JOHANN BAPTIST WANHAL INTERNATIONAL ORGAN COMPETITION

Conditions of the 4th year of the competition

4th ANNUAL COMPETITION

Held on: 1st June 2026

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

 

APPLICATION - GOOGLE

 

PROPOSAL FOR DOWNLOAD

 

COMPETITION CATEGORIES IN 2026:

There will be two competition categories:

  • Category I is for students of conservatories
  • Category II is for students at universities or academies

Both categories are open to international participants

 

CATEGORY I – the competitor must not be older than 23 years as of June 1st, 2026

  • The maximum length of the program is 15 minutes
  • Fugue by Johann Baptist Wanhal of one´s own choice
  • Jaroslav Tůma: Opočenské bagately – 1. Osudové (kon)sekvence (durata 3 min, the sheet music will be provided to the competitor after submitting the application and paying the competition fee)
  • Partita, chaconne, or another variation form (J. Pachelbel, G. Böhm, J. P. Sweelinck, ...) 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 1st, 2026

  • The maximum length of the program is 20 minutes.
  • Fugue by Johann Baptist Wanhal of one´s own choice
  • Jaroslav Tůma: Opočenské bagately – 4. Alla Vivaldi (durata 3 min, the sheet music will be provided to the competitor after submitting the application and paying the competition fee)
  • Partita, chaconne, or another variation form (J. Pachelbel, G. Böhm, J. P. Sweelinck, ...) suitable for an instrument with a short octave
  • The condition is the representation of all three specifications

 

Jury of the 4th annual of the competition:

Imrich Szabó – Slovakia (Music Academy, Bratislava)

Adam Viktora – Czech Republic (Conservatory, Pilsen)

Ireneusz Wyrwa – Poland (University of F. Chopin, Warsaw)

 

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 1st June 2026
  • The registration form will be published on 1st November 2025.
  • Registration forms must be sent by 28th February 2026 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 19th April 2026
  • 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 will have the opportunity to perform at an honorable concert in Opočno
  • 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

 

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.

Prof. Jaroslav Tůma, a leading concert organist and professor at AMU in Prague, composed a new work commissioned for the competition titled Opočenské bagately. This cycle of organ pieces is thematically and motivically derived from the work of Jan Křtitel Vaňhal, specifically from his collection of 12 organ fugues. The collection also includes twelve compositions, each inspired by a respective fugue from the mentioned cycle. Competitors in the upcoming competition edition will perform one of the fugues by J. B. Wanhal and one composition by Jaroslav Tůma, who will celebrate a milestone birthday in 2026.

 

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

Tracker action

I/10, manual CDEFGA-c3

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

Werckmeister IV

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

 

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

IBAN: CZ53 0800 0000 0041 2050 3399

SWIFT: GIBACZPX



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