Jos van der Kooy

Jos van der Kooy (1951) enjoys an international reputation as a concert organist, improviser and church musician. His repertory includes works from almost all style periods. Since 1981, he has been director of music of Westerkerk in Amsterdam. Since 1991, he has been city organist of Haarlem. He is the resident organist of the Müller organ at St Bavo’s and of the Cavaillé-Coll organ at the Haarlem Philharmonia. Since 2007, he is organist in residence of the Gothic Hall at the Netherlands Council of State in The Hague.
Van der Kooy studied organ and improvisation with Piet Kee at the Amsterdam Conservatory. In 1981, he graduated by obtaining the Prix d’ Excellence. The lessons and masterclasses he followed with Evaristos Glassner, Hans Haselböck, Cor Kee, Ewald Kooiman, Daniel Roth and Charles de Wolff have substantially influenced his musical development.
Van der Kooy teaches the organ, improvisation and church music at the Faculty of Arts at Leiden University, at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague and at the International Summer Academy for Organists in Haarlem. He regularly performs at home and abroad and approximately twenty CD and DVD recordings have been released.
Over the years, he has received the following awards: Tournemire Prize, International Organ Festival, Saint Albans, 1977. First Prize at the National Organ Improvisation Competition, 1978. First Prize at the International Organ Improvisation Competition, Haarlem, 1980 and 1981. Silver Medal, 1989, and Gold Medal, 2000, of the Société Académique “Arts, Sciences, Lettres”, Paris, for services rendered to French music.