The Seventeenth International Gottfried Silbermann Organ Competition will be held September 6–14 in Freiberg, Germany. The biennial competition, open to all organists born after December 31, 1993, is dedicated to the organbuilder who created a unique organ landscape from his workshop in Freiberg 300 years ago.
The three rounds of the competition will take place on the historic Silbermann organs of the Jakobikirche, the Petrikirche, and the Cathedral St. Marien in Freiberg. First prize is €7,000 and the designation Young ECHO Organist of the Year 2026, with recitals in Alkmaar, Altenburg, Brussels, Freiburg, Granada, Innsbruck, Leuven, Mafra, Tangermünde, Toulouse, Treviso, and Trondheim. Second prize is €4,000; third prize, €3,000. There is also an audience prize of €2,000. An array of recitals throughout Germany is also awarded by the jury to finalists.
The jury of the final rounds consists of Vincent Bernhardt (Germany), Henry Fairs (UK, chair), Zuzana Ferjenčíková (Slovakia), Bernard Foccroulle (Belgium), Albrecht Koch (Germany), Matthias Maierhofer (Austria), and Ja Kyung Oh (South Korea).
Application deadline is April 30.
For information: silbermann.org.
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