PRESENTATION

This year the church of St. John in Marchena will again become the seat of the Andalusian Organ Academy. Its two organs situated on either side of the choir constitute an artistic and musical heritage of singular quality and beauty: the "small organ", constructed by Juan de Echevarria in 1765 following the purest lines of Castillian tradition, faces the "big organ" placed on the other side in 1802 by one of the most relevant pupils of Jorge Bosch, the organbuilder Francisco Rodríguez. This unique combination serves as a real center of gravity among the large collection of historic organs conserved in the countryside around Seville. The cities of Marchena, Ecija, Carmona, Utrera, Arahal, Osuna etc, found in a radius of no more than 50 km., house more than 40 instruments from 17th, 18th, and 19th. centuries. These are unique and little-known examples of its historic and artistic past which are today in need of protection, restoration and re-evaluation. The restoration of the "small organ" in St, John's church in Marchena, carried out in 1997 by Gerhard Grenzing with the patronage of the Ministry of Culture of the Andalusian Regional Government, constituted the starting point of a much larger project for the protection, restoration and re-evaluation of the organistic heritage, in which the infrastructure of the Andalusian Organ Academy is deeply involved. Our first edition, celebrated in September 2000, was able to catch the interest of more than 40 students from Spain, as well as from Portugal, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Holland, Switzerland and Rumania. The success of the gathering and the enthusiasm of the institutions involved has served to give a definitive impulse to the restoration project of the "big organ" in St. John's church, thus opening new perspectives for the consolidation and development of the Academy. For the present edition we have designed a "winter course", especially designed for initiation- level students, whose activity, spread over four weekends during the 2001-2002 academic year, will serve as a link between the successive editions of the "summer course" that will be celebrated in September. The practical classes of each of these courses will be composed of their indispensable theoretical component, not only on aspects related to interpretation, but also on the adequate use and maintenance of historic organs. Among the complementary activities on the courses, there will be special concerts and an annual cycle of "organ masses" promoted by the Luys Venegas de Henestrosa Association of Friends of the Organ. This cycle will be completed over a whole year and will count on the participation of students from the Academy. Finally, our ever-growing infrastructure can now welcome the numerous groups of organists, organ builders and hobbyists, especially foreigners, that would like to visit and get to know the organs of our region. This is one of the activities being developed by the Andalusian Organ Academy in the hope of serving as an efficient instrument of information, defence and diffusion of the organistic heritage of the region.
See you in Marchena!

Andrés Cea Galán, director