The Göteborg International Organ Academy has been proud to welcome outstanding scholars and musicians to explore and celebrate many different instruments and musical repertoires over the years. Here is a look back at previous academies and festivals.

In 1994 we celebrated the installation of the first John Brombaugh organ in Europe, the meantone baroque organ installed in the Haga Church in 1992.

In 1996 the 1871 Willis organ, recently restored by Tostared, as well as the 1783 Schiörlin organ in Jonsered (partial restoration by Herwin Troje, 1991) were featured.

In 1998 we celebrated the installation of the new French symphonic organ built by Verschueren for the Academy of Music and Drama. We also visited the 1854 Marcussen organ in the Synagogue, newly restored by Karl Nelson.

In 2000 we celebrated the international inauguration of the research organ built by GOArt to explore the world of the great seventeenth-century organ builder Arp Schnitger.

In 2002 we celebrated the renovation carried out by Grönlunds of the 1909 Eskil Lundén organ in the Vasa Church.

In 2004 our focus was on the restoration of the 1861 Marcussen organ in the Haga Church carried out by Åkerman & Lund.

In 2006 the Marcussen/Magnusson organ in the German Church newly renovated by Tostareds was featured.

In 2007 the so-called Bjurum organ, built by Nicolaus Manderscheidt in 1650 (restored by Mads Kjersgaard in 1972-76) was featured.

In 2009 the newly built choir organ by Tostared in the Cathedral was featured.

In 2011 we celebrated the Walker organ in Christ the King Catholic Church, restored by Tostared and installed in 2010.

In 2012 we revisited John Brombaugh’s organ in Haga and GOArt’s research organ in Örgryte New Church, exploring two themes: North German Chorale Fantasias and Georg Böhm’s Organ Works in Meantone.

In 2013, we explored many facets of the organ music of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, with a special emphasis on sound recordings. We also visited several organs in Göteborg.

In 2014 we turned our focus to the eighteenth century by way of JS Bach, his students and his sons, exploring the rich landscape of keyboard instruments of eighteenth-century central Europe.

In 2015 the theme was “French Crescendo and German Diminuendo: Character and Context in 19th-Century European Organ Art”.

In 2016 the theme was “Power and Expression from Past to Present: Pictures (film and “lumière”) and the pictorial in organ music”.

In 2017 the theme was “Bach and the Lutheran Legacy” & “Female Organists and Composers”.

In 2018 the theme was "The Cosmic Soundscapes of the Organ", celebrating Bengt Hambréus (1928-2000).

In 2019 the theme was ”The Organ as a Mechanical Musical Marvel” celebrating Sven-Eric Johanson (1919-1997).

In 2020 the theme was "Art and Music in Times of Crisis" celebrating Torsten Nilsson (1920-1999).

Aspects such as gender equality, LGBTQ, diversity and intercultural perspectives are considered in the planning of the association's activities, eg the festival program. One of our central goals is to highlight female organists and composers in programming and artist selection, another to make the organ available to children and young people.

The work of increasing the accessibility for the function varied is continuously being developed, among other things through information on hearing aids, whether interpretation and text interpretation will be given etc. We also work to reduce or eliminate physical barriers in our public spaces, such as minor level differences or steps, lack of handrails, heavy doors, poor lighting, lack of contrast marking, lack of telecoil loop or other technical solution in the entrances etc.

With our digital communication, we want to increase the opportunities for increased participation.