Following the renovation of the Fokker organ, the return of this extraordinary instrument to the music world will be celebrated with a surprising inauguration concert. A cross-section of the 2009–2010 season’s concert offerings will be presented, including highlights from the Fokker organ repertoire performed by organist Joop van Goozen, improvisations by Guus Janssen, early music by La Barca Leyden, and a demonstration of the latest possibilities on the Fokker organ by composer Danny de Graan. The event will be presented by Sander Germanus (director and artistic leader of the Huygens-Fokker Foundation).

The Fokker organ was built in 1950 at the request of Professor Adriaan Fokker, who wished to make 31 tones per octave audible. This seemingly arbitrary number is based on the theories of Christiaan Huygens, whose goal was to achieve a purer resonance with the keyboard instruments of his time in the seventeenth century. In the twentieth century, the microtonal possibilities of the Fokker organ, both melodically and harmonically, became an important source of inspiration for composers. From 1950 to 2000, the organ was regularly used for Sunday afternoon concerts at the Teylers Museum in Haarlem. Composers such as Peter Schat, Hans