Northern Ireland International Organ Competition announces winner

The Northern Ireland International Organ Competition (NIIOC) has announced that British organist George Herbert has been awarded its first prize. Herbert receives a cash prize of £4,000 plus recitals in New York, Berlin and London.

The competition second prize of £1,000 and three UK recitals was awarded to German contestant Theresa Heidler, who also won the Bach Prize. Australian competitor Jonathan Lee took home the competition third prize of £500 and three recitals in the UK and Ireland. The Dame Gillian Weir Medal for an outstanding performance of one particular piece was won by Philipp Henning who also, along with Tingshuo Yang, received a commendation for his programme.

The jury was chaired by Canadian organist Isabelle Demers who said: ‘We were treated to some striking performances during the 2023 Northern Ireland International Organ Competition, proving that the future of the profession is in very good hands… The high level of performance we heard made it rather difficult to choose the three prize winners, which is a very good problem to have! 

Demers was accompanied on the jury by King’s College Cambridge director of music Daniel Hyde, and Charles Wood Festival and Summer School artistic director and long-time NIIOC patron David Hill. The NIIOC 2023 competition also included intermediate and junior competitions won by Elisabeth Merschdodf and Darragh Magee respectively.

Aimed to offer players aged 22 their first experience of the competition environment, the NIIOC took place in the Northern Irish town of Armagh earlier this week (21 to 23 August). The senior and intermediate rounds of the competition took place in St Patrick’s Church of Ireland Cathedral while the junior competition was hosted by St Malachy’s Roman Catholic Church.

Currently assistant director of music designate at His Majesty’s Chapel Royal, Hampton Court Palace, Herbert has been organ scholar and assistant organist at St John’s College Cambridge for the past four years. Now living in London, he is embarking on a freelance career as an organist, director and piano accompanist.

Herbert said: ‘It was my unexpected and overwhelming pleasure to be awarded first prize in the senior category of this year’s competition. It was a privilege (albeit a nerve-wracking one!) to share a stage with so many talented players. I’m sure that NIIOC must be one of the friendliest music competitions that exists – from the extremely warm, welcoming organising team and the encouraging jury to the delightful company of the other competitors.’