Organ summer in Hallgrímskirkja -Thierry Escaich, organ Notre-Dame, Paris/France

Organ Summer in Hallgrímskirkja 2024

Sunday August 4th at 17hrs
Thierry Escaich, organ Notre-Dame, Paris/France
Tickets are available at Hallgrímskirkja and on tix.is
Admission ISK 3.700

Thierry Escaich and Composer, Organist
Composer, organist and improviser Thierry Escaich is a unique figure in contemporary music and one of the most important French composers of his generation. His distinctive sound-world draws from Ravel, Messiaen and Dutilleux and is imbued with references to contemporary, jazz, popular and spiritual music. Major works in Escaich’s catalogue include his operas Claude, Shirine, and Point d’orgue, and recent new works have included a piano concerto Études symphoniques for Seong-Jin Cho, a Cello Concerto for Gautier Capuçon and a Violin Concerto for Renaud Capucon and the Munich Philharmonic. He was Featured Composer at the 2018 Radio France Présences Festival, and will be Composer in Residence of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra 2024/25.

Escaich is one of the ambassadors of the great French school of improvisation in the wake of Maurice Duruflé, whom he succeeded as organist of Saint-Étienne-du-Mont de Paris; in 2024 he was announced as Organiste Titulaire of Notre Dame de Paris. His compositions for organ are especially notable and include solo and chamber works, three concerti, and the symphonic poem La Barque solaire. As soloist, Escaich has appeared with orchestras such as the Vienna Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National de France, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. He also performs recitals in major concert halls and churches around the world, and improvised accompaniments for silent films such as Phantom of the Opera and Metropolis.

Many of Escaich’s works have been recorded by Accord/Universal, and other releases include Baroque Song on Sony Classical, Aria with Richard Galliano, Vocalises with Romain Leleu, Fusion with the Ellipsos Saxophone Quartet and Cris with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. Thierry Escaich has been honoured by five ‘Victoires de la Musique’ awards (2003, 2006, 2011, 2017 and 2022). He continues to teach composition and improvisation at the Paris Conservatoire, where he himself studied. In 2013 he was appointed to the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris.

Thierry Escaich is represented by Intermusica.