Freiburg organists take top prizes in Tokyo

Niklas Jahn and Risa Toho awarded First and Second at the 9th Musashino-Tokyo intl. Organ Competition

Organist Niklas Jahn, a student of Matthias Maierhofer at Freiburg University of Music, won first prize at the international organ competition “International Organ Competition Musashino-Tokyo”, one of the most important organ competitions in the world. Following his win, he will be invited to extensive concert tours in Japan, Poland, Germany and other countries in 2024 and 2025. He also received a record contract with the label “Naxos”.
Another Freiburg graduate, Risa Toho, won second prize as well as audience prize.

Niklas Jahn had previously won the international organ improvisation competition in St Albans (Great Britain) in July 2023. The organist received his Bachelor of Music at the University of Mainz, studying with Gerhard Gnann and Hans-Jürgen Kaiser. He completed his master's degree in church music at Freiburg University of Music, majoring in in organ and organ improvisation in the classes of Vincent Dubois, Prof. David Franke and Prof. Matthias Maierhofer. Currently, he is the first student to take part in the newly established organ improvisation class at Freiburg.