PRESS RELEASE
July 3, 2012

International Organ Festival Haarlem 2012:
World premiere ‘Fukushima Requiem’ during opening concert 14 July

During the opening concert of the 49th edition of the International Organ Festival Haarlem on Saturday evening 14 July in St Bavo's church at the market square, the highlight will be the world premiere of the Fukushima Requiem composed by Zsigmond Szathmáry. It will be performed by Cappella Amsterdam, Reed Quintet Calefax, David Wilson-Johnson (baritone), Gerrie Meijers (organ) and Niels Meliefste (percussion), directed by Daniel Reuss.
The programme also includes music by Sweelinck, Alain, Bendusi and Sánchez-Verdú. Among the performers is also Sebastian Bartmann, winner of the Audience Prize at the Haarlem International Improvisation Competition in 2010. The programme as a whole is a sampler of the music for which the Haarlem festival is famous: organ music and improvisation, organ-in-ensemble, music both ancient and modern. The concert will be broadcast live on the Dutch classical music channel Radio 4 by Omroep Max.

Fukishima Requiem
Through the great suffering, and his many personal contacts in Japan, the Hungarian-German Ligeti-pupil Zsigmond Szathmáry was inspired to compose the Fukushima Requiem. In the words of the composer: "The tragedy in Fukushima has greatly shocked and saddened me. The thousands of Tsunami victims and the nuclear catastrophe are too much for a people who had to endure Hiroshima and Nagasaki only two generations ago. Everyone senses the suffering of this land and its people. Because of my personal experience, my commiseration is even greater, and it is through my music that I wish to express it."
"It has not been my intention to write a complete Requiem as such, but a work that would bridge religions. Thus I have employed only parts of the Latin Requiem text, adding biblical texts (mainly from the Book of Jeremiah) and traditional Japanese and contemporary writings." The work has been commissioned by a private group of friends in Japan, who expressed the wish that the first performance should take place in St Bavo's in Haarlem. We are particularly honoured that his Excellency the Ambassador of Japan, Takashi Koezuka, will be present for the occasion

International Organ Festival Haarlem
From 14-28 July Haarlem is the international centre of five centuries of organ music and contemporary performance. The programme features the world-famous Improvisation Competition, organ recitals by international celebrities and ensembles on the celebrated historical organs of Haarlem, Alkmaar and Amsterdam, and specialists from across the world directing masterclasses on the organ music of Bach and romantic and contemporary composers, with English-language public sessions and lectures for a wide audience.

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