FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 25, 2001

Contacts:
Kim D. Gifford
(214) 871-4082

Jamie Hawkes
(214) 871-4061

Dallas - The jurors for the 2003 Dallas International Organ Competition were announced today by the Dallas Symphony Association. John Baer, director of the Dallas International Organ Competition, stated, "We are really delighted to have such an outstanding jury of internationally renowned organists for the 2003 competition. Their collective skill, experience, intellect and diversity will ensure adjudication at the highest level." The third triennial Dallas International Organ Competition will be held March 10-18, 2003.

The new jurors are:

John Scott (chairman) - Scott studied at the Royal College of Organists before becoming Organ Scholar of St. John's College, Cambridge. After leaving Cambridge he was appointed assistant organist at London's two Anglican Cathedrals, St. Paul's and Southwark. During this time, he won first prizes from the Manchester and Leipzig J.S. Bach International Organ Competitions. In 1990, he became organist and director of music at St. Paul's Cathedral. His career as a recitalist has taken him to five continents. In 1998, he was nominated International Performer of the Year by the American Guild of Organists.

Martin Haselböck - Haselböck's concert schedule regularly takes him to major music festivals and symphony orchestras and he performs often in Japan, Paris, Madrid, Cologne, Milan, Moscow and the United States. A frequently recorded artist, Haselböck has made more than 60 recordings ranging in repertoire from Bach to Liszt to contemporary composers. Many composers have written for Haselböck, including Ernst Krenek who dedicated both of his organ concertos to him. Since 1995, Haselböck has been music director of the Wiener Akademie Orchestra.

Naji Subhy Paul Irénée Hakim - Hakim studied at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris where he obtained first prizes in harmony, counterpoint, fugue, organ, improvisation, analysis and orchestration. He also received first prizes at the International Organ Competitions at Haarlem, Beauvais, Lyon, Nuremberg, St. Albans, Strasbourg and Rennes; the composition prize of the "Amis de l'Orgue" for his Symphonie en Trois Mouvements (Paris, 1984); and the first prize in the International Competition for Organ Composition, in memory of Anton Heiller for The Embrace of Fire (Collegedale, Tennessee, 1986). In 1991, he received the Prix de Composition Musicale André Caplet from the Académie des Beaux-Arts. He is a professor of musical analysis at the Conservatoire National de Boulogne-Billancourt and visiting professor at the Royal Academy of Music, London.

Tsuguo Hirono - Hirono studied organ at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. He continued his studies of organ and Protestant church music at the Westfaelishe Landeskirchenmusikschule Herford. In the 1970's, he studied the performance practice of 17th and 18th Century organ music at the Norddeutsche Orgelakademie. Since 1989, Hirono has held the position of professor for organ at his alma mater. He performs actively not only as a recitalist in Germany, France, Sweden and Finland, but also as a soloist with the prominent orchestras in Japan. He is also active as an organ consultant as well as the vice president of the Japan Association of Organists.

Mary Preston - Preston is the resident organist with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and curator of the C. B. Fisk Op. 100 Lay Family Concert Organ at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center. She also serves as director of artistic ministries and organist at King of Glory Lutheran Church in Dallas. Preston has performed in such notable locations as the Riverside Church in New York City, the House of Hope in St. Paul, the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, St. Nikolai in Leipzig, the Merseburg Cathedral, St. Hedwig Cathedral in Berlin, the Oliwa Cathedral in Poland and the Liechtenstein Palace in Prague. She also had the honor of playing an inaugural recital on the magnificent new C.B. Fisk organ in the beautiful new Minato Mirai Concert Hall, Yokohama, Japan.

Lionel Rogg - Since finishing his studies at the Geneva Conservatory, Rogg has travelled the world, giving countless organ recitals in Europe, the US, Australia and Japan. Rogg serves as professor of organ at the Geneva Conservatory and is a visiting professor at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Recently, Rogg has developed his talents as a composer. His catalogue contains numerous works for organ, piano, for choir and orchestra and for chamber music. He was commissioned by the city of Geneva to write the concerto for organ and orchestra to mark the 1993 inauguration of the new organ (built by Van den Heuvel) in the Victoria Hall, Geneva. He is now organist in charge of this instrument.

Todd Wilson - Wilson is director of music and organist at The Church of the Covenant (Presbyterian) in Cleveland, Ohio, where he heads a program of choirs as well as a concert series. He serves as chairman of the organ department and director of The University Circle Chorale and Chamber Choir at The Cleveland Institute of Music. Wilson is also the newly appointed organ curator of the recently restored Norton Memorial Organ (E. M. Skinner, 1931) in Severance Hall, home of the Cleveland Orchestra.

For additional information on any of these jurors, please contact the media relations department at 214-871-4082 or 214-871-4061.