Callaerts / Velde - Organ Works [CD]

The restoration of the Pierre Schyven organ in the Cathedral of Our Lady in Antwerp took three years until it was completed in February 2018. Now AEOLUS releases the first recording with the newly renovated instrument. Peter Van de Velde plays works by the Flemish composer Joseph Callaerts (1830-1901), the first organist on the organ, who was inaugurated in 1891. Peter Van de Velde started his organ studies by himself at the age of nine. At the age of twelve he became organist at the local church in the little Flemish village of Doel. He received his first musical tuition at the Antwerp Academy of Fine Arts. He was awarded first prize for music notation and concluded his organ studies at the Academy with highest honors. He went on to pursue his studies at the Royal Antwerp Conservatory of Music where he won several first prizes in addition to other comparable awards. In 1996, as last pupil of Stanislas Deriemaeker, his studies at the Conservatory earned him a Masters degree. During the course of his studies, and also thereafter, he followed various master classes for the organ with emphasis on the art of improvisation and performance technique.