Henry Webb is a Masters student at McGill University, studying organ with Isabelle Demers and harpsichord with Elizaveta Miller. In 2023, Henry completed a bachelor’s degree in Organ Performance under David Higgs at the Eastman School of Music, and a diploma of Specialization from Johann Vexo at the Strasbourg conservatory in 2023. Henry is the recipient of the 2nd prize and the audience prize of the 2023 Ottumwa National Undergraduate Organ Competition.
Montréal becomes World Organ Capital again
Competitions
Johannes Skoog wins the 6th Canadian International Organ Competition
Organist Johannes Skoog from Stockholm was named the winner of the Canadian International Organ Competition. Besides his cash prize of CAD 25.000 he received a CD recording on the ATMA Classique label, 3-year career management services for North America by Karen McFarlane Artists, and a 3-year career development program by the CIOC.
Second Prize ($15,000 CAD) went to Montreal-based American organist Henry Webb, while Third Prize ($10,000 CAD) went to Alma Bettencourt from Paris.
Johannes Skoog holds degrees from the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, Conservatoire de Paris and Staatliche Musikhochschule in Stuttgart, with teachers including Olivier Latry, Nathan Laube, Louis Robilliard, Michel Bouvard, Thierry Escaich and Mathias Kjellgren. He has spent five years at the cathedral of Västerås as Associate Organist and is currently teaching organ interpretation at Lilla Akademien, in Stockholm.
Johannes Skoog, 1st prize winner
Henry Webb, 2nd prize winner
Alma Bettencourt, 3rd prize winner
Alma Bettencourt has been studying organ with Olivier Latry and Thomas Ospital at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris, since 2020. She obtained her Licence d’Interprétation in organ in May 2023. In 2018, she won the André Marchal “L’Orgue des Jeunes” competition. In 2021, she performed as a duo with cellist Julie Sévilla-Fraysse and participated as a performer in the Concours de Composition de St-Sulpice (Paris).
Organ Capital Montréal
The rich musical tradition in the city, the long history of organ building, and the quality of the city’s organists – many of them very well-known teachers – creates a most favourable opportunity for great concerts, and the development of exceptional careers. Each year Montrealers are able to attend over 200 organ recitals, and their numbers are said to be about 30 000. In some churches the organs have been restored, as is the case at Saint-Anges Church in Lachine where the community has rediscovered the joys of organ music.
In 1998, John Grew, Organist of McGill University, founded an Organ Academy to which every two years he welcomes some of the top organ music specialists, internationally renowned performers and organists of cathedrals such as Notre Dame de Paris. Mr. Grew himself participates in international competitions as a jury member.
The rich and diverse organ heritage of Montreal, his own passion for developing the talents of young organists, and the disappearance of the Calgary International Organ Competition, led him to gather interested businessmen in a planning committee. From this group, the idea was born to create the Canadian International Organ Competition (CIOC), a large-scale event, whose first edition took place from October 8 – 19, 2008.
Under the chairmanship of E. Noël Spinelli, C.M., the CIOC was the only international organ competition in the Americas in 2008. Three Honorary Patrons are associated with this first edition: Kent Nagano, Musical Director of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal; Père Lindsay, founder of the Festival de Lanaudière; and the late Richard Bradshaw, who was the director of the Canadian Opera Company from 1998 until 2007. A jury of nine renowned organists awarded prizes totalling $72,000 to a carefully selected group of the world’s finest young organists. The CIOC confirms Montreal as the North American organ capital.
Prizes:
1st prize: Johannes Skoog (32, Stockholm)
2nd prize: Henry Webb, Montreal
3rd prize: Alma Bettencourt, Paris
Jury:
Jean-Willy Kunz (Chair), Kevin Bowyer, Isabelle Demers, Hans-Ola Ericsson, Bernard Foccroulle, Marnie Giesbrecht, David Hurd, Olivier Latry, Kimberly Marshall
©️ WFIMC / FR 2024
