The Competitors 2005

The preselection of Kotka International Organ Competition 2005 was held in November 22.-23.2004. The following organists were chosen as competitors:

 

	CHRISTIAN AHLSKOG, born 1979 in Finland, studied the organ at the Pietarsaari Conservatory with Dan Lönnqvist 1996-99, continued at the Sibelius Academy 1999-2004 with Kari Jussila and took his final exam with honours in the spring of 2004. He has also studied other keyboard instruments, such as the piano and the clavichord. From the autumn of 2004 he has studied the organ at the Amsterdam Conservatory with Pieter van Dijk and the clavichord with Menno van Delft as well as improvisation with Kaj-Erik Gustafsson and Anders Bondemann.
	JUKKA ARO, born in Finland in 1974, started playing the piano at five in Kuopio, went on at the Sibelius Academy, started the organ in 1998 at the same institution studying with Lasse Erkkilä, Markku Hietaharju and Olli Porthan. He got his Master of Music-degree in 2003 and continues as a member of the prestigious Performing Music Arts-programme. He has participated in several master classes in Finland, Sweden and the Netherlands, given concerts in Finland and performs regularly as a chamber-musician and accompanyist.
	HAYO BOEREMA, born in the Netherlands in 1972, studied the organ at the Royal Dutch Conservatory in the Hague, choir-conducting at the Rotterdam Conservatory and the organ in Paris with Naji Hakim. Hayo Boerema is a seasoned competitor, especially so as an improviser, has won several competitions such as the Anton Heiller Prize in the Vienna Competition in 1998, the Nuremberg Competition in 1999 and the Grand Concours in Paris in 1999. At present he is appointed organist and Master of Music at the St. Jacob´s Church in Winterswijk in the Netherlands.
	NORA GRIKŠTAITĖ was born in 1977 in Lithuania. During her school years she sang in the children´s choir of the Lithuanian TV and Radio. At the same time she took piano lessons at the choir studio. In 1992 she entered the Vilnius Conservatory and studied the organ with Leopoldas Digrys. Later she went on with organ studies at the Lithuanian Music Academy, took her Bachelor of Music degree with Digrys and her Master of Music degree with Virginija Survilaitė. Since 2003 Nora Grikštaitė studies church music and the organ with Heribert Metzger at the University of Music and Dramatic Arts at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. During her studies she has participated in organ master classes with Ludger Lohmann, Ewald Kooiman, Lorenzo Ghielmi, Wolfgang Zerer and others. Since her first organ concert with the Vilnius Conservatory students in 1994 she gave many solo organ as well as chamber music concerts, participated in a concert broadcasted by the ORF. Since 1996 she has worked as organist of the Holy Cross, St. Mary and St. George Matulaitis churches in Vilnius. At present Nora Grikštaitė is the organist of the St. Vitalis Church in Salzburg.
	DIANA JAUNZEME, born in Latvia in 1979, started to play the piano at seven and got her diploma in 1994. In the same year she took up the organ at the Latvian Academy of Music and graduated there as an organist in 2003. At present she continues her studies with Talivaldis Deksnis at the same institution. Jaunzeme has participated in The International Mallorca Organ Project 2004 with Hans Hellsten, Theo Jellema and Reitze Smits teaching. She also took part in the 7th International Organ Academy in Leufsta Bruk, Sweden in 2003 as well as having participated in masterclasses (Lohmann, Phillips, Laukvik). Jaunzeme has fared well in competitions, has performed as a soloist in Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Austria and Slovenia. At present she is the organist of the Saulkrasti Lutheran Church in Latvia.
	SUSANNE KUJALA, born in Germany in 1976, began playing the accordion at seven, adding the organ to her lyre at 14 in Berlin, her birthtown. In 1999 she got her accordion-teacher´s exam with honours at the Berliner Hochschule für Musik, Hanns Eisler. In the spring of 2002 she took her accordion- and organist´s exams with honours at the Sibelius Academy. She has participated in several international master classes (Jacques van Oortmerssen, Pieter van Dijk, Felix Friedrich, Francesco di Lernia). She has won prizes in accordion-competitions, was a semifinalist in the International Max Reger-Olivier Messiaen-competition in Graz in 2003, has played in the Berlin Komische Oper, the Finnish National Opera, premiered compositions by Kalevi Aho, Markus Fagerudd, Sampo Haapamäki, Veli Kujala, Pekka Pohjola, Vesa Valkama and Helmut Zapf and performed as a soloist in Austria, Germany, the Netherlands and the USA. Kujala continues her studies with Markku Hietaharju at the Sibelius Academy.
	LIISA LUUKKALA, born in Finland in 1981, started with the piano at five and the organ at 13 being taught at the Tampere Conservatory by Anne Nietosvaara and Ville Urponen, studying at the Sibelius Academy with Olli Porthan and Kari Jussila, getting piano- and organ-degrees in 2002-2003. Luukkala has participated in several master classes both at home and abroad (Paolo Crivellaro, Pieter van Dijk, Kati Hämäläinen, Luigi Panzieri, Hallgeir Schiager). Additionally she is acting organist at the Alexander´s Church in Tampere, prepares her final exam and performs on a regular basis as a soloist and chamber-musician. She has also given concerts in Italy and Russia.
	MARIKA OKSALA, born in Finland in 1976, studied the piano in Vaasa, Kokkola, and later at the Jyväskylä Conservatory, graduating as a teacher of the piano in the spring of 2000 and starting the organ in 1999. The following year she continued at the Sibelius Academy with Kari Jussila, in 2003-2004 as a Nordplus-stipend on Hans Fagius´ class at the Royal Danish Music Academy in Copenhagen. At present Oksala prepares her final exam at the Sibelius-Academy. Marika Oksala has participated in several masterclasses both at home and abroad and has performed in Finland as well as in Sweden, Denmark and Italy.
	OLLI PYYLAMPI, born in Finland in 1976, studies the organ at the Churchmusic Department of the Sibelius Academy with Olli Porthan as well as having attended several masterclasses both at home and abroad teachers being Jean Boyer, Kevin Boywer, Andrea Marcon and Jacques van Oortmerssen. In 2002-2003 he studied with Pieter van Dijk at the Amsterdam Conservatory with the financial aid of two domestic funds rounding off his studies with the Bachelor of Music-degree. Pyylampi has performed in broadcasts by the Finnish BC and given concerts both in Finland and the Netherlands, has engagements with the Helsinki Cathedral and is active with the Organum-society both as a member of the board and being the secretary of it.
	BENJAMIN RIGHETTI, born in Switzerland in 1982, started playing the piano in 1991 and the organ in 1992 at the conservatory of Neuchatel, his hometown. In 1995 he was admitted to J-F Antonioli´s piano-class at the Lausanne Conservatory where he got his Teaching Diploma in 2000 and Soloist´s Diploma in 2003. At the same time he studied the organ at the Geneva Conservatory, first with Y. Rochsteiner and later with F. Delor. In 2000 he got an honorary mention by the conservatory´s teacher´s board for his teaching-diploma. After that he studied with J.W. Jansen and M. Bouvard in Toulouse, where he absolved the organ ”Premier Prix”.  Righetti has won prizes in several competitions (the Concour Suisse de l´Orgue 2002, the J.S. Bach-competition in Brugge in 2003 and the Tokyo-Musashino- competition in 2004). He gives concerts regularly in Switzerland and abroad. He had an organist´s position at the Church of Colombieri (NE) in 1997-2001 and at present in Villars (Alpes Vauoises).
	MARGARITA SHABLOVSKAYA, born in Russia in 1974, was admitted to a specially gifted children´s school where she studied the piano, and from the age of eight performed both as a recitalist and a soloist with orchestras. She has absolved several exams: piano-, accompanying-, and chamber music- (St. Petersburg in 1996) and organ- (Geneva 1998, Lyon 1998, Lausanne 1999). She has also participated in master-classes with Ludger Lohmann, Trevor Pinnock, Robert Hill, Jean Boyer and Marie-Claire Alain. At present she studies for her Soloist´s Diploma with Wolfgang Zehrer in Hamburg. Shablovskaya has won several prizes in organ-competitions: Geneva 1994, the Concour Suisse de l´Orgue 1999, Maastricht 2000, Toulouse 2002, Sweelinck/Danzig 2003, the Musashino-Tokyo 2004. She has performed as a pianist, harpsichordist and organist with solo- and chamber-music in Poland,Russia, France, Germany and Switzerland.
	ESA TOIVOLA, born 1974 in Finland, studied churchmusic with Mikko Korhonen at the Kuopio branch of the Sibelius Academy, specializing in improvisation. Toivola got his Master´s degree in 2001, studied further at the Amsterdam Conservatory with Pieter van Dijk 2000-2001 and took his final exam in 2003 with Jaana Ikonen. Since 2003 Toivola has studied with Hans-Ola Ericsson in Piteå, Sweden and has also participated in several master classes in Finland as well as abroad. At present Esa Toivola works in the Kuopio branch of the Sibelius Academy teaching improvisation, the organ and music theory. He has performed extensively in Finland both as a soloist as well as an accompanyist and continuo-player. In 2004 he won the Nijmegen International Organ Competition in the Netherlands.