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Celebrating the pipe organ, the King of Instruments

Royal Bank Calgary International

Organ Festival and Competition

August 7 through 17, 2002

These young talents recently competed in the
document 2002 Royal Bank Calgary International Organ Festival and Competition.
Listen to some of their performances on
Pipedreams Programs document #0306, document #0307 & document #0308 - Calgary Festival Highlights


  Vincent Dubois
  Vincent Dubois

Vincent Dubois, France

GOLD MEDAL WINNER - Recital Finals

document Vincent Dubois began his organ studies at age 11 in the organ school of the Cathedral of Saint Brieux, France. He then studied at the National Conservatory of Angers and in 1998 was accepted at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris studying with Olivier Latry.

Vincent has performed extensively in France as well as in Poland, Germany, Portugal, Switzerland and the USA, and is known as a fine pianist and improviser. He participated in the 1998 Grand Prix de Chartres Interpretation competition. Vincent has won a number of prizes, among them the Gold Medal and First Prize with the National Conservatory of Angers, and first prizes in harmony, counterpoint, fugue and organ at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique. He was a finalist in the 2002 International Competition of Toulouse.

At the age of 16 Vincent was named titular organist of the Cavaillé-Coll organ of the Cathedral of Saint Brieuc. Vincent Dubois is composition teacher at Angers Conservatory and titular organist of the Cathedral of Soissons.



  Clive Driskill-Smith
  Clive Driskill-Smith

Clive Driskill-Smith

GOLD MEDAL WINNER - Concerto Finals
Duruflé Ancillary Prize

Educated at Eton College, document Clive Driskill-Smith served as organ scholar at Winchester Cathedral and as assistant organist at Winchester College during his gap year. He graduated with a First Class Honours degree in Music from Christ Church, Oxford and gained the MPhil in interpretation and performance in 2001.

Clive has given a number of recitals in the UK and abroad. He was awarded the Travelling Scholarship by the Royal College of Organists in 1999 after receiving the Limpus, Shinn and Durrant Prizes for his FRCO in 1998. He was also awarded first prize in the Royal College of Organists’Performer of the Year competition as well as receiving second prize and the Audience Prize in the Saint Albans International Organ Competition. In 2000, Clive performed the complete organ works of Olivier Messiaen, and has been the featured soloist in performances of Rheinberger’s Organ Concerto No. 2 and Poulenc’s Concerto for Organ, Strings and Timpani.

Clive Driskill-Smith is currently sub-organist of Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford and studies organ with David Sanger and Hans Fagius.



  László Fassang
  László Fassang

László Fassang

GOLD MEDAL WINNER - Improvisation Finals

document László Fassang was born in Budapest and began organ studies under the tutelage of István Baróti. He graduated from the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in 1998, having studied piano under Ilona Prunyi and organ with István Ruppert. László then began studying at the Conservatoire de Paris with Olivier Latry and Michel Bouvard also studying improvisation under Loïïc Maillé. In 1993, he won first prize at the Zoltán Gárdonyi Memorial Competition in Budapest, and in 1998 took second prize at the Gyr International Organ Competition in Hungary.

László took a one-year sabbatical in 2000 to become the resident organist at the Sapporo Concert Hall in Japan. During that time he performed several concerts in Japan, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and in Hungary. In 2001, he recorded a CD of works by Bach, Liszt and his own improvisations on the Kern Organ at Sapporo Concert Hall. Currently László Fassang is continuing his studies at the Conservatoire de Paris with Philippe Lefebvre and Thierry Escaich.


  Jonathan Oldengarm
  Jonathan Oldengarm

Jonathan Oldengarm

Encore Ancillary Prize
RCCO Ancillary Prize

Winning the Faculty of Music Gold Medal, document Jonathan Oldengarm graduated from Wilfrid Laurier University as a student of Barrie Cabena and Colin Tilney. He earned the Fellowship diploma of the RCCO in 1996, winning the Peaker and Porter prizes. Awarded a Max Stern Fellowship by McGill University, he completed graduate studies in organ and harpsichord with John Grew, Hank Knox and Luc Beauséjour. Jonathan attended the International Summer Academy for Organists in Haarlem, the Netherlands, in 1996 and 1998, and was recently awarded fellowships by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Sir Ernest MacMillan Memorial Foundation.

Jonathan has won prizes at several prestigious competitions, including the Dublin International, Royal Canadian College of Organists’National, and Début Young Artists Series.


  Iveta Apkalnam
  Iveta Apkalna

Iveta Apkalna

Bach Ancillary Prize
Graduating with distinction from the J. Vitols Latvian Academy of Music in both organ and piano, Iveta Apkalna won a full scholarship at the London Guildhall School for Music and Drama where she obtained the Music Performance Diploma with Distinction in 2000. She has attended several master lasses with Ewald Kooiman, Hans-Ola Ericsson and Ludger Lohmann.

Iveta has received awards in several international organ and piano competitions. She won third prize at the 1997 Lahti International Organ Competition, Finland, first prize at the 1998 North London Piano School Competition, England, as well as third prize at the International M.K. Ciurlionis Organ Competition in Lithuania in 1999.

Iveta performs frequently as a pianist and organist with the Latvian Chamber Orchestra, Rezekne Symphony Orchestra, various choirs and ensembles.


  Eva Bublová
  Eva Bublová

Eva Bublová


Born in Prague, document Eva Bublová began to learn piano at age five and the organ seven years later. She began organ and piano studies at the Prague Conservatoire and graduated from the Prague Academy of Performing Arts in 2000, studying organ under Jaroslav Tuma. She has won a number of international competitions: first prize at the Organ Competition for baroque music in Vamberk in 1997, second prize at the Prague Spring International Music Competition (no first awarded), the Czech Music Fund Prize for the best interpretation of Czech contemporary music, and first prize a the International Organ Competition Gottfried Silbermann in Freiberg last year.

Eva has performed throughout the Czech Republic and other parts of Europe. She has taken master classes with Harald Vogel, Martin Sander, Ludger Lohmann, Ewald Kooiman, Jacques van Oortmerssen, and Michel Bouvard.


  Cameron Carpenter
  Cameron Carpenter

Cameron Carpenter

document Cameron Carpenter began his studies in piano and organ at five with Beth Etter. A gifted boy soprano, he toured the USA and Europe with The American Boychoir, also performing as an organ soloist with the Boychoir.

In 1999, he was a finalist in the World Organ Competition in Memoriam Ferenc Liszt, Budapest, Hungary as well as winning an interpretation prize. A student of John Mitchener at the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston Salem until 2000, Cameron was resident organist at the Reynolda House Museum of American Art and at Winston Salem’s First Baptist Church.

Cameron has completed organ transcriptions of several orchestral works including Mahler’s Fifth Symphony and has transcriptions of works by Bach and Rachmaninoff in progress. He is currently the organist of New York City’s First Church of Religious Science.


  Hyun Jung Kim
  Hyun Jung Kim

Hyun Jung Kim


Hyun Jung Kim graduated with an organ major from the College of Music at Yonsei University in 2001, studying with Ton-Soon Kwak. Currently a graduate student at Yonsei, she received scholarships due to her excellent academic achievement and is a graduate assistant in the Organ Department. She has participated in master classes with Jean Boyer, Zsigmond Szathmáry, Daniel Roth, Olivier Latry, André Isoir, François Espinasse and Jean Guillou.

Hyun Jung was a semi-finalist at the Saint Albans International Organ Competition in 2001 and was a featured organist of the Debut Concert for young organists at Torch Centre for World Mission in Seoul. She is an accompanist to the Church Music Choir of Yonsei University and has been an organist at Emmanuel Presbyterian Church for 5 years, giving numerous concerts as a soloist and accompanist.


  Siu-Wai Ng
  Siu-Wai Ng

Siu-Wai Ng


Born in Hong Kong, Siu-wai Ng began her organ training at 18 with Wendy Yuen Tin-lok, having been awarded the LRSM, LTCL and FTCL in piano performance under the guidance of Alice Chan Lai-sze. She attended Exeter College in Oxford where she studied organ with David Goode and David Sanger and obtained the ABRSM Advanced Certificate in Organ, in addition to a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics. She has participated in master classes with Marie-Claire Alain, Gillian Weir, Hans Fagius and David Titterington.

Siu-wai has given recitals at Saint John’s Cathedral in Hong Kong and at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre. While at Oxford she served as organist in the Exeter College Chapel Choir and has collaborated with the Hong Kong Chamber Orchestra as a soloist.


  Christian Schmitt
  Christian Schmitt

Christian Schmitt


document Christian Schmitt first studied as a gifted young student in the organ class of Leo Krämer at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Saarbrücken, also studying piano performance with Kristin Merscher. He is enrolled in the Ph.D. program at the University of Saarbrücken and has received a scholarship of Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes as well as a scholarship to study with James David Christie at Boston Conservatory.

He completed master classes with Margaret Phillips, Dame Gillian Weir, Almut Rler, Ludger Lohmann, Lionel Rogg, Lorenzo Ghielmi and Zsigmond Szathmáry. Christian has won several prizes at international competitions in Speyer, Ljublijana, Wiesbaden, Brügge, Rom, Gelsenkirchen and Tokyo. In 2001, he won the Deutscher Musikrat Competition in Berlin.

Christian has played numerous international solo recitals in addition to concerto engagements with several German orchestras. He has been broadcast on European radio stations and in 2001 recorded two CDs. He has taught a master class at the Art University of Seoul and has been invited to teach at the University of Taschkent. Christian is also organist for the Luxemburg Philharmonic.


  John Daniel Schwandt
  John Daniel Schwandt

John Daniel Schwandt


John Daniel Schwandt began his organ instruction with George Damp at the Lawrence Conservatory of Music. Subsequently studying interpretation and improvisation with John Ferguson at Saint Olaf College, he graduated with a Bachelor degree cum laude with departmental distinction. Studying with Larry Smith, John received both a Master’s degree and the Performer’s Certificate in Organ from Indiana University School of Music, recently completing his Doctorate in Organ Performance and Literature.

Among his successes in organ competitions, John won first prize in the 1998 National Competition in Organ Improvisation, Denver. He performs extensively throughout the United States and has been a featured performer for the American Guild of Organists and the Organ Historical Society. John has recorded for independent producers as well as the Calcante label and is under management with En Chamade Artists.

Formerly minister of music of Saint Thomas Lutheran Church, Bloomington, John now teaches Music Theory and Church Music at Indiana University School of Music.

 

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