JOHANN BAPTIST WANHAL INTERNATIONAL ORGAN COMPETITION

Conditions of the 5th year of the competition

5th ANNUAL COMPETITION

WANHALL & KERLL

Held on: 7^th–8^th June 2027

Venue: Church of the Nativity, Kupkovo náměstí, 517 73 Opočno (Czech Republic)

Johann Baptist Wanhal is a renowned composer and a great figure of the second half of the 18th century. He worked as an organist in Opočno since he was 18 years old.

With the newly renovated organ at the Church of the Nativity in Opočno, Wanhal's organ work can be successfully interpreted, and the top-notch instrument can be used to attract young talented organists - students of music schools, conservatories, universities and colleges of music from all over the Czech Republic and abroad. There was previously no organ competition for an instrument with a short octave, and it is a suitable addition to major international competitions such as the Prague Spring Festival, the Leoš Janáček International Competition in Brno, the Petr Eben International Organ Competition in Opava, and Pro Bohemia Ostrava. The competition is held by the PROVARHANY association in cooperation with Opočno and the Roman Catholic Parish – Deanery of Opočno.

In addition to the works of J. B. Wanhall, the 5th edition of this international competition will also focus on Johann Caspar Kerll (1627–1693), a significant Baroque composer born exactly 400 years ago. While the entire musical world is currently commemorating the 200th anniversary of the death of Ludwig van Beethoven, he did not, in fact, compose many works for the organ. Kerll hailed from Saxony, and there is evidence of his activity in Prague. He was also active in Vienna — as was Vaňhal later. Kerll’s influence is evident in the works of Handel and Bach; Handel frequently borrowed themes and musical fragments from Kerll’s compositions, while Bach, for instance, arranged a portion of the *Sanctus* from one of Kerll’s masses.

COMPETITION CATEGORIES IN 2027:

There will be three competition categories:

YOUNG ORGANISTS – for students at Music Art School from the Czech Republic and Slovakia
CATEGORY I – for students of conservatories
CATEGORY II – for students at universities or academies

All categories are open to international participants.

YOUNG ORGANISTS

The maximum length of the program is 10 minutes

Any competition program suitable for an instrument with a short octave

CATEGORY I – the competitor must not be older than 23 years as of June 7^th, 2027

The maximum length of the program is 15 minutes
Johann Baptist Wanhall: a piece of one’s own choice
Johann Caspar Kerll: a piece of one’s own choice (marking the 400th anniversary of his birth)
Any piece(s) to complete the program, suitable for an instrument with a short octave
The condition is the representation of all three specifications

CATEGORY II – the competitor must not be older than 30 years as of June 7^th, 2027

The maximum length of the program is 20 minutes
Fugue by Johann Baptist Wanhal of one´s own choice
Johann Caspar Kerll: Capriccio sopra il cucu (marking the 400th anniversary of his birth)
Any piece(s) suitable for an instrument with a short octave; the ingenuity of the program's curation is also evaluated.
The condition is the representation of all three specifications

Jury of the 5^th annual of the competition:

MARTIN SCHMEDING – Germany

PIOTR ROJEK – Poland

PETR KOLAŘ – The Czech Republic

BASIC CONDITIONS OF THE COMPETITION:

The single-round competition will be held in the Church of the Nativity in Opočno (Hradec Králové Region) on a newly restored one-manual organ with a short octave
The competition will be held on 7^th–8^th June 2027
Registration forms must be sent by 31^st March 2027 via Google Forms
Send the following to the email address info@provarhany.cz:
- proof of payment of the entry fee
- a photograpy in jpeg format
- brief artist CV

The entry fee of CZK 1,600 per competitor (transfer fees are paid by the competitor) must be paid by transfer to account no 4120503399/0800 at Česká spořitelna - write the following in the note: Competition_category_surname, e.g.: Competition_categoryII_Novák
IBAN: CZ53 0800 0000 0041 2050 3399
SWIFT: GIBACZPX
The entry fee is non-refundable
The number of competitors is limited; in the event of great interest in the competition, the organizer reserves the right to select applicants according to the order in which the registration forms were received (if an applicant is not selected for the competition, the participation fee is refundable)
By submitting the registration form, participants also give their consent to the possible publication of information about them in the press, and to the publication of audiovisual recordings of the show exclusively for documentation or non-commercial presentation on social networks or in the media. Competitors shall not be entitled to remuneration in these cases
Transport and accommodation costs are covered by competitors and their professors
Each competitor must provide his own registrar
The organizer is not responsible for the sheet music of competitors; they must make sure they choose the appropriate edition
If the time limit is exceeded, the jury may cut performance
The order of competitors will be drawn at a meeting of the organizing committee after all registration forms have been received, and a record will be made of it
Competitors must be on the spot 20 minutes before the scheduled time of their performance
If a competitor does not arrive on time for the competition for serious reasons, he may be given a chance to play at the end of the competition if the jury agrees
Competitors must follow the order of the repertoire they listed in the registration form - any changes must be reported to the master of ceremonies on the day of the competition
If conservatory students do not meet the age limit for Category I, they can apply for Category II
Students of any of the jury may not compete

REGISTRATION AND ACOUSTIC TESTS:

The schedule of online reservations for the registration tests (each competitor will be given 90 minutes) will be published after the registration deadline, but no later than 19^th April 2027
The organizer undertakes to ensure sufficient time for the acoustic test on the day of the competition

PRIZES:

The winners will receive prizes, the winner of the 2nd category will receive 10,000 CZK
The winners of I or II CATEGORY will have the opportunity to perform at an honorable concert
The judges will decide to award one or more prizes; they have the right to divide the prizes, or to not award them at all

ORGAN CHARACTERISTICS – Organ manufactury in Králíky from 1748, restoration of the instrument was completed in 2021 by Ivan Bok

Tracker action, Werckmeister IV

I/10, manual CDEFGA-c3

pedal CFDGEABH c Cis d Dis e f Fis g Gis a

Flauta 8´ Subbas 16´
Quintadena 8´ Violonbass 8´
Principal 4´ Octavbass 4´
Fugara 4´
Octave 2´
Cymbal 2x
Mixtur 2x

ORGANIZER:

PROVARHANY z.s.

Registered office of association: Radima Drejsla 619, 518 01 Dobruška

Chairman of the association: Mgr. Lukáš Koblása, tel. no +420 605 922 524

www.provarhany.cz

info@provarhany.cz

CRN: 04692896, Bank account: Česká spořitelna 4120503399 / 0800