Playing
and Preserving
Students in the Play on Philly Wind Ensemble perform with Project Fusion , early career musicians who participated in the Astral Artists mentorship program , during a community concert at St . Mary ’ s Church , Philadelphia , PA . Photo : Daniel Kontz .
Playing and Preserving was a groundbreaking effort to generate support and interest in the preservation and active use of Philadelphia ’ s pipe orange heritage by building relationships between congregations , musicians , music lovers , organ builders , and the broader public . The project included three major components :
Survey . Partners collaborated with pipe organ students from the Curtis Institute of Music to survey nearly 50 historic pipe organs in sacred places in neighborhoods outside of Philadelphia ’ s downtown . The data , including audio recordings of the pipe organs and photos of the sites , was incorporated into the database of the Organ Historical Society to expand knowledge and interest in these instruments at pipeorgandatabase . org .
Training and Support . Twelve congregations participated in a capacity-building training program . Each received a conditions assessment of its instrument , a guide to repair and restoration , and direct assistance to catalyze efforts to fundraise and preserve the instrument .
Community Concerts . Astral Artists organized a series of family-friendly , inclusive community concerts in October , November , and December 2019 at St . Mary ’ s , Hamilton Village . The concerts featured the parish ’ s historic Aeolian-Skinner Opus 963 , students from Play On Philly ( POP ), and five professional musicians : Michael Lawrence , Project Fusion , Thomas Mesa , Greg Zelek , and Chrystal E . Williams . The professional musicians held mentoring sessions with POP students prior to each concert .
Major support for Playing and Preserving has been generously provided by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage , with additional support from Wyncote Foundation and The 25th Century Foundation .
SACRED PLACES THAT RECEIVED TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE : Grace Epiphany Church ( Episcopal ), Philadelphia , PA • St . Mary ’ s , Hamilton Village ( Episcopal ), Philadelphia , PA
• Unitarian Society of Germantown , Philadelphia , PA • St . Luke ’ s Episcopal Church , Germantown , Philadelphia , PA
• Saint Timothy Roman Catholic Church , Philadelphia , PA • Saint Thomas Aquinas ( Catholic ), Philadelphia , PA • First United Methodist Church of Germantown ( FUMCOG ), Philadelphia , PA • The First Presbyterian Church in Germantown , Philadelphia , PA • Holy Apostles and the Mediator ( Episcopal ), Philadelphia , PA
• Wharton-Wesley United Methodist Church , Philadelphia , PA • St . John the Baptist ( Catholic ), Philadelphia , PA
• Tindley Temple United Methodist Church , Philadelphia , PA
“ Performing in a venue such as St . Mary ’ s or any church is , for me , sacred . I have a strong faith and I love to perform in these venues because for me it ’ s praise , it ’ s worship . I try to have that be foremost whenever I perform , but to have it in this space , to be able to feel , for me , the sacredness , it ’ s very humbling , it ’ s very settling , it ’ s very grounding .”
— Chrystal E . Williams , mezzo-soprano