Estimated duration

3 h, incl. intermission

Organizer

Organum-seura ry

Zuzana Ferjenčíková, organ

The concert features music originally written for other instruments and ensembles, performed here in organ transcriptions. Organ transcriptions are a central theme running through the Helsinki Organ Festival week.

Zuzana Ferjenčíková is renowned as a master interpreter of organ transcriptions and symphonic organ music. Her artistic path has been deeply influenced by her collaboration and studies with Jean Guillou in Paris. In 2004, she became the first woman to win the prestigious international organ improvisation competition in Haarlem, the Netherlands.

Ferjenčíková’s artistic work is diverse: she performs, composes and arranges. She writes organ works and creates organ transcriptions of piano and orchestral pieces. Her repertoire focuses especially on Romantic music (for example Franz Liszt) and 20th-century composers such as Guillou and Marcel Dupré.

She is also an active pedagogue: Ferjenčíková has given masterclasses and served as a jury member in international organ competitions. Since September 2021, she has been Professor of Organ at Codarts University in Rotterdam. She is also the founder and chair of the Franz Liszt Society in Vienna.

Ferjenčíková has made several recordings, the most recent of which, Passions — featuring organ transcriptions — was released in September 2025.

The concert is part of the Helsinki Organ Festival, which also includes two other evening concerts in Helsinki’s churches. The festival is organised by the Organum Society.

Programme

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Grande Sonate Pathétique, op. 13
I. Grave – Allegro di molto e con brio
II. Adagio cantabile
III. Rondo. Allegro
(Transcription and cadenza: Zuzana Ferjenčíková)

Franz Liszt (1811-1886) / Jean Guillou (1930-2019)
Symphonic Poem Tasso. Lamento e trionfo

INTERMISSION

Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) / Jean Guillou
March from The Love for Three Oranges, op. 33
Toccata, op. 11

Franz Liszt
Deux légendes (originally for piano)
Légende No. 1: Saint François d’Assise – La Prédication aux oiseaux
(St. Francis of Assisi – Sermon to the Birds)
Transcription for organ: Camille Saint-Saëns
Légende No. 2: Saint François de Paule marchant sur les flots
(St. Francis of Paola Walking on the Waves)
Transcription for organ: Zuzana Ferjenčíková

Zuzana Ferjenčíková (*1978)
Improvisation on themes from the audience