As a precursor to an ambitious fund-raising project to restore its historic Cavaillé-Coll organ, The American Cathedral in Paris will hold a colloquium on January 10th, 2023, about how organs are built, how they work, and what can go wrong with them.

A panel of experts will describe the history and construction of the Great Organ at The American Cathedral in Paris, installed in 1887 by the famed organ atelier Cavaillé-Coll. The program will be moderated by the Cathedral’s Canon for Music, Zachary Ullery, who will be joined by Philipp C. A. Klais, Pipe-Organbuilder, J. Klais Orgelbau GmbH & Co.KG, and by noted Cavaillé-Coll organists: Frédéric Blanc, Organiste Titulaire, L'église Notre Dame d'Auteuil à Paris; Andrew Dewar, Organist, The American Cathedral in Paris; Samuel Liégeon, Organiste Titulaire, l’église Saint-Pierre de Chaillot à Paris; Dr. Carolyn Shuster Fournier, Honorary Choir Organist, l’église de la Sainte-Trinité à Paris; and Johann Vexo, Organiste Titulaire, la cathédrale de Nancy.

To augment the discussion, Andrew Dewar will offer demonstrations of the organ—and some of its faults, the wear and tear over a century and a half. A capital campaign, to be launched in February by The American Cathedral in Paris, is intended to repair the flaws with a complete restoration of the Cavaillé-Coll masterpiece.

The program, open to the general public (free admission), will be held in the nave of The American Cathedral in Paris. It will be livestreamed. A simple reception in the Parish Hall will follow the colloquium.

Built in 1886, this imposing neo-gothic cathedral is a masterwork of renowned English architect George Edmund Street, and recognized as a French monument historique. The Cathedral is also graced by the work of another artistic genius, Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, the great French organ builder.

The Cavaillé-Coll workshop built over 500 organs for sites around the world: some 300 in France of which 55 were installed in Paris, including the Basilicas of Saint Denis and Sacré Coeur, and the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris.

Installed at The American Cathedral in Paris in 1887, Cavaillé-Coll’s Great Organ has always been the heartbeat of the Cathedral, supporting its magnificent liturgies and its unrivaled choral and instrumental music program.

This historic organ is in dire need of restoration so that it may fulfill its potential as a significant cultural landmark in Paris through the next century.