More than a hundred amateur organists will seize their chance on Saturday. During the Northern Netherlands Organ Day, they get behind the organ of one of the participating churches.
A tradition, that’s what Jan Dijkstra dares to call the Northern Netherlands Organ Day. Dijkstra is chairman of the Hinszorgel Leens Foundation, the organizer of the organ day. Organ Day is back on the agenda on Saturday, with organ music in almost a hundred churches.
In those churches, amateur organists are given the opportunity to play the church organ for half an hour. More than a hundred enthusiasts have registered for this.
The participating churches are freely accessible to anyone interested on organ day. By far the most organs that can be played are in a Groningen church. In Fryslân the games are played in Eanjum, Dokkum, Jelsum, Koarnjum, Marrum, Mitselwier and Moarre.
Stable quantity
The number of churches that participate in the annual organ day is stable, says Dijkstra. This also applies to the number of participating amateur organists. “Over the years we have gathered a steady group of participants around us, people who enjoy playing the church organ.”
The organizing foundation offers everyone who registers the opportunity. “We do not do balloting. Experience shows that the people who register know how to handle an organ.”
There is no age limit, says Dijkstra. “I still remember a girl of about seven or eight years old. That child enjoyed it immensely. She could hardly believe that she could play such a large organ.”
Almost every organ is subscribed to, says the chairman. “But one organ is more popular than the other.”
According to him, the organs in the Martinikerk and the Akerk in Groningen are popular. The recently restored organ in the Sebastiaankerk in Warffum was also fully booked this year “in no time”. The main organ in the Martini Church, with its 3,500 pipes and 53 registers, is one of the largest Northern European baroque organs. “Every organist would of course like to play that at some point.”
Stage
Organ Day Northern Netherlands was first held in the late 1960s with the aim of offering a platform to amateur organists who do not easily get the opportunity to play a church organ. After the first edition, which only took place in Leens, other places in Groningen also participated, soon followed by places in North Drenthe and northeast Fryslân.
The organ day will end on Saturday at 5 p.m. with a concert by organists Euwe and Sybolt de Jong on the Hinsz organ of the Petruskerk in Leens. “That promises something,” says Dijkstra. The brothers’ program includes four-hand renditions of parts from Bach cantatas. The concert is also the opening of the concert series that will take place in this church until September 14.
Information about the participating organs and times: www.hinszorgelleens.nl
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