Concert jury members – Martinikerk

Organized in cooperation with Stichting Avondtmusyck.

Monica Melcova, Bernard Foccroulle and Vincent Thévenaz are three of the five jury members of the international organ competition IMOCG that will take place in Groningen during the week of July 28 to August 3. These three renowned concert organists will give a concert together today in the Martinikerk.
The other two judges will perform later this week with a concert in the Akerk, see this link.

ENTREE
Standard €17,50
Youth up to the age of 29 €12,50

Program:
The evening begins and ends with Johann Sebastian Bach; both Monica Melcova and Vincent Thévenaz present a program of works by this composer of composers. Bernard Foccroulle provides a very different, partly more modern perspective: he plays Buxtehude and a work that he has composed himself in 2002.

Monica Melcova:
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
-Fantasia et fuga in a BWV 904
-Aria in F (naar François Couperin) BWV 587
-Nun danket alle Gott BWV 657 Leipziger Choräle

Bernard Foccroulle:
Dieterich Buxtehude (1637-1707)
-Toccata in F BuxWV 156
-Fantasia sopra ‹Ich ruf zu dir› BuxWV 196
Bernard Foccroulle (1953)
-Toccata (2002)

Vincent Thévenaz:
Johann Sebastian Bach
-Pièce d’orgue BWV 572
-Herr Jesu Christ, dich zu uns wend BWV 709
-Herr Jesu Christ, dich zu uns wend BWV 655 Leipziger Choräle
-Praeludium et fuga in G BWV 541

Musicians: 

Monica Melcova (Slovakia)
Monica Melcova studied at the conservatories of Košice and Vienna. In 1999 she graduated with the highest distinction and honorary prize from the Austrian Ministry of Culture and Education. She then trained in Paris with Olivier Latry and Michel Bouvard, and studied improvisation with Loic Mallié. In 2002 she became organist in residence at the Sapporo Concert Hall in Kitara, Japan. From 2020 to 2022 she was a visiting professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen. She is a regular jury member at renowned organ competitions and teaches improvisation.

Bernard Foccroulle (Belgium)
Bernard Foccroulle studied at the Royal Conservatory in Liege with Hubert Schoonbroodt and continued his studies with Xavier Darasse and Gustav Leonhardt, among others.  He established his name as a Baroque specialist, composer and performer of contemporary music. He recorded more than 50 CDs and made a name for himself with dozens of world premieres of works by Philippe Boesmans, Brian Ferneyhough, Pascal Dusapin and others. He was director of the Royal Monnaie Theater in Brussels, chairman of the ‘Association Opera Europa’ and organ teacher at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. His first opera Cassandra premiered in 2023.

Vincent Thévenaz (Switzerland)
Vincent Thévenaz teaches improvisation at the Haute Ecole de Musique in Geneva and is titular organist and carillonneur of Saint-Pierre Cathedral in Geneva. His concerts have taken him to many European countries, as well as Argentina, Uruguay, Canada and India. He strives to highlight the many facets of the organ, as soloist or together with other instruments such as violin, flute and saxophone, as well as less common instruments such as alphorn or percussion. In 2005, he founded the Orchestre Buissonnier, an ensemble of young musicians.