaison where he won a 'Premier Prix a l’unanimité avec les félicitations du Jury' and later with the distinguished Czech composer, Petr Eben. Titterington appears in recitals and concertos at major festivals worldwide including the BBC Proms, the bi-centennial Festival of Sydney, and the international festivals of Hong Kong, New Zealand, Adelaide, Tokyo, Guelph, Schleswig Holstein, Israel, Istanbul, City of London, Belfast, Brighton, Cheltenham, Harrogate. For eighteen years, he gave annual masterclasses and recitals at the Dartington International Summer School.
Throughout his career, David Titterington has worked closely with many composers across a wide range of styles including commissioned works, first performances and in recital. He has been awarded numerous honours and awards which include Fellowship (honoris causa) of the Royal College of Organists, a Doctorate (honoris causa) and Honorary Professorship by the Liszt Ferenc State University of Budapest. Honorary doctorates have also been conferred by the Universities of Huddersfield and Bolton. David Titterington is an Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music and in 2016, was elected Fellow Commoner of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. In 2018, he was conferred an Honorary Fellow, King’s College London.
Sophie-Véronique Cauchefer-Choplin was born in Nogent-le-Rotrou, France. and studied the organ with Rolande Falcinelli at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique of Paris. She was titular of the Grand Orgue of Saint Jean-Baptiste de la Salle in Paris from 1983 to 2013. In 1985, she added the position of co-titular of the Grand Orgue of Saint Sulpice Paris with Daniel Roth. In 1990 after an advanced teaching by Loïc Mallié, she became the first woman to win the second prize in improvisation at the Chartres International Organ Improvisation Competition. Sophie-Véronique has an extensive international career, having given recitals worldwide in more than 30 countries. She has given master classes and courses in improvisation in Chicago, New York, Washington, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Melbourne, Sydney, London and many French cities.
David Hill, Artistic Director of the Bach Choir, London and Yale Schola Cantorum, former Chief Conductor of the BBC Singers and former Organist and Director of Music of Westminster Cathedral, Winchester Cathedral and St John’s College Cambridge, is a patron of the competition and has been a jury member every year since its inception. The other patrons are Mark Duley, Organist of St Nicholas Cathedral, Galway; James O’Donnell, Organist and Master of the Choristers at Westminster Abbey; and Dame Gillian Weir.
Partners include the Charles Wood Festival and Summer School, Armagh (which runs concurrently with the organ competition); the Arts Council of Northern Ireland; and St Albans International Organ Festival.