Waterford International Organ Festival

01/09/2026

Aleksandr Nisse is a composer and organist whose work explores connections between contemporary music, ecological thought, and interdisciplinary practice. Trained at the Royal Academy of Music in London with Lionel Rogg and Nicolas Kynaston, and at the Conservatoire National de Région de Lyon with Louis Robilliard, he completed his PhD research in composition at TU Dublin under the supervision of Prof. Gráinne Mulvey. His work brings together classical technique, microtonality, improvisation, and collaborative experimentation.

A central focus of his recent practice is Pleonexia, a conceptual and artistic framework inspired by the non-profit-oriented coexistence found in forest ecosystems. Developed in opposition to capitalist extractivism, Pleonexia proposes musical and artistic structures grounded in reciprocity, interdependence, and mutual care. This philosophy informs Aleksandr’s ensemble writing, installations, and cross-disciplinary performance projects, positioning music as a medium for ecological and social reflection.

Musician since early childhood, Benjamin has explored a wide range of musical styles, allowing him to approach his instrument in various ways.

Specialised in lead trumpet—with a clear, powerful sound—he has performed with major ensembles such as the French Air and Space Force Big Band and the Electro Deluxe Big Band, as well as renowned orchestras like the Orchestre National de France and the ONPL, among others.

He currently teaches trumpet in the South Manche region while simultaneously working on personal projects and performing in concerts across France.

Detail biographies are available on our website!

31/08/2026

On the last day of the festival, we have a lineup of works for organ and trumpet and solo organ, ncluding an Irish Premiere of WIOF Commissioned Piece-- Kínēsis (κίνηςις) by organist-composer Alexandr Nisse and an Irish Premiere of Danielle Salvignol's Six pieces.

You can read Alexandr Nisse's notes on his new composition Kínēsis (κίνηςις) in the last 3 images or go through it on our website!

Tickets are available on our website and at the door. Children under 18 accompanied by an adult attend for free.

Looking forward to see you in the festival!

31/08/2026

The Waterford International Organ Festival returns this September with a fantastic programme of concerts at Christ Church Waterford.

The festival opens on Thursday, 10 September at 8pm with the WIOF Chamber Choir, featuring organist Simon Harden, mezzo soprano Róisín O’Grady and the WIOF Chamber Orchestra, led by David O’Doherty.

The programme continues across the weekend with children’s concerts, international organ recitals, a unique silent movie accompanied by live organ improvisation, and a special trumpet and organ recital.

10–13 September 2026
Christ Church Cathedral, Cathedral Square, Waterford
General Admission: €18 | Concessions: €15

A wonderful celebration of music in one of Waterford City’s most historic and atmospheric settings.

Tickets are available from the Waterford International Organ Festival website or at the door.

30/08/2026

29/08/2026

Let us imagine that we are back in the era where audio recording technologies did not yet exist. The task of setting the ambience and mood for a silent movie lays entirely in the hands of musicians. When we hear the word "improvisation", "spontaneity" immediately comes to mind, as if the musician is able to use their magic hands to weave dust into music. However, unlike live on-stage improvisation performances, not everything is left to chance while improvising over a silent movie. Apart from immense skill, a great deal of planning and preparation is devoted to this unique art form that empowers another art. The musician does not play a secondary role, but takes on the difficult role as a transcriptor that gives different voices to different meanings and paints the emotions vividly. The result is an immersive audiovisual experience. The beauty of improvising over a silent movie is that there will be no two similar soundtracks over the same movie!

We are thrilled to invite organist and master improviser David Cassan from Paris once more to Christ Church Cathedral Waterford. Join us on 12th September 2026 Saturday 9pm for David's live improvisation over Dreyer's 1928 masterpiece-- the Passion of Joan of Arc.

27/08/2026

We are thrilled to be hosting another children's workshop this year!

Based on a folk tale, "Peter and the Wolf" is an orchestral piece composed by Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev to introduce young children to instruments in the orchestra. When you cannot summon an orchestra at will, there is no candidate better than the pipe organ at mimicking all the orchestral instruments. In this workshop children will be introduced to the pipe organ, where an organ transcription of this piece will be played by our artistic director Simon Harden. Their listening experience will be interspersed with narrations as well as delightful picture-books display on screen. Get ready with your kids for a fun, immersive musical experience!

All children attend this event for free but must be accompanied by an adult, and pre registration is required on our website. The workshop is on 11th September 2026 (Friday) and it runs for three 30- minute sessions. The first session begins at 9.30am, the second begins at 10am and the third begins at 10.30am. If you have friends or family who have children that might be interested, don't hesitate and share this post with them!

If you have any queries please feel free to leave a comment under this post or contact us at [email protected]

25/08/2026

On the second day of the festival, we will be welcoming organist Victor Baena from Spain/The Netherlands, where he takes us to embark on a journey of sacred organ music across 4 centuries. Don't miss out this opportunity to encounter the hidden gems of organ repertoire, such as late Renaissance Spanish composer Arauxo's tiento (fantasia) which is in the quadricentennial of its publication; along with Torres' Saeta which is based on Andalusian folk songs.

Tickets are available on our website and at the door.

24/08/2026

The opening concert of our 6th annual festival will be featuring works by Baroque composers Telemann, Handel and Bach, performed together with choir, organ and orchestra.

Tickets are available on our website and at the door!

🎵Meet the Artists!🎵

🎹 Simon Harden lectures in Organ performance at the TU Dublin Conservatoire and is Organist and Director of Music at Christ Church Cathedral, Waterford. Regular concert engagements take him throughout Europe and further afield. He has performed solo recitals in such venues as Notre-Dame Paris, Westminster Abbey London, Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall and St Jacobi Hamburg. Simon began his studies at Trinity College Dublin reading Music and History of Art. Further studies at the Music Academies in Berlin and Hamburg led to a first-class Postgraduate degree in performance followed by a ‘Premier Prix’ for his studies in Paris. On receiving a scholarship from the City of Hamburg, he took the ‘Konzertexamen’ with distinction, the highest award for performance in Germany. Simon has won several prizes in international competitions including 1st prize and audience prize at the ‘International Schnitger Organ Competition’ in the Netherlands and 2nd prize at the ‘Grand Prix Bach de Lausanne’.

🎶 Irish soprano Róisín O’Grady has performed in recital, oratorio and chamber music throughout Ireland, and her performance repertoire ranges from the Baroque era to modern day compositions. Róisín studied Music and Italian at University College Cork and completed a Postgraduate Diploma in concert singing at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, Glasgow. She received a First Class Hons. M.A. in Performance at the Cork School of Music in 2008. In 2025 Roisin completed a Doctor of Music in Performance at The Royal Irish Academy of Music. As part of her performance-led research Róisín analysed and recorded vocal repertoire from the Dallis and Ballet Lute Manuscripts, located at Trinity College Dublin. She was a member of and a soloist with Chamber Choir Ireland for over two years. She performed with the choir throughout Ireland and toured Holland and Lebanon. In 2011 they performed for US President Barack Obama in the White House on St. Patrick’s Day.