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The 9th Daniel Herz International Organ Competition, held from 29 August to 6 September in Bressanone/Brixen, in Italy’s South Tyrol, was won by the Spanish organist Nadal Roig Serralta, who received the €5,000 first prize. Japan’s Kanaka Shimizu took second prize (€3,000), while two third prizes were awarded to the Austrian organists Sarah-Maria Pilwax and Manuel Fröschl. Fifteen young organists of different nationalities took part in the competition, judged by a panel chaired by Andrea Marcon and including Anna Scholl, Jörg Halubek and Franz Comploi.
Founded in 2008 and held every two years, the Daniel Herz Competition has one feature that gives it particular interest: candidates are required to perform on two very different instruments, each with its own sound world. They move from the 48-stop Pirchner organ, built in 1980 in Brixen Cathedral, to the historic Herz/Ahrend organ in the Frauenkirche, whose origins go back to 1648–49 and the Tyrolean organ builder Daniel Herz. Restored and reconstructed by Hendrik Ahrend in 2010, the latter is particularly well suited to seventeenth-century repertoire.
The 2026 programme accordingly brought together Sweelinck, Froberger and Frescobaldi on the historic instrument, while Bach, Schumann, Mozart, Muffat and a work of the candidate’s choice composed after 1960 featured among the rounds on the Pirchner. Beyond the prizes themselves, several concert engagements are offered to the successful musicians, notably in Brixen, Bolzano, Badia, Campo di Tures and Vicenza.
Official competition website: https://danielherz.it/
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