This past June, I was able to have the amazing experience of playing my international debut in Iceland. The experience was very different from the concerts it had given previously and was more similar to playing in a competition. Most organ performers, when playing a concert, will have several days to practice especially if the venue is nearby. However, concerts that are a plane ride away, whether they are domestic or international, require a different preparation. 

Many of the differences lie with how much you are able to practice, and how prepared you can feel before a practice session. While many famous organists might have an equally known venue to perform at, the church I performed at (Hólakirkja in Reykjavik), was not very well known. This meant that stop lists and information about the organ was very limited, and in my case, I wasn’t able to find anything online to suggest that the organ did, in fact, exist! However, I was told that the organ was a Marcussen, and I trusted that everything would work out. These things are important to note, because there are many things that can go wrong with performing internationally and it is important that the organist communicates well with the church. This also might be made harder with a language barrier, and one thing I would recommend to make the process easier is to have a mutual connection who has experience and knows both the church and the performer well. If you like to give information between pieces, consider whether you are using your native language or that of the country you are in. I don’t personally have any experience with this, but it is important to know your crowd and which language the majority of people in attendance will speak. 

Another struggle might be scheduling and finding practice time. Before my concert, I had six hours the day of the concert to practice. Luckily, this was more than enough for me because my pieces did not require complex registration, and the organ was very similar to the one I practiced on. However, this will not always be the case, and it is important to consider that if you don’t have a lot of information on the organ you might not want to perform a piece with a hugely complex registration or one reliant on very specific sounds. Additionally, don’t count on having an excessive amount of practice time and use all that you have wisely. It’s also important to note that you might not have a lot of excess room so always make sure that there is space for your music and shoes. Since bags can get lost on flights, I would also recommend packing music in a carry on instead of checking it. For performers with an iPad, it might be helpful to have all your music scanned into the iPad just in case it gets lost, or you forget it. The last thing I think is important to note about this experience is that like any performance, you will be nervous, so don’t worry about unnecessary things you can’t control (like flights). Instead, focus on the task at hand and perform as you would any other concert. If you want to sightsee, then I would recommend doing it after the concert to allow you to properly enjoy it without any anxiety. Performing internationally is an amazing feeling and a very cool experience, and I hope that any organist or musician granted the opportunity will take it.