The Nova Ars Organorum series of Festival Internacional de Música Antigua de Tenerife (Fimante) [Tenerife Early Music International Festival] is bringing the precocious young musician Thomas Ospital to play the organ at  Auditorio de Tenerife, unique in the world. Una suculenta degustación del atractivo mundo organístico francés [A rich sample of the attractive French organistic world ] is the title of the programme, which includes works by Ravel, Duruflé and Vierne, to be played by the organist at 12:00 noon on Sunday, 31 March at Sala Sinfónica.

Born in the French Basque Country in 1990, Thomas Ospital had his first contact with the organ thanks to the parish priest of his village, where he went with his parents. He then started to study at Bayonne Conservatoire with Esteban Landart and went on to further his learning at Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de Paris with teachers like Olivier Latry, Michel Bouvard, Thierry Escaich, Philippe Lefebvre, Laszlo Fassang, Isabelle Duha, Pierre Pincemaille and Jean-François Zygel.

He finished his degree with five First Prizes in the classes of organ, improvisation, harmony, counterpoint and fugue. He has since won countless awards at international competitions in Zaragoza, Chartres, Toulouse and Angers. In 2015, at 25, after winning a public exam competition, he was appointed head of the great organ at Saint-Eustache church in Paris. In 2016, French National Radio invited him to be the first resident organist of the new Grenzing.

He teaches keyboard harmony since 2017 at Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de Paris. He travels the world offering recitals as a soloist or with symphony orchestras and has made two records, one with works by Franz Liszt and the other one with Bach’s and Thierry Escaich’s repertoires.

Nova Ars Organorum artistic director, musicologist Rosario Álvarez, explains that “we often regret Maurice Ravel did not leave organ compositions but, there is no doubt that organs at his time -still heavily influenced by symphonic instruments- were not suitable to his language. Fortunately, transcriptions allow us to imagine what “the encounter with this colourful king of instruments” would have been like.

On the other hand, Maurice Duruflé is the composer and organist who best represents impressionism. “His language comes both from Gregorain chants and the very French universe of Maurice Ravel and Claude Debussy”, Álvarez says to then add that “in Louis Vierne the heritage of the great Romantics is quite evident in the way he uses symphony, although he does it in his very own personal style”. His work is deeply connected to the great Notre Dame de París organ, of which he was principal player until his death.

Auditorio de Tenerife boasts a greatly versatile instrument within the walls of Sala Sinfónica: a 21st century organ that has 3,835 tubes and whose stops and technical means are unique in the world. The head of Nova Ars Organorum, who gave her advice in the process of construction of this colossal organ, admits that “I’m proud we have on this Island an instrument like this one which has a superb sonorous capacity”. Its construction took 22,000 hours of work by expert Albert Blancafort and his team.

Tickets are available at Auditorio de Tenerife box office from 10:00 am to 7:30 pm, Monday to Saturday (except holidays) on www.auditoriodetenerife.com on this link or calling 902 317 327. Our usual discounts are available plus the new ones for groups.