The Sacred Music Festival of Perpignan, France, and the Friends of the Saint John the Baptist Cathedral Carillon announce the winner of the fifth carillon composition contest of Perpignan. Eleven candidates from three countries participated.
The winning composition is Des Formes dans les Nuages, by Tom Gurin of Paris, France. Its premiere will take place during a carillon concert that will be part of the 36th Sacred Music Festival, April 3, performed by cathedral carillonneurs, Elizabeth Vitu and Laurent Pie. It will be performed on the Amédée Bollée carillon, which is ranked as a historic monument of France.
The jury was composed of Jean-Marie Scieszka, pianist and director of the Conservatoire Perpignan Méditerranée Métropole Montserrat Caballé (CPMMMC); Maï Saïto, organist of St. Matthew Church of Perpignan and organist of the choir organ of St. John the Baptist Cathedral, accompanist in the ancient music and dance department of the Conservatoire Montserrat Caballé of Perpignan; Christian Sala, professor of viola de gamba at the Conservatoire Montserrat Caballé of Perpignan, as well as professor of contemporary music, improvisation, and chamber music; and Clément Perrier, carillonneur for the town of Grézieu-la-Varenne, organist for the church of Nôtre-Dame de Bon-Secours in Lyon, and choir director of the Petits Chanteurs de Saint-Thomas d’Aquin of Oullins.
Gurin is an alumnus of Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, earning his bachelor’s degree in music, studying with Kathryn Alexander. At the Royal Carillon School “Jef Denyn” in Mechelen, Belgium, he earned the artist diploma, studying with Eddy Mariën, Koen Cosaert, and Erik Vandevoort. From 2019–2021, he served as carillonneur for Duke University Chapel, Durham, North Carolina. He now studies composition at École Normale de Musique de Paris in Paris in the studio of Régis Campo.
For information: tomgurin.com.
Other competition news:
Franz Schmidt Organ Competition
