Opening concert
Organ contrasts
Saturday, 22. 8. 2026 at 19:00
Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary
Vranov nad Dyjí (Czechia)
We invite you to the ceremonial opening of this year's festival, which will take place on Saturday, August 22, 2026 from 7:00 p.m. in the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Vranov nad Dyjí. The concert is subtitled "Organ Contrasts" and will present the outstanding Austrian organist Johannes Zeinler, who will lead the audience through different musical eras with deep interest and interpretive brilliance. The program is composed directly "on the body" of the Vranov organ so that it is not only musically rich, but also demonstrates all the technical and sound possibilities of this extraordinary "royal instrument".
The program of the evening will offer a varied palette of compositions and will present the organ in unexpected colors through the musical rendition of the historical battle tumult in Alessandro Poglietti's Toccata, the humorous imitation of a bird's call in Johann Caspar Kerll's Capriccio, the masterpieces of the Baroque by Johann Jakob Froberger and Georg Muffat, in Mozart's charming Andante for small instrument and in the expressive contemporary Toccata by the late Austrian author. Thomas Daniel Schlee.
Come and enjoy the atmosphere of the South Moravian Baroque temple and experience the unique beauty of music from various eras. We look forward to seeing you!
Künstler
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Johannes Zeinler, born in 1993 in the Austrian Tulln an der Donau near Vienna, is the winner of traditional organ competitions in the British St. Albans and French Chartres.
He received his education in the fields of organ, church music, piano and historical keyboard instruments at the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Vienna and the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hamburg. Among his teachers were Pier Damiano Peretti, Wolfgang Zerer, Michel Bouvard, Menno van Delft and Klaus Kuchling, among others. His study years were rounded off by stays abroad in Toulouse and Groningen.
Early competition successes in Wiesbaden, Kitzbühel and Vaduz earned him invitations to internationally recognized festivals and important instruments. He gave concerts, among others, at King's College in Cambridge, in the cathedral in Poitiers, in the church of St. Bavona (St. Bavo Kerk) in Haarlem, in Ste-Croix in Bordeaux, in the church of St. Nicholas in Altenbruch, in the main church of St. Michael in Hamburg, in the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, in the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, in the Zurich Tonhalle and in the Vienna Konzerthaus.
In addition to his rich concert activity, he teaches at the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Vienna and works as a monastery organist in Klosterneuburg, where he regularly plays the important ceremonial organ by Johann Freundt (1642).
www.johanneszeinler.com
Entritt
Admission is voluntary
Programme
(?–1683)
(1616–1667)
from the collection Libro Secondo (1649)
(1627–1693)
(1627–1693)
(1957–2025)
Op. 94/8 (2025)
(1756–1791)
"für eine Walze in eine kleine Orgel"
(1653–1704)
(1653–1704)
from the collection Apparatus musico-organisticus (1690)
Ort
The Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary is a parish church in the Roman Catholic parish of Vranov nad Dyjí, located in the center of the town of Vranov nad Dyjí. It is a late Romanesque building later rebuilt in the Gothic style. The church is protected as a cultural monument of the Czech Republic within the premises of the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary with the rectory. The church was built in the first half of the 13th century and later continued to be expanded. In its original form, it was looted by the Swedes in 1645, and only its foundations remained, which are preserved in the foundations of the walls of the current church. It was newly built in 1685 with the support of the noble Althann family, who supported it in the following years as well. Among other things, Countess Marie Anna Althannová donated an altarpiece of the Virgin Mary to the church. Around 1700, the nave was vaulted, around 1720 the original tower was pulled down, and a new brick tower was built in the same year. In 1767 the roof was repaired and in 1778 the choir was vaulted. Between 1781 and 1782 the churchyard wall was repaired and a year later a keeper's house was built, which was rebuilt as an ossuary after 1800 - however it was soon demolished. In the thirties of the 20th century, the church was repaired, between 1933 and 1934 the surroundings of the church were repaired, and in 1936 the interior was renovated. In 1957, a diesel stove was installed in the church, in 1958 the church was painted, and in 1968 and 1969 the roof of the sacristy and the chancel were gradually reconstructed. In 1986, the roof of the church was repaired again.
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