Eleni Keventsidou & Ourania Gassiou

St Peter’s Church, St Peter’s Street

Kenneth Leighton (1929–1988)
Martyrs, op. 73

JS Bach (1685–1750)
Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele, BWV 654 (Ourania)

Marco Enrico Bossi (1861–1925)
Scherzo in G minor, op.49 no.2 (Ourania)

Gustav Merkel (1827–1885)
Sonata in D minor for organ duet, op. 30:
Allegro moderato
Adagio
Allegro con fuoco – Fuge

Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809–1847)
Variations Serieuses Op. 54, arranged by Reitze Smits (Eleni)

JS Bach (1685–1750)
Jesus Christus unser Heiland BWV 665 (Eleni)

Franz Liszt (1811–1886)
Hungarian Rhapsody no. 2

Eleni Keventsidou was born in Athens.

In 1998 she was awarded a three- year scholarship by the ‘Friends of Music Society’ in order to study the organ with Nicolas Kynaston at the Athens Concert Hall. She continued her studies as an Alexander S. Onassis Foundation scholar with Nicolas Kynaston and David Titterington at the Royal Academy of Music in London and graduated from the Postgraduate Performance Course in 2004 with a Distinction. In 2004 she was awarded the ‘Margaret and Sydney Lovett Organ Prize’ and the ‘United Music Publishers Ensemble Prize’ (Royal Academy, London). In 2007 she was awarded the Artistic Director’s Prize at Mikael Tariverdiev International Organ Competition in Kaliningrad.

Eleni has performed as a soloist and ensemble player in major festivals in Greece, Cyprus, Romania, nited Kingdom, Spain, France, Italy, Belgium, Germany, Norway, Finland, Poland, USA. She has collaborated with the Capella Istropolitana, the Athens Radio and State Orchestras, the Athens Camerata and the Athens Philharmonic Orchestra. She has also performed in the Celebrity Organ Recital of RCO Winter Conference in 2021 and in the recital series dedicated to the 70 years of the organ at Royal Festival Hall in June 2024.

Eleni has participated in a joint recording project with the Royal Academy of Music and the Southwark and South London Organ Society, playing at the Royal Festival Hall. She participated in a CD recording of English choral music with the Rugby School Choirs. She has recently recorded works of Bach, Liszt and Reger at Royal Hospital School, Ipswich, works for violin and organ at Rugby School and for counter tenor and organ at St Alphage Burnt Oak for Ravensbury Records. Her CD of Reger’s Op. nos. 46, 60 and 73 has just been released by Selby Abbey Organ Masters.

Eleni has been Organist-in-Residence at Tonbridge School, Bilton Grange School and Bishops Stortford College. Currently she teaches piano and organ at Rugby School and organ at Eltham College. She was appointed Organist of the French Protestant Church in September 2023.

Eleni obtained her PhD in Organ Performance of Max Reger’s Variations op.73 on a full studentship at Christ Church University, Canterbury in 2016. She was elected Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM) in November 2023.

Ourania Gassiou is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music in London, where she studied with Nicolas Kynaston. Whilst at the Academy she received a scholarship by the Onassis Foundation and was awarded several of the major prizes and awards of the Royal Academy of Music, including the DipRAM, the most prestigious award for an outstanding final recital. Aided by the Eric Thompson Trust Grant she continued her studies with Johannes Geffert in Cologne and Susan Landale in Paris.

As a soloist and chamber musician, Ourania has performed extensively throughout the UK and Europe in recital series and major international festivals. Recent appearances have included performances in Nidaros Cathedral, Sayn Abtei, Himmerod Abbey, Bodø International Organ Festival, Stavanger Concert hall, Riga Cathedral, Copenhagen Cathedral, Basel Münster, Maria Laach Abbey, Bratislava Castle, the Royal Festival Hall, Perugia Cathedral, Women of the World Festival and Oundle Festival, among others.

Ourania has also been a prize winner in the International Organ Competition of St Maurice, Switzerland and in the First Mediterranean Piano Competition of Andros, Greece. She was the organist of the French Protestant Church in London between 2006 and 2023. In 2011 she was appointed Organist of the Athens Concert Hall in Greece and in 2021 she was elected Associate of the Royal Academy of Music.

Ourania Gassiou is particularly interested in promoting the organ in her native Greece. She has commissioned music from Greek composers and created innovative projects which attract large audiences, establishing an increasingly prominent role for the organ in Greek musical culture.

Entrance and programme are free, with charitable donations invited to support future events presented by the St Albans International Organ Festival.

The St Albans International Organ Festival presents monthly International Concerts on Saturdays throughout the year.