The Elbphilharmonie Organ

The 4,765 pipes of the Elbphilharmonie organ are treating us to several debuts this season: The German church musician Martin Schmeding turns his attention to Mendelssohn and Reger, among others, with works featured on various CD releases. Zuzana Ferjenčíková, a student of Jean Guillou, travels to Hamburg from Slovakia to perform an impressive arrangement of Sergei Rachmaninov’s symphonic poem »The Isle of the Dead« alongside works by her former teacher. The American Paul Jacobs – the first organist to ever win a Grammy – devotes himself to Olivier Messiaen’s mammoth work »Livre du Saint Sacrement«. And Sebastian Heindl, one of this year’s rising stars, also takes his place at the keyboards. The programme would not be complete, of course, without our organist-in-residence Iveta Apkalna. She opens the festival with a special trio programme featuring accordion and vocals, as well as music that traverses classical and folk, before returning in April for a solo evening of Romantic organ music.