The International Improvisation Competition is for the audience the most important component of the Organ Festival. The improvisation competition consists of a preliminary round, for which a recording of improvisations is required, and two rounds and a Finale in Haarlem, in which participants must improvise not only as soloists but also with another discipline or together with another musician.
The Improvisation Competition is open to professional organists with concert improvisation experience. There is no age limit.

Participation

Would you like to participate? Download the improvisation assignments and themes for the preliminary round here and send an audio recording with improvisations on these given themes via WeTransfer or another file transfer service to office@organfestival.nl. At the same time, send an email to this email address with your short musical biography and your contact details. The deadline for submitting recordings for the preliminary round of the competition is 15 March 2026. You will hear whether you have been admitted to the Improvisation Competition before 15 April.

Dates

The two selection rounds of the Improvisation Competition will take place on Monday 20 (8 participants) and Wednesday 22 July 2026 (6 participants); the Final (3 finalists) and the announcement of the Winner of 2026 will be held on Friday 24 July 2026 in the Grote of St.-Bavokerk in Haarlem.

Jury

The jury of the 2026 International Improvisation Competition consists of:

• Jean-Pierre Leguay (F)
• Franz Danksagmüller (D)
• Mathilde Wantenaar (NL)
• Inger-Lise Ulsrud (NO)
• Samuel Liégeon (F)
• Ansgar Wallenhorst (D, chairman)

Prizes

There are three prizes to be won: a jury prize (€5,000) which is sponsored by the Piet Kee Foundation, an audience prize (€1,000) and a prize for the best improvisation of the competition (€500). In addition to the cash prize, the winner of the jury prize will receive an original pen drawing of the Bavo organ and will be offered a series of concerts around the world.

On Tuesday 21 July 2026, Jean-Pierre Leguay will give a public lecture-masterclass with the competition participants.