Hours of organ music in St. Aurelius - Johannes Krahl

**Conversation with Bach** In this concert, Johann Sebastian Bach's organ music encounters other masterpieces and enters into a dialogue with them. Bach was influenced by other musicians, but he also influenced many others! The concert explores this network of influences. About the artist: Johannes Krahl is an organist, pianist, and conductor of the younger generation who stands out for his versatility thanks to his thorough training. Johannes Krahl has demonstrated his skills in the past by winning first prizes at the 6th International Competition for the Eberhard Friedrich Walcker Prize in Schramberg, the 3rd International Kurt Boßler Organ Competition in Freiburg, the 22nd International Organ Competition for the Bach Prize in Wiesbaden, the 3rd International Odoyevsky Organ Competition in Moscow, the 8th Northern Ireland International Organ Competition in Armagh, and the 8th International Gottfried Silbermann Organ Competition in Freiberg. He also received further awards at the Faszination Orgel competition in Mannheim, the German Music Competition in Bonn, the 4th International Rheinberger Competition in Vaduz, the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy University Competition in Berlin, and the 32nd International Organ Competition in St Albans. Johannes Krahl is an alumnus of the German National Academic Foundation. He received important musical influences from his professors Martin Schmeding and Matthias Foremny at the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy University of Music and Theater in Leipzig. Master classes with Masaaki Suzuki, Ben van Oosten, Daniel Roth, Olivier Latry, and other important personalities broadened his musical personality. Numerous concerts have taken Johannes Krahl to important music festivals (Bachfest Leipzig, Silbermanntage Freiberg, Heinrich-Schütz-Musikfest, Merseburger Orgeltage, Hildebrandt Days in Naumburg, Hamburg Organ Summer, Lübeck Organ Summer) and to internationally renowned instruments (Konzerthaus Berlin, St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, St. Wenceslas Church in Naumburg, Freiberg Cathedral, Merseburg Cathedral, Paderborn Cathedral, Ulm Minster, Westminster Abbey in London, King's College in Cambridge, St. Peter's Basilica in Rome). In March 2023, his debut CD entitled "Elements of Bach" was released on the ARS Produktion label. A year later, he recorded the complete organ concertos of Johann Sebastian Bach on the Gottfried Silbermann organ at Dresden Cathedral. In the 2024/25 academic year, Johannes Krahl taught as a lecturer at the Institute for Church Music and Musicology at the University of Greifswald. Since 2025, he has been engaged as a solo répétiteur with conducting duties at the Theater Altenburg Gera. Born in Bautzen, his musical focus is currently in Leipzig.