Göteborg International Organ Festival
Gothenburg International Organ Festival and Gothenburg's organ festival for the young are scenes for early and new music in cross-border cross-cultural collaboration, whose goal is to be an annual appreciated gateway to a world of sensual passion and new sounds.
Göteborg International Organ Festival
9-18 October 2025
Visions
Welcome to this year's Göteborg International Organ Festival, a twelve-day event featuring concerts, talks, workshops and musical encounters. This year, the festival highlights the organ as an instrument of change, optimism and artistic courage. This year's theme is 'Visions', focusing on the importance of thinking in new ways, giving a voice to those who have previously been silenced, and challenging traditions.
The focus is on the women who have shaped, and continue to shape, the history of the organ. We pay tribute to Elfrida Andrée, for example, who defied 19th-century laws to become Sweden's first female cathedral organist. In her spirit, this year's festival features a significant female presence, with over 30 women participating as composers, organists, singers, conductors, and researchers.
You will encounter renowned artists such as Isabelle Demers, Kimberly Marshall, Caroline Shaw and Amanda Flodin, as well as new compositions, improvisations and unconventional formats, ranging from arrangements of Suzanne Vega's music to Bach meditations featuring the clavichord. Admission to many concerts is free, including all events in the Youth Organ Festival and the Night Visions late-night concert series.
The festival also offers a variety of exciting research projects and new technical initiatives. These include the digital organ archive SONORA and the REM@KE European research collaboration, which explores historical instruments in a contemporary context.
This is a chance to listen, discover and network, and perhaps gain inspiration for your own artistic projects.
We look forward to seeing you at the festival!
Hans Davidsson and Ulrike Heider
Artistic Director/Assistant Artistic Director
Theme: Visions
What is a vision? A dream of the future, a new perspective on the present – or a memory that alters our view of the past. This year, the festival celebrates the organ as an instrument for visionaries: individuals who think freely, challenge norms, and forge new musical paths. Throughout history, the organ has inspired groundbreaking ideas, from Baroque counterpoint to contemporary soundscapes. The festival explores the visions that have shaped the organ's past, as well as those that are pointing the way forward today.
