An open-air organ? Let’s see that happening!

The artists of the third and fourth editions of the Zadar Organ Festival have played and will play on the transportable digital organ made by the Dutch company MIXTUUR ORGELS. The trademark of this renowned workshop is the prestigious computer program Hauptwerk™.  Mixtuur Orgels is recognized and played in all four corners of the world, from far-away Japan, through Australia and the Philippines, Argentina and Colombia, the USA and the UK, throughout Europe, and all the way to Russia. From the factory in Veenendaal, through the De Stad Klundert showroom (the desecrated church of St. John), a wide range of organs for individuals, churches and concert halls is distributed all over the world - from standard organs to custom-made instruments.

Zadar Organ Festival uses the three-manual organ of the Intrada series with an external sound system. The sound is basically taken from a real concert organ, in this case, the 2004 Kuhn organ housed in the Philharmonic Hall in Essen (Germany). Unlike the church organ, whose construction is focused on polyphonic sound, the organ of this series strives for symphonic and rich sound, giving preference to homophony and orchestral effects. A special feature of the Essen organ is the colorful sound of the strings and the wide range of dynamics.

Every part of the Intrada organ came from Mixtuur workshop – from speakers and amplifiers, through case and touch screen, to Digital Signal Processor and computer software – specially designed for each instrument, revolutionary upgraded and carefully tested to ensure sound optimality and playing comfort. We are grateful to and excited for the kindness and support of the Mixtuur workshop, which gave us the opportunity to be mobile and present a whole range of various music repertoires in different, attractive locations.

If you want to hear how Mixtuur's organ sounded at our festival, play this short clip published by Jutarnji list and prepared after the concert that opened the 4th edition of ZOF. On that occasion, the organ was played by Aleksey Vylegzhanin accompanied by the Choralschola of the Department of Church Music of the Vienna University of Music and Performing Arts. The author of the video is Luka Gerlanc (CROPIX).

Not enough? Listen to the video made by Robi Kulaš in 2021. This time, Mixtuur Organ is played by Italian organist Paolo Oreni who resounded the silent movie Nosferatu (1922) at 3rd ZOF.