The 2011-2012 Saturday Organ Concert series began on 17^th September. Click here for more details.

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Click here to listen to the 2011 Prizewinners' Concert, Saturday 16th July 2011, St Albans Cathedral: David Baskeyfield, Paul Goussot, Ka Young Lee, Simone Weber.

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The 2011 Prizewinners:

Interpretation competition:

First Prize and Audience Prize

David Baskeyfield (UK)

David Baskeyfield is a doctoral student at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. He was organ scholar at St John’s College, Oxford, where he read Law. After a year as organ scholar at both Anglican cathedrals in Dublin, he began a Master’s at Eastman and now continues in the studio of David Higgs, studying improvisation with William Porter. In 2010 he won first and audience prize at the Miami International Organ Competition, first prize at the Mader organ competition, Los Angeles, and first and audience prize at the AGO National Competition in Organ Improvisation. Active as an accompanist and continuo player, he also enjoys frequent access to the large Wurlitzer organ in the Auditorium Theatre downtown and has been elected to the Board of the Rochester Theatre Organ Society.

Second Prize and John McCabe Prize

(The McCabe Prize was awarded for the best performance of the commissioned work Esperanza.)

Ka Young Lee (South Korea)

Ka Young Lee was born in Seoul. She completed her Bachelor’s degree under Tong-Soon Kwak at Yonsei University. After further studies in Germany, she gained her Concert Organist Diploma with Excellence under Wolfgang Rübsam in Saarbrücken and Concert Diploma Solistenklasse under Professor Martin Sander in Heidelberg. She is now studying Organ Performance with Christophe Mantoux in Strasbourg. Ka Young has won second prizes in the Chang Chon-Klais Organ Competition (Seoul, 2001), the Horst Dieter Veeck Organ Competition (Saarbrücken, 2006) and the International M.K. Ciurlionis Piano and Organ Competition (Vilnius, 2007). She was a semi-finalist in the Canadian International Organ Competition in Montreal (2008), and came third in the International Organ Competition in Korschenbroich (2011). Ka Young has participated in international organ masterclasses, gives regular recitals, and serves as a church organist.

Improvisation competition:

First Prize 

Paul Goussot (France)

Paul Goussot is titulaire of the Dom Bedos organ at the Abbey of Ste-Croix, Bordeaux. He entered the Paris Conservatoire at 16 and has won prizes at international organ competitions in Bruges, Saint-Maurice and Luxembourg. He gives recitals in France and abroad, including in prestigious venues such as Notre-Dame, Paris, and Chartres Cathedral. He enjoys improvising with other artists and appeared with Olivier Latry in Notre-Dame in May 2010. A harpsichord professor at the Conservatory of Chaville, he teaches regularly with Louis Robilliard at the Academy of Granville. In 2009, as part of a joint programme between the Cathedral-Basilica in New Orleans and the Paris Conservatoire, he was named the cathedral’s first artist in residence.

Peter Hurford Prize

(The Peter Hurford Prize was awarded for the best performance of J S Bach in any round)

Simone Vebber (Italy)

Simone Vebber graduated in Organ and Organistic Composition, and Piano (cum laude) from the Conservatoire F.A. Bonporti, Trento. He was awarded the Diplome de Concert (Hons) by the Schola Cantorum of Paris and a diploma in organ with Lorenzo Ghielmi by the Accademia Internazionale di Musica in Milan. He won first prize in Pierre Pincemaille’s organ improvisation class at the CNR of Saint-Maur (Paris); other studies have been with Roberto Antonello, Esa Toivola and Jan Lehtola. He has taken part in interpretation and improvisation masterclasses with internationally renowned exponents, including Ludger Lohmann, Jean Guillou and Naji Hakim. Simone has won first prize in a number of international organ competitions, including the J.S. Bach Organ Competition (Saint Pierre lès Nemour, 2005) and the J.J. Fux Organ Competition (Graz, 2010). He has given concerts in music festivals around Europe, and has made several recordings.

Douglas May Award

(The Douglas May was awarded for the best performance of a competition work in either the Quarter or Semi-Final rounds: awarded for Thierry Escaich's Ground II)

Kyle Babin (USA)

Kyle Babin holds a Bachelor of Music degree (summa cum laude) from the Shepherd School of Music of Rice University, a Master of Music degree from the Yale University School of Music, a certificate from the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Manhattan School of Music. His organ teachers have included Clyde Holloway, Martin Jean, and McNeil Robinson. He has also studied improvisation with William Porter. At Yale, Kyle was awarded the Charles Ives Prize in organ and the Richard Paul DeLong Prize in Church Music; he was also the recipient of the Bronson Ragan Award from Manhattan School of Music. Kyle lives in Washington, DC, is director of music at Bradley Hills Presbyterian Church in Bethesda, Maryland, and teaches organ improvisation at the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.

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