Philadelphia Organ Festival
The 2024 Philadelphia Organ Festival showcased the city’ s historic sacred places and their pipe organs, drawing more than 2,600 people to nine performances from March 15 to March 23, 2024, and attracting nearly 35 million media views. The festival program included various classical music and films and appealed to a variety of musical preferences with different guest organists and artists at each concert. In addition to the concerts, the festival included tours, lectures, and other events that gave audiences greater insight into the sacred places.
Major support for the 2024 Philadelphia Organ Festival and Playing and Preserving was provided by Wyncote Foundation, The William Penn Foundation, 25th Century Foundation, Connelly Foundation, and Dolfinger-McMahon Foundation.
John Walthausen, Artistic Director Jay Fluellen, Festival Director Joshua Castaño, Festival Producer
IN COLLABORATION WITH:
The Philadelphia Orchestra The Marian Anderson Historical Society Artcinia The Crossing Opera Philadelphia cinéSPEAK
PERFORMANCES
Ravel’ s Boléro reimagined for Organ and Brass. Chelsea Chen, organist. Girard College Chapel
Gothic Drama from Screen and Keyboard: The Passion of Joan of Arc. Matthew Glandorf, organist. St. Luke’ s Germantown
The Organ’ s Modern Touch: Minimalism and Contemporary Works. Amanda Mole, organist; Vocalists from The Crossing Percussion Ensemble. The First Presbyterian Church in Germantown
Celebrating the Memory and Art of Marian Anderson. Alan Morrison, organist; Vocalists from Marian Anderson Society Scholars. Tindley Temple
U. S. Premiere of Garras de Oro. Parker Kitterman, organist; Vocalists from Opera Philadelphia; Chamber ensemble with live electronics. Rodeph Shalom
Alan Morrison, the Haas Charitable Trust Chair in Organ Studies at the Curtis Institute of Music, performs on the 1927 Möller organ at Tindley Temple United Methodist Church in Philadelphia. The concert paid tribute to Marian Anderson, who began her career in Philadelphia churches and sang at Tindley Temple. Several of her outfits were on display, courtesy of The Marian Anderson Historical Society. Photos: Daniel Kontz
J. S. Bach Cantata BWV 146: Wir müssen durch viel Trübsal. John Walthausen, organist; Rebecca Myers, soprano; Meg Bragle, mezzo soprano; Gregório Taniguchi, tenor; Christopher Talbot, bass; Baroque ensemble. Unitarian Society of Germantown
Holst’ s The Planets and Two Voluntaries. Daryl Robinson, organist; Percussion ensemble. Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral
Romance in the Garden: Franck and Rachmaninoff at Longwood. Alcée Chriss, organist; String ensemble. Longwood Gardens
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