Festival 2009
The 25th International Organ Festival at St Albans will take place from 9th to 18th July 2009.
A network of International Ambassadors.
| These distinguished organists, teachers and concert artists are happy to act as points of reference for any competitor considering entering either of the competitions. Each of the ambassadors has first-hand knowledge of the competitions in St Albans and is happy to answer questions and give other guidance to prospective competitors if required. Initial contact may be made through the Competitions Secretary. |
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| Susan Landale writes about how winning the St Albans International Organ Competition helped her professional career as an international organist: | ||
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Susan Landale was the winner of
the First Prize at St Albans in 1963, |
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In the
1960s there were few international organ competitions and to be a winner
probably conferred an even greater aura upon one then than it does today. For
me, as a virtually unknown aspiring organist, the bonuses were tremendous:
recognition at home and abroad, a number of recitals, the start of a long
collaboration with the BBC, and - as a young professional in a foreign country
(I was married the same year and settled in France) - an invaluable means of
compensating for local studies that I had not done (the Paris conservatoire
etc). Thanks to St Albans I found myself on a more or less even footing with my
French colleagues, and this has been important to me throughout my career. For
a teacher, I believe it is also extremely important to have had some personal
experience of performance in concert and in competitions, in order to prepare
one's own students adequately. I shall always be grateful to St Albans and to
the jury of that first competition for their decision, which put me in the
right starting block and gave me such a boost at the beginning of my career.
