Göteborg International Organ Festival
October 7–18, 2026
Roots
Göteborg International Organ Festival
October 7–18, 2026
Roots
PROGRAM
Göteborg International Organ Festival
October 7–18, 2026
Roots
(Subject to change. Please refer to the programme below for the latest updates.)
Monday, September 29 – Saturday, October 3
(For ages 9–12)
At this concert, we hear famous space music such as Holst’s The Planets, sounds from NASA’s archives, and voices from poetry. A journey with musicians from the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, whose sounds echo out into the Milky Way.
Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra
Tommy Jonsson, organ
(In collaboration with Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra)
Friday, October 2 – Sunday, October 4
Göteborg Youth Organ Camp
(For ages 8–14)Kersten Cottyn
Stephen Craig
Camille Bloche
Sven-Åke Svensson, a.o., teachers
(Program TBA)
(In collaboration with Foss parish)
Wednesday, October 7
12:00–12:50
(Admission free)
(Regional concert)
Regional opening concert of Göteborg International Organ Festival 2026
19:00–20:00
(Admission free)
(Regional concert)
(Program TBA)
Thursday, October 8
19:00–20:00
(Admission free)
(Regional concert)
Kimberly Marshall, organ
(Regional organ recital programs in Västra Götaland and Halland TBA)
Friday, October 9
12:00–12:30
(Admission free)
Organ students from the Academy of Music and Drama, University of Gothenburg
(Program TBA)
16:00–16:50
(Admission free)
Opening concert of the Göteborg International Organ Festival 2026
Welcome notes by representatives of Göteborg city, the University of Gothenburg, and the organ festival
Roots in new music for organ plus
Stockholm Saxophone Quartet
Jörgen Pettersson, director
Mila Thoors, organ
Hans Davidsson, organ
Music by Victoria Borisova-Ollas, Paula af Malmborg Ward (premiere), and Miklos Maros (premiere)
19:00–20:30
(Tickets TBA)
Gala concert
Maria Lindal, violin
Jörgen Pettersson, saxophone
Tom Poulson, trumpet
Ligita Sneibe, organ
Indra Riše
Natura Siderum (Nature of Stars) (2024)
(Swedish premiere of the full organ cycle)
Saturday, October 10
10:30–11:30
(Admission free)
Göteborg Youth Organ Festival
Young organists concert
The roots of Göteborg organ history
Program on the GOArt organ (Arvidsson, van Eeken & Yokota, 2000)
(Program TBA)
12:00–12:50
(Admission free)
Roots in 20th-century Swedish music for choir and organ
Music of the Mission Covenant Church of Sweden (Svenska Missionsförbundet)
Gothia Vocal Ensemble
Gunno Palmquist, director
Leander Franke, organ
Program on the Magnusson organ (1962)
Music by Sven-Eric Johanson, Gunno Södersten, Axel Södersten and Roland Forsberg
12:00–13:30
(Tickets TBA)
(Regional concert)
European Roots in vocal and instrumental music of the 17th century IMPULSE – Music import to the Hansa Cities
The European Hansa-Ensemble
Manfred Cordes, director
14:00–15:00
(Admission free)
European roots in organ music
ECHO Young Ambassadors
Tove Kyvik (Norway), organ
Marie Petit (Belgium), organ
Luca Akaeda Santesson (Japan/The Netherlands), organ
Benedetta Porcedda (Italy), organ
Music by Girolamo Frescobaldi, Johann Sebastian Bach, Arild Sandvold, Johannes Brahms, Jean Langlais and Jeanne Demessieux.
15:30–16:15
(Admission free)
Students from the Academy of Music and Drama, University of Gothenburg
Program on the Marcussen organ (1862)
(Program TBA)
17:00–17:45
(Admission free)
Students from the Academy of Music and Drama, University of Gothenburg
Program on the Strand (1824)/Marcussen (1877)/Ålems orgelbyggeri (2012) organ
(Program TBA)
19:00–20:00
(Tickets TBA)
Women composers from West Sweden and UK
Anna Steppler, organ
Program on the Lundén (1909)/Grönlund orgelbyggeri (2002)/Rieger Orgelbau (2020) organ
(Program TBA)
21:30–22:30
(Venue TBA)
(Tickets TBA)
Night visions I
CANTUS FIRMUS XIII
Desglosando la Melancolía (Breaking down Melancholia)
Catalina Vicens, muselaar, concept, soundscape design, composition, live electronics
Bart Celis, sound spatialization design
Catalina Vicens (1983–)
Performance and soundscape (2025)
Sunday, October 11
11:00–12:15
(Admission free)
Solemn High Mass
Organ and liturgy from 18th century Gothenburg
Gothenburg Cathedral Choir
Michael Sager, director
Mikael Fridén, organ
Music by Anders Bonge
13:00–14:00
(Tickets TBA)
Our common roots
A concert with Jewish liturgy and organ music in the Gothenburg Synagogue
Ingrid Lomfors, historian
Kimberly Marshall, organ
Johannes Landgren, organ
Program on the Marcussen organ (1854)
Music by Louis Lewandowski, Leib Glantz and Felix Mendelssohn.
15:00–16:30
(Tickets TBA)
European roots in vocal and instrumental music of the 17th century IMPULSE – Music import to the Hansa Cities
The European Hansa-Ensemble
Manfred Cordes, director
Program on the GOArt organ, Arvidsson, van Eeken, Yokota (2000)
Music by Johann Wanning, Thomas Simpson, William Brade, Matthias Weckmann, Christoph Bernhard, Thomas Vierdanck, Johann Stobäus, Johann Eccard, Vincenzo Albrici, Luca Marenzio, Nicolaus Orgas, Marco Scacchi, Claudio Monteverdi and Heinrich Profe, a. o.
18:00–20:00
Organ music from past and present by women composers
Isabelle Demers, organ
Program on the Rieger concert hall organ (2021)
Music by Rachel Laurin, Elsa Barraine, Joséphine Boulay, Sara Wennerberg-Reuter, Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms (transcription by Demers).
(In collaboration with Göteborg Symphony Orchestra.)
21:30–22:30
(Venue TBA)
(Tickets TBA)
Night visions II
CANTUS FIRMUS XIII
Desglosando la Melancolía (Breaking down Melancholia)
Catalina Vicens, muselaar, concept, soundscape design, composition, live electronics
Bart Celis, sound spatialization design
Catalina Vicens (1983–)
Performance and soundscape (2025)
Monday, October 12
9:00–11:30
12:00–12:50
(Admission free)
Lunch recital
Celebrating Notre Dame
Kimberly Marshall, organ
Schola Gothia
Ulrike Heider, director
Music by Arnolt Schlick, Pierre Attaingnant, Francisco Correa de Arauxo, Dieterich Buxtehude and Margaret Sandresky.
14:30–17:00
(Admission free)
Afternoon seminar
The long history of women organists
Kimberly Marshall, keynote lecturer and moderator
Anna Steppler, a. o.
The presenters explore the often-overlooked contributions of women to musical culture from antiquity to the present. The earliest documented organist was a woman, Thaïs of Alexandria, whose epitaph attests to her skill as a performer in the third century CE. Medieval and Renaissance art likewise depicts women playing the organ in both symbolic and realistic contexts, reflecting their presence in religious, courtly, and domestic musical life. By tracing the achievements of women as performers, composers, patrons, and teachers across the centuries, this seminar challenges the notion that musical composition has historically been an exclusively male domain.
Roots of the Swedish organ art in the 20th century
Jonas Lundblad, lecturer
17:30–19:00
Festival reception and buffet
(For presenters and registered participants.)
19:00–21:15
(Tickets TBA)
Roots in European early organ and keyboard music
PART 1:
Polish organ music in the early Vasa era
Marcin Szelest, organ
Music by Paul Siefert, Balthasar Erben, Adam of Wągrowiec and Mikołaj Zieleński.
Intermission
PART 2:
Composers shaped by travel and musical crosscurrents
Kola Owolabi, organ
Music by Georg Muffat, Georg Friedrich Händel, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johann Caspar Kerll, Franz Xaver Murschhauser and Vincent Lübeck, a. o.
Tuesday, October 13
9:00–11:30
12:00–12:50
(Admission free)
Lunch recital
Roots in French vocal music
Maria Forsström, mezzo-soprano
Joris Verdin, organ
Afterwards, organ soup will be served in Örgryte Parish Hall.
(For presenters and registered participants only)
(Program TBA)
14:30–17:00
(Admission free)
Afternoon seminar
Vocal roots in organ music
L’Art du chant – roots of French organ performance in the mid 19th century
Joris Verdin and Maria Forsström, presenters
Early vocal traditions
Catalina Vicens, presenter
Hymn singing and organ accompaniment
William Porter, presenter
Roots of Swedish organ art in the 19th century
Jonas Lundblad, presenter
19:00–20:15
(Admission free)
Come and sing!
Hymn festival
The Roots of north European organ culture in hymn singing and organ accompaniment
William Porter, organ
Vasa Church Choir
Per Högberg, director
(Program TBA)
21:30–22:30
(Tickets TBA)
Night visions III
Kuhnau and the temple of Solomon
Joel Speerstra, organ
Romina Zanon, photography
Johann Kuhnau (1660–1722)
Frische Clavier Früchte (1696)
A presentation of the seven keyboard sonatas accompanied by a new film by professor Romina Zanon that imagines the works as the temple of Solomon.
Wednesday, October 14
09:00–11:30
Artisten, Ohlin Hall
(Admission free)
Morning workshop (for all participants and presenters of the organ festival)
Performing Pasquini
Alessandro De Marchi
Massimiliano Guido
Karin Nelson
Magnus Kjellson
Elia Pivetta, a. o., teachers
Discussions around partimento, improvisation and a new study of Pasquini’s opera Sant’Agnese. We will invite you into a micro-ecology around the Roman composer Bernardo Pasquini (1637–1710) and the legendary harpsichord builder to the royal courts of Europe, Girolamo Zenti (1609–1668), putting Bernardo Pasquini in the context of his relationship to Christina, the newly abdicated Queen of Sweden.
(Hosted by the ERC REM@KE project team and members of the Swedish Research Council project: Unlocking the Art of Composition, both based in part at the Academy of Music and Drama, University of Gothenburg.)
12:00–12:50
Vasa Church
(Admission free)Lunch concert
Lucile Dollat, organ
Elsa Barraine (1910–1999)
Selected works
Afterwards, organ soup will be served in Vasa Parish Hall. (For presenters and registered participants only)
14:30–17:00
Artisten, Ohlin Hall
(Admission free)
Afternoon seminar
PART 1:
14:30–16:00
Microhistories from Pasquini’s Rome
We invite you on a micro-historical grand tour of Rome starting in 1650 at the famous Todini Galleria Armonica and exploring compositions, performance, instruments and art around the city.
Alessandro De Marchi
Eleanor Smith-Guido
Karin Nelson
Matteo Lombardi
Massimiliano Guido
Magnus Kjellson
Elia Pivetta, a. o., presenters
PART 2:
16:15–17:00
Future perspectives of the organ art
Panel discussion with ECHO Young Ambassadors:
Tove Kyvik (Norway)
Marie Petit (Belgium)
Luca Akaeda Santesson (Japan, The Netherlands)
Benedetta Porcedda (Italy)
Francesca Ajossa (Italy/Belgium)
Pawel Michalek (Czech Republic)
Xinjie Li (China/Germany)
Eliott Bemberkoff (France)
Angela Ede (UK)
19:00–20:30
(Tickets TBA)
Roots in Swedish organ and choir music
Gothenburg Male Choir
Mathias Harms, director
Jan H. Börjesson, organ
Elfrida Andrée (1841–1929)
Selected works
Sara Wennerberg-Reuter (1875–1959)
Selected works
a. o.
21:30–22:30
(Tickets TBA)
Night visions IV
Roots in the 20th century
Benjamin Kjell, organ
Carl Nielsen (1865–1931)
Commotio, Op. 58
Thursday, October 15
8:30–11:00 (Backa Church)
9:00–11:30 (All other venues)
12:00–12:50
Lunch concert
Bach to the Roots!
Lisa Rydberg (Zorn Badge Bearer), violin
Gunnar Idenstam, organ
Join us as Father Bach is invited to dance side by side with the Swedish polska! Together, National Folk Musician Lisa Rydberg and organist Gunnar Idenstam create a unique groove of their own, as the concert hall’s mighty organ brings Bach and Swedish folk music together.
Afterwards, a pizza lunch will be served in Vasa Parish Hall. (For presenters and registered participants only)
14:00–19:30
The Swedish Royal Academy of Music visits Gothenburg
Since it was founded in 1771, the first ordinary session of the Royal Academy of Music located outside the Swedish capital of Stockholm takes place at the Concert Hall this afternoon. (For invited participants only)
14:30–17:00
(Admission free)
Afternoon seminar
Nordic perspectives of organ art
The search for new perspectives by Carl Nielsen´s in Commotio, Opus 58, sometimes entitled his last symphony
Benjamin Kjell, presenter
New edition of Swedish organ music by Sara Wennerberg-Reuter
Jan H. Börjesson, presenter
Roots of Swedish organ art in the 17th and 18th centuries
Jonas Lundblad, presenter
20:00–21:00
(Tickets TBA)
Vocal and instrumental concert
Anna Maria Friman, soprano
Amanda Flodin, alto
Tore Sunesson, tenor
Karl Peter Eriksson, bass
Chamber orchestra with period instruments
Ulrike Heider, conductor
Joseph Martin Kraus (1756–1792)
Overtura from Incidental Music to Olympie (VB33)
Benedictus Schindler (late 18th century)
Passion music (1775), for soloists, choir and orchestra. (The earliest known larger vocal and instrumental work composed in Göteborg. First performance since the 18th century.)
21:30–22:30
Night Visions V
Chamber music
(By invitation only)
(Program TBA)
Friday, October 16
8:30–11:00 (Backa Church)
9:00–11:30 (All other venues)
12:00–12:30
(Admission free)
Lunch concert
(Program TBA)
12:00–12:50
(Admission free)
Lunch concert
Juan María de la Rubia, organ
Francisco Correa de Arauxo (1584–1654)
Spanish Organ Music from 1626: Tientos
14:30–17:00
(Admission free)
Afternoon seminar
Music ecologies in Rome and Gothenburg and beyond
Rome in the mid-17th century: Queen Christina 400 years
Alessandro De Marchi
Massimiliano Guido
Eleanor Smith-Guido
Erik Kjellberg
Elia Pivetta
Matteo Lombardi, a. o., panelists
Gothenburg 1775 and 1894: Benedictus Schindler´s Passion music “Jesu död” (1775)
Schindler´s large-scale vocal and instrumental work was composed in Gothenburg during the 1770s by Benedict Schindler and is recently rediscovered. Elfrida Andrée´s Organ Symphony No. 2 in E-flat Major (1893/1894)
Jonas Lundblad
Andreas Edlund
Ulrike Heider, a. o, presenters.
Rooted and Rising: Ancient and Contemporary Storytelling on the Meantone Organ
Rooted in ancient history and rising to the present time, storytelling through music offers healing and catharsis. In this presentation, Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra will demonstrate how and why the arts can help people heal from trauma and introduce storytelling compositions that she co-created with international journalists to circumvent censorship, build community, & foster empowerment.
Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra, presenter.
17:00–17:40
Reception for participants and presenters of the festival
18:00–20:00
Orchestral and organ concert
Jonas Lundblad, organ
Samy Rachid, conductor
Lili Boulanger (1893–1918)
Pie Jesu for soprano, organ and harp
Elfrida Andrée (1841–1929)
Organ Symphony no. 2 in E-flat Major
Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809–1847)
Lobgesang Symphony no. 2
(In collaboration with Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra)
21:30–22:30
(Tickets TBA)
Night visions VI
North European roots
Nathan Laube, organ
Music by Heinrich Scheidemann, Matthias Weckmann, Dieterich Buxtehude and Vincent Lübeck.
Saturday, October 17
10:00–15:00
(Admission free, registration by invitation only)
Festival symposium
Pasquini, partimento, and patronage
Alessandro De Marchi
Elia Pivetta
Peter van Tour
Mattias Lundberg
Eleanor Smith-Guido
Erik Kjellberg
Joel Speerstra
Massimiliano Guido
Karin Nelson, a. o., panelists
Eleanor Smith-Guido, moderator
(In collaboration with Ågrenska Villan, University of Gothenburg and the Academy of Music and Drama, University of Gothenburg)
12:00–13:00
(Admission free)
Young voices festival concert
Gothenburg Cathedral Youth Choir
Petter Ekberg, conductor
(Program TBA)
14:00–15:00
(Admission free)
European roots in organ music
ECHO Young Ambassadors
Francesca Ajossa (Italy/Belgium), organ
Pawel Michalek (Czech Republic), organ
Xinjie Li (China/Germany), organ
Eliott Bemberkoff (France), organ
Angela Ede (UK), organ
Music by Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, Heinrich Scheidemann, Matthias Weckmann, Nicolas de Grigny, David Briggs and Bernard Foccroulle.
15:00–16:45
(Tickets GSO)
Orchestral and organ concert
Jonas Lundblad, organ
Samy Rachid, conductor
Lili Boulanger (1893–1918)
Pie Jesu for soprano, organ and harp
Elfrida Andrée (1841–1929)
Organ Symphony no. 2
Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809–1847)
Lobgesang Symphony no. 2
(In collaboration with Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra)
15:30–20:30
Vasa Church & Vasa Parish Hall
(Admission free)
Sweden 1940: music and art in wartime
Music from two large-scale works in concerts and a panel discussion
(Presenters TBA)
(Program TBA)
15:30–16:30
(Tickets TBA)
Det brinner på den ö som heter jorden
(There is a fire on the island called Earth)
A scenic concert where Lars-Erik Larsson's God in Disguise meets parts of Hilding Rosenberg's John's Revelation. The idea of the concert is to allow the above two perspectives on the past/present to be contrasted and juxtaposed and, through scenic design and musical contrasts, to illuminate the ever-changing conditions of humanity in relation to the dramatic questions of fate of the past/present. In the fusion of the two musical expressions, a streak of hope is formed, formulated in Rosenberg's chorales and in Larsson's humanistic adaptation of Gullberg's texts.
Bach-ensemble Småland with friends
Johannes Landgren, organ and music arrangement
Christine Löfgren, stage director
17:00–18:00
(Admission free)
Panel discussion
Sweden 1940: music and art in wartime
(Panel TBA)
19:00–20:30
(Tickets TBA)
Symphonic choral concert
Maria Forsström, mezzo-soprano
Camille Bloche, organ
Vocal Ensemble
Lux Ulrike Heider, direction
(Recitalist TBA)
Hilding Rosenberg (1892–1985)
From Symphony no. 4, The revelation of St. John (Version for soloist, choir and organ in seven parts. Original Translation of the Swedish text by Arthur King.)
21:30–22:30
(Tickets TBA)
Night visions VII
Rooted and rising: storytelling on the organ
Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra, composition and organ
Rooted in the healing power of the arts, Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra collaborates with international journalists to transform trauma into empowerment through music, theatre, dance, and poetry. For more info, see https://healingbellsglobal.com
Sunday, October 18
11:00–12:15
(Admission free)
Solemn High Mass
Organ and liturgy
Vasa Church Choir Per Högberg, direction and organ
Roots in West 20th-century Sweden
Fredrik Hjort (1868–1941)
Selected liturgical music
14:00–15:00
(Tickets TBA)
Chamber music by Gothenburg organists in the 20th century
(Program TBA)
15:30–17:00
(Venue TBA)
(Tickets TBA)Choir and organ from West Sweden
(Program TBA)(In collaboration with Gothenburg Chamber Music Society)
19:00–20:15
(Tickets TBA)
Roots in contemporary music for organ, voices and instruments
The ensemble Man Must Sing
Gageego!
(Organist TBA)
Music by Giacinto Scelsi, György Ligeti and Sofia Gubaidulina.
Surface Mail
GIOA c/o Hans Davidsson
Klövervägen 17
475 37 Bohus-Björkö
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