Benjamin Sheen, the British organist who took top honors at the inaugural Longwood Gardens International Organ Competition in June 2013, returns to Longwood on May 2 to perform a solo recital featuring his transcriptions of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, Elgar’s Elegy for Strings, excerpts from Shostakovich’s The Gadfly Suite, and Walton’s Prelude and Fugue, “The Spitfire” (transcribed with Tom Winpenny) as well as Marco Enrico Bossi’s Scherzo in G Minor and an encore performance of his final round selection, Brahms’s Tragic Overture. The recital was awarded along with the $40,000 Pierre S. du Pont prize and a contract with Phillip Truckenbrod Concert Artists. The concert will take place on Friday, May 2 at 8 pm at Longwood Gardens. Tickets are $25 ($21 for members) and can be purchased in advance through Ticket Philadelphia.
Sheen, who recently completed his master’s degree at the Juilliard School and is now assistant organist at the St. Thomas Church in New York City, impressed the jury with his transcriptions of Mendelssohn and Brahms overtures. Some of his competition performances will be included on the 2013 International Organ Competition recording that will be for sale at Longwood Gardens and on iTunes in Spring 2014. It will also feature noteworthy performances by the four other semi-finalists. Sheen will also play a starring role in the hour-long documentary by filmmaker Eric Schultz of PCK Media that chronicles the journey of the 10 finalists and the orchestration of the International Organ Competition, slated for release in 2014.
The second Longwood Gardens International Organ Competition will take place in 2016, with the semi-final round on June 14 & 15 and the finals on June 18.
The Longwood Organ is among the world’s largest concert organs, with 146 ranks and 10,010 pipes. After a seven-year restoration completed in 2011, the organ is restored to its original 1930 condition and incorporates today’s most innovative technology.
