Competition Rules

JEAN-LOUIS FLORENTZ INTERNATIONAL ORGAN GREAT PRICE
FRENCH ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS
The work to raise the Grand Organ of Angers Cathedral having fallen behind schedule,
The Competition has been postponed to May 17 and 18, 2025.

The Organ Great Price J-Louis FLORENTZ of French Academy of Fine Arts – 2025 will be presided by Mr Vincent Dubois, organiste de Notre-Dame de Paris, professeur à la Musikhochschule de Saarbrücken.

The jury is composed of organists, one member of Academy of Fine Arts, a representative from the Ministery of Culture and personalities from the musical world.

Jury 2025

• Vincent Dubois, président du Jury, organiste de Notre-Dame de Paris, professeur d’orgue à la Musikhochschule de Saarbrücken
• Thierry Escaich, compositeur, Membre de l’Académie des beaux-arts
• Christophe Millet, directeur du Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Toulouse, Expert mandaté par Madame la Directrice régionale des affaires culturelles
• Isabelle Demers, professeur d’orgue à l’Université McGill, à Montréal
• Véronique Le Guen, directrice-adjointe de l’Académie de Musique et d’Arts Sacrés de Sainte-Anne-d’Auray
• Matthias Maierhofer, organiste de la cathédrale de la Münster à Fribourg, professeur d’orgue à la Musikhochschule de Fribourg
• Thomas Ospital, organiste de Saint-Eustache, professeur d’orgue au CNSM de Paris
• Grégoire Rolland, organiste titulaire de la Cathédrale d’Aix, professeur de composition, orchestration et écriture au CRR d’Avignon

1- General Conditions

Candidates must be under the age of thirty on 18 May 2025.

They come from higher national conservatories, regional/departmental conservatories or municipal conservatories.

Access to the Competition is reserved for candidates who are, at least, currently in a specialized cycle or a professionally oriented cycle or an initial professional education cycle.

For foreign candidates, an equivalence commission decides according to the level of the candidate on the basis of the supporting documents produced: at least Master, Bachelor level, etc.

The following documents must be sent to the CSPO before 15 January 2025 :

• The application form correctly filled in
• An audio CD or digital file recording of the Toccata en fa majeur, BWV 540 de Johann Sebastian Bach  de Johann Sebastian Bach  (compulsory piece) with a signed attestation that the recording is the candidate’s own playing. Any editing will invalidate the candidate’s application.
• A full description of the instrument used
• An official certificate or diploma delivered by the Director of the candidate’s Music School or College
• A curriculum vitae, including the names of the candidate and organ teachers

> Sending of the registration form by post in:  CSPO 34 avenue Jean Lurçat 49240 AVRILLE – FRANCE
> Sending of the registration form by email in: bmcspo@orange.fr

2- The Competition

Mid January 2025 the title of the work imposed for the final, commissioned from the composer Grégoire Rolland, will be published on our internet site www.printempsdesorgues.fr

Early February 2025, eight semi-finalists will be selected by the Festival Committee supervised by Jury members.

Mid February 2025, all candidates will receive the results.

Each of the selected and present candidates for the semi-final will receive a 500-€ lump sum in compensation of its traveling costs and accommodation.

Successful candidates must inform the CSPO of their individual programme (10 minutes for the Semi-Final and 20 minutes for the Final) before the end of February 2025.

The candidates have 6 hours of rehearsal, spread over the same day, on the organ of the Cathedral of Angers.

A general rehearsal takes place at the Cathedral of Angers before each competition with the assistants approved by the Festival :
– on friday, May 16, 2025, from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. for the semi-final (30 minutes per candidate)
– on saturday, May 17, 2025, from 8:00 p.m. at midnight for the final (1 hour per candidate)

3 – Competition dates

Semi-final: Saturday 17 May 2025

• 3:00 PM –  Saint-Maurice Cathedral in Angers (49)

8 The semi-finalists must play a ten-minute individual program and followed by the compulsory pieces, Toccata en fa majeur, BWV 540 de Johann Sebastian Bach.

After deliberation the members of the jury will name the four finalists who are expected to play at Angers Cathedral the next day.

The announcement will be made in the Angers Cathedral at 7:00 PM.

Final: Sunday 18 May 2025

• 3:00 PM – Saint-Maurice Cathedral in Angers (49)

Each of the four finalists must play a twenty-minute program, and the compulsory piece that will be announced in mid-January 2025, specially composed by Grégoire Rolland.

The results will be announced, in the presence of Mr. Nicolas Dufetel, Deputy Mayor for Culture and Heritage of the City of Angers, and the public, in the Hall of Honor of the Angers City Hall.

4- Prizes

Grand Prix d’Orgue Jean-Louis Florentz – Académie des Beaux-Arts – 2025:
On the third Wednesday of November, the winning finalist of the Jean-Louis Florentz – French Academy of Fine Arts – 2025 Organ Grand Prix will be awarded a prize worth 6,500€ (six thousand, five hundred euros) in the prestigious setting of the Institut de France in Paris, on the 3rd Wednesday of November. They will also be offered several performance opportunities, including the church of la Madeleine in Paris, Evian Organ Festival… and in Angers at the Printemps des Orgues Festival: for the Nuit de l’Orgue (Organ night) and the Journées du patrimoine (Heritage days).

Prix d’interprétation de la création contemporaine: (Prize for interpretation of contemporary creation)
The candidate in the Jury’s choice who best interpreted the contemporary work created during the final receives a reward of 1,500€ (one thousand, five hundred euros) under the Dome of the Institut de France, on the 3rd Wednesday of November.

Prix de la Ville d’Angers:
The city of Angers will award a prize worth 1,000€ (one thousand euros) to the runner-up.

Prize Pierre Pincemaille awarded by the general public:
Members of the public who have attended the finals will be entitled to vote for a special prize for the organist of their choice. The city of Angers has agreed to provide 500€ (five hundred euros) worth of prize money for the occasion.

5 – Contacts

For questions about musical aspects of the competition, please contact:

François-Henri Houbart, Titular of the Great Organ of La Madeleine in Paris, emeritus professor of Rueil-Malmaison Conservatoire: frhh.org@gmail.com

For administrative questions:

Maryvonne Fleury: +33 (0)6 34 24 19 80 or maryvonnefleury-lourson@hotmail.fr