EUROPEAN CITIES OF HISTORICAL ORGANS
ECHO (European Cities of Historical Organs / Europae Civitates historicorum Organorum) was founded in 1997 upon a proposal made by Andrea Marcon, by the cities of Alkmaar (Netherlands), Innsbruck (Austria), Lisbon (Portugal), Roskilde (Denmark), Treviso (Italy), Toulouse (France) and Zaragoza (Spain).
This union of cities both with historical organs and a festival or an international competition then decided to unite their efforts, share documentation on historical instruments, make common projects and exchanges, help students exchanges, and promote the construction of new instruments based on historical examples.
As a rule (but this recently was modified) only one city per European country may be elected member of ECHO. The INGO is governed by a board (one representative of each city administration) and the artistic directors meeting (one AD per city), which meets twice a year.
The purpose of the organization is to play a unifying role in the cultural inheritance and projects on a European scale regarding organs of historic value and of European origin.
In connection with the main purpose, the organization shall generally foster cultural exchange and good relations between primarily European countries in possession of important historical organs, especially in the following fields:
THE ECHO-PROTOCOL
The ECHO-Protocol (Facsimile)
(click to enlarge)
The ECHO-Protocol | english translation:
The cities and tows listed above agree that in this history of European music, one instrument has, more than any other, played a unique role in every country in which it has been used : the organ. All of Europe's organ together thus constitute an extraordinary heritage for more than 600 years, organ builders and musicians have build their instruments with design and acoustical qualities that have turn each one into a unique representative of a specific era and region of Europe. This remarkable heritage has been preserved until now by composers and musicians, as well as the continued interest of a large audience.
The signatories to the present protocol each have a number of historic organs, the quality, diversity, and uniqueness of which make them deserving representatives of their countries musical heritage. These cities and towns have, in addition attracted the attention of organ builders, musicians and the public for several decades through their efforts in the areas of organ building and restoration, teaching (conservatories, international academies, international competition ...), and promotion (festivals, albums, books, …).
These cities and towns listed above have decided to form the committee of « European cities and towns with organs of historic value », consisting of one city or town per country. The aim of this organisation is to play a unifying role in projects on a European scale. It also aims to promote cultural exchanges on issues specific to each country, and to co-operate along the following lines :
The committee intends to obtain a recognition from the European authorities in order to qualify for available funding for European programs (the Kaleidoscop project...). The committee will inform for the European Community of its existence following the signature of the protocol in order to receive official recognition. A contribution from the European Community will be requested for each event organised by member countries. One member will be chosen to act as co-ordinator.
The committees representatives will meet according to an agreed time-table for specific projects. Each member will be free to choose whether to participate in a specific project, based on artistic, financial and/or technical constraints.
Maria-Luise Mayr
Innsbruck, Austria
Sara Zanchetta
Italy
+ 39 340 3391 361
www.echo-organs.org
© 2018 ECHO – European Cities of Historical Organs | All Rights Reserved
LAURENT DIETRICH, City councillor
Fribourg, Switzerland
Natacha Roos, head of the cultural departement
City representative for ECHO
Ville de Fribourg
Service de la culture
Place Jean Tinguely 1
CP 293
CH - 1701 Fribourg
Switzerland
+41 26 351 71 43
webdesign
Michael Kitzinger, DA
Vienna / Austria
> www. kitzinger.at