Important announcement regarding the 2021 ASOFH high school division competition.
To friends, supporters and colleagues of the festival:
These past months have reinforced how music plays a critical role in our lives. As arts organizations around the world conform to health protocols and restrictions, the Albert Schweitzer Organ Festival Hartford joins countless institutions in adjusting their operations to meet the ongoing challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Our festival has always made the support of young organists our primary mission. Therefore we have made some changes to our 2021 high school division competition to ensure that promising young musicians may participate regardless of potential travel restrictions. Changes to the 2021 festival and competition are as follows:

1. The high school division competition will be presented entirely online. Up to three finalists will be selected from the pre-screening round. Finalists will perform their repertoire a second time via video recording produced at an organ of their choosing. The organ may be the same instrument used for the pre-screening round. Video recordings of the final round will be made onsite by the festival’s artistic director or a proctor and performed from start to finish with only brief pauses between selections. These recordings will be made in early September.

2. The deadline for submitting pre-screening recordings is pushed back to August 1, 2021.

3. Due to the uncertainty of Connecticut state restrictions on the gathering of individuals indoors, we will not present an opening concert, choral evensong, live hymn playing competition or winner’s recital.

4. The winner of our $7,500 First Prize will receive an automatic invitation to perform an organ recital at Trinity College (Hartford) on a later date and for additional compensation.

In the coming days we will update our website (www.asofhartford.org) to reflect these changes. Please help us spread the word by sharing this posting to your own Facebook page and directly to any organ instructors and students you may know.

On a personal note, I want to thank our dedicated board of directors for their insights and support. The festival remains a strong organization and I look forward to working with them as we create a strategic plan for our future. I trust we will soon be in a position to put the restrictions of pandemic life behind us and resume presenting the dynamic and exciting in-person festivals of years past.

Thank you for your continued support.

Sincerely,
Vaughn Mauren
Artistic Director