Amsterdam Organ Summer

The Amsterdam Organ Summer is a successful summer concert series of weekly organ concerts, founded in 2001 by music director and Basilica organist Michael Hedley. Although the organ in the Basilica was built according to the ideas of the Romantic era and naturally lends itself to music from this style period, the organists also play organ music from other centuries, so that everything from Bach to Piazolla can be heard during an organ concert. The great romantics such as Brahms, Liszt, Schumann and Franck, who are well known to the musical public, are joined by specific “organ virtuosos” such as Widor, Vierne, Rheinberger and Reger.

Organists with an affinity for this type of organ from the Netherlands, Germany, Ireland, Belgium and the United Kingdom are happy to accept the invitation of Muziek in de Nicolaas to play the music of their own preference on a top instrument. That is what makes this concert series so diverse and inspiring. There was a summer especially aimed at young talent, a summer with former foreign students of the Conservatory of Amsterdam, and a summer with exclusively Dutch organists.

The pandemic forced the organization to a standstill in 2020 and Michael Hedley also passed away this year. In 2021 we were able to create a smaller version of the concert series with the new music director, Dr. Giles Brightwell. In 2022, the organists came to Amsterdam to contribute to a special series in memory of Michael Hedley (1951-2020). In 2023, domestic and foreign organists enchanted the public with the beautiful sounds of the Sauer organ.

In 2024 we can welcome the following organists to Amsterdam:

JULY
3 – Víctor Baena (Moses & Aaron Church, Amsterdam)
10 – António Pedrosa (Nicholas Basilica, Amsterdam)
17 – Orgelduo Maarten Wilmink & Rik Melissant (NL)
24 – Erwin Wiersinga (Martini Church, Groningen)
31 – Peter Van de Velde & Anastasiia Staroselska (Cathedral, Antwerp)

AUGUST
7 – Peter Dyke (Hereford Cathedral)
14 – Willeke Smits (Hooglandse Kerk, Leiden)
21 – Francesca Massey (Rochester)
28 – Jos Maters (Nicholas Basilica, Amsterdam)

Practical information

Concerts take place on Wednesday evenings in the summer months of July and August and start at 8:15 PM, doors open at 7:45 PM.

Tickets are €12.50 each. You can soon reserve and pay for the tickets via this page. Payment at the door (cash only) is always possible.

Online payments are only possible via iDeal. There may be a delay between your payment and the ticket being sent out. If you have any questions, you can contact orgelzomer@muziekindenicolaas.nl