Ignace Michiels

Ignace Michiels at his organ in the Sint-Salvatorskathedraal in Bruges

Ignace Michiels (born December 7, 1963) is a Belgian organist at the St. Salvator Cathedral in Bruges , concert organist, choir director and organ teacher.

Life

Ignace Michiels studied organ, piano and harpsichord at the Conservatory in Bruges. In 1986 he won a prize from the Lemmensinstituut in Leuven . He continued his studies with Robert T. Anderson at the Southern Methodist University in Dallas, with Herman Verschraegen at the Royal Conservatory in Brussels , and with Odile Pierre at the Conservatoire de Paris , where he graduated with a Prix d'Excellence. He also received a diploma in organ music from the Royal Conservatory in Ghent .

Ignace Michiels teaches organ at the Royal Conservatory in Ghent and at the Conservatory in Bruges. He is the organist of the Sint-Salvatorskathedraal , responsible for the Kathedraalconcerten, a series of concerts steeped in tradition since 1952. The organ goes back to a work by Jacobus Van Eynde (1717–1719), which was extended three times in the 20th century: in 1902 by LB Hooghuys , 1935 by Johannes Klais organ building and 1988 by Frans Loncke & zonen. Today the instrument has 60 registers on three manuals and pedal.

Michiels directed the Cantores oratorio choir from 1990 to 2005. He prepared the choir for concerts and recordings, such as Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the BRTN Philharmonic Orchestra Brussels, directed by Alexander Rahbari.

Michiels was a member of the jury of international organ competitions and gave master classes. He works with the Flemish Classical Radio.

International concerts

In 1999, together with Gabriel Dessauer , Cantor of St. Bonifatius in Wiesbaden , he organized a project to bring a century of violence to an end. Both in Bruges and Wiesbaden a concert was performed by the choirs Cantores and Choir of St. Bonifatius , Michiels on the organ and Dessauer on the podium. The concert in Bruges on October 23, 1999 was called Eeuw van zinloos Geweld (Century of Senseless Violence). The program included Prelude and Fugue sur le nom d'Alain of Maurice Duruflé , Van Nuffels In convertendo Dominus , Alain's Litanies , Rudolf Mauersberger How is the city so desolate , Gerald Based Ries Exsultate from Sonata In praise of reconciliation , and Duruflé Requiem . The concert in Wiesbaden was called the Reconciliation Concert at the End of the Century .

The collaboration has continued since 2001 in annual choir projects with an organ. German and Flemish choristers formed the Reger-Chor-International , which performed in Germany and Belgium. At the first concert in Bruges on June 30, 2001, Fiat Lux by Théodore Dubois , William Lloyd Webber's Missa Sanctae Mariae Magdalenae , Allegro giocoso by Edward Bairstow , Duruflès Toccata , Van Nuffel's Dominus regnavit and Reger's Hebbel Requiem in the organ version by Max Beckschäfer . The similar concert in Wiesbaden was recorded.

On August 19, 2002 Michiels played an organ concert at the Rheingau Music Festival in St. Markus in Erbach .

On December 2, 2006, he conducted Bach's Christmas Oratorio with the Reger-Chor-International in the Concertgebouw in Bruges .

On August 1st, 2008 he played Olivier Messiaen's Messe de la Pentecôte on the Flentrop organ of the Grote Kerk in Breda . He played works by Brahms with the Reger-Chor-International, supplemented by organ works by Otto Olsson , Julius Reubke , Joseph Jongen and Camil Van Hulse . On October 27th he played works by Schumann , Olsson, Flor Peeters , Gaston Litaize and Naji Hakim at the International Organist Festival in Turin .

On July 4th 2010 he gave a concert with harpist Andrea Voets at the Festival de la Ribagorza in the Basílica de la Peña de Graus in Graus .

On October 3, 2012 he was the organist in the premiere of the Missa solemnis Bonifatius Mass for soprano, choir, children's choir, oboe and organ by Colin Mawby , with which the St. Bonifatius Choir in Wiesbaden celebrated its 150th anniversary.

Recordings

Some of the cathedral concerts were recorded, organ works, including three of the eight sonatas by Alexandre Guilmant , and works for organ with pan flute and trumpet. Michiels appears with Organ Sonata op. 175 by Louis Maes on the Jubilee CD 150 Years of the Bruges Conservatory (1997).

He was involved in the recording of choral works:

• Joseph Ryelandt : Sacred choral music, with Greta De Reyghere, Collegium Instrumentale Brugense, Capella Brugensis, conductor Patrick Peire (1997) flandersmusic.be
• Francis Poulenc , Gabriel Fauré , with Hilde Coppé, Collegium Instrumentale Brugense, Jan van der Crabben , Capella Brugensis, conductor Patrick Peire (2000) flandersmusic.be
• Max Reger : Hebbel-Requiem and organ works, with Reger-Chor-International, conductor Gabriel Dessauer (2001, live in St. Bonifatius Wiesbaden)
• Max Reger : The 100th Psalm , Introduction, Passacaglia and Fugue in E minor, op. 127. With Reger-Chor-International, conductor Gabriel Dessauer (2003, live in St. Bonifatius Wiesbaden) ( Memento from August 15, 2012 on the Internet Archives )
• Johan Duijck : El Camino de Alma - de Weg van de Ziel , with Hilde Coppé, Collegium Instrumentale Brugense, Noëlle Schepens, Vlaams Radio Koor (VRK), Hans Ryckelynck, Gents Madrigaalkoor, conductor Johan Duijck (2008) flandersmusic.be
• Johan Duijck : Cantiones Sacrae , with Vlaams Radio Koor, conductor Johan Duijck (2009) flandersmusic.be

Web links

• Ignace Michiels
• Ignace Michiels on the Kathedraalconcerten website
• Ignace Michiels on muziekcentrum.be (Flemish)
• Audio sample: JS Bach - Fantasia et Fuga BWV 542 , Ignace Michiels at the St. Salvator Cathedral in Bruges (YouTube video)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Ignace Michiels ( English ) Flanders Music Center. Retrieved August 17, 2010.
2. ↑ Luc Fossaert: De wereldtop is here geweest Vijftig jaar cathedraal concerts in Brugge ( Flemish ) Het Nieuwsblad . May 16, 2003. Retrieved August 17, 2010.
3. ^ History of the organ . Retrieved August 28, 2010.
4. ↑ Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 ( English ) discogs.com. 1997. Retrieved August 17, 2010.
5. ^ Richard Hoernicke: When friends make music . Wiesbaden courier. August 13, 2010. Archived from the original on July 19, 2011. Retrieved on August 17, 2010.
6. ↑ ^{a b} Gabriel Dessauer - Ignace Michiels . france-orgue.fr. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
7. ^ Ignace Michiels ( en ) European Festivals Association. Archived from the original on July 20, 2011. Retrieved August 17, 2010.
8. ↑ Prestigieus oratorio voor Brugse kansarmen . ( Memento of October 7, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Het Nieuwsblad, November 18, 2006: (Flemish)
9. ^ Messiaen performances and related events in 2008 ( en ) Boston University Messiaen Project. 2008. Archived from the original on July 20, 2011. Retrieved on August 17, 2010.
10. ↑ Final concert 2008 ( memento from March 5th, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) on bonimusik.de
11. ↑ Venticinquesimo Festival Organisto Internazionale 2008 ( Memento of July 10, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) on santaritafestival.it (Italian)
12. ↑ Elena Fortuño: Michiels y Voets recorren cinco siglos a través de la música ( Spanish ) Diario de Alta Aragon. July 6, 2010. Retrieved August 17, 2010.
13. ↑ First performance in Wiesbaden / Mass by Sir Colin Mawby will be heard for the first time on the 150th anniversary of the Boni Choir . Church music department in the Diocese of Limburg. October 1, 2012. Retrieved October 4, 2012.
14. ↑ Doris Kösterke: Own gift / premiere of Colin Mawby's Boniface Mass . Wiesbadener Tagblatt . October 5, 2012. Archived from the original on December 27, 2012. Retrieved on October 5, 2012.
15. ^ Rob Barnett: Jubilee CD ( English ) musicweb-international.com. 2000. Retrieved August 17, 2010.
16. ^ Ignace Michiel's discography ( Flemish ) Kathedraalkoncerten. Retrieved August 18, 2010.