The Contius Foundation, which is responsible for the well-being of the magnificent Contiusorgel in Leuven's baroque Sint-Michielskerk, is, fortunately, much more than a beautiful piece of church furniture to look at. Unfortunately, in far too many cases, church organs, however rich their history and valuable they may be, only stand by as forgotten church furnishings. Not so with the Contiusorgel which, as is known, is an entirely new instrument, made to the measure of Bach.
With this organ, Leuven immediately put itself on the world map as the Flemish Bach city, at least as far as organ music is concerned. This masterfully successful project attracts organists and organ enthusiasts from far and wide. The annual Bachcyclus, where talent from here and elsewhere brings Bach, but not only Bach, to the audience, is inaugurated by the Italian Fransesca Ajossa. Currently she is doing her doctorate at KULeuven and note that she speaks Dutch very fluently, which you can follow nicely in the conversation below that Wim Winters had with her on the video. She is in residence at the Contius Foundation for the 2024-25 season.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLAnBPBzCSU[/embed]