Playing and Preserving

Philadelphia’s pipe organs, and the sacred places that contain them, are some of the city’s greatest treasures. Yet, changing religious landscapes, musical tastes, and technology over the last 20 to 30 years are putting both sacred places and their historic pipe organs at risk. One expert estimated that nearly 50% of the instruments featured in the Organ Historical Society’s national convention in Philadelphia nearly twenty years ago maybe be partially destroyed, dormant, or unplayable.

Using new and creative approaches, the goal of Playing and Preserving is to generate public support for the preservation and active use of Philadelphia’s pipe organ heritage by building relationships between congregations, artists, music lovers, organ builders, and the broader public.

The project includes three major components:

Inventory

Partners collaborated with music students from local universities and the Curtis Institute of Music to survey historic pipe organs at in sacred places. This process introduces early career musicians to sacred places that serve as concert venues and provides data, including audio recordings of the pipe organs and photos of the sites, to other musicians, music lovers. The survey teams findings are incorporated into the database of the Organ Historical Society, as well as this interactive map.

Training and Capacity Building

Congregations participate in a capacity-building training program, learning to maintain and leverage their historic organ as a key physical asset of the congregation. As part of this project, congregation receive a guide to repair and restoration, and direct assistance to connect with new audiences, fundraise, and preserve their instruments.

Performances

This project has supported two series of performances. In 2024, Playing and Preserving presents Philadelphia’s first major organ festival. Experience some of the city’s finest historic organs and landmark sacred places, as these inspired performances bring together music across centuries and genres.

In 2019, Partners for Sacred Places collaborated with Astral and Play On Philly (POP) to organize a series of family-friendly, community concerts at St. Mary’s Hamilton Village, The Episcopal Church at Penn. In the weeks before these concerts, Astral Artists mentored the POP students during four short residency visits, building musical skills and relationships between student musicians and world-class artists. Each concert was preceded by child-friendly Experience Stations, designed to welcome us all to learn more about the pipe organ.