My name is Rich Spotts and I'm an organist from Doylestown, Pennsylvania. I have my Undergraduate and Masters Degrees in Sacred Music from Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey. Over the past decade I have embarked upon a little journey to study and perform one of greatest seldom-performed works of sacred music— "L’Orgue Mystique" by the French composer Charles Tournemire (1870-1939). Contained within fifty-one volumes, this magnum opus of two-hundred-fifty-three movements composed from 1927 to 1932 is fifteen hours in duration and employs over three-hundred liturgical chants which act as musical exegesis with the goal of celebrating fifty-one Sundays and Liturgical Feasts throughout the Church Calendar. "L’Orgue Mystique" is a work of haunting transcendent beauty and musical allegory written by a pious, unassuming genius whose and whose utterances were little heard in the maelstrom of the twentieth century’s interbellum period. The pilgrimage to study this seminal liturgical work has taken me across the United States and Canada performing portions of "L’Orgue Mystique" at numerous notable universities, cathedrals, parishes, and other religious institutions on the continent. The final goal of this plan is to perform the entire cycle in a series of concerts given over the course of ten days and to publish a book on the subject.

My goal at this point is to do research in Paris to study the Cavaillé-Coll organs the piece was written for, to do reseach of the Tournemire Collection at the Bibliothèque Nationale, and to perform a recital at Tournemire's parish of Sainte-Clotilde. This would entail a trip encompassing three weekends (to hear the instruments played liturgically) and two weeks to do research. The goal is to do this November of 2017 and have the recital performed around the anniversary of Tournemire's passing. The funding includes travel expenses, means for modest existence during the period (accommodation, per diem expenses, food, etc.), and money for the recital (programs, remuneration for a schola, etc.)

I will be eternally  grateful for your help in allowing me achieve this decade-long project! Already two $2,000 grants have been offered by the San Francisco and Indianapolis Chapters of the American Guild of Organists, so this research project to Paris is definitely happening in some way. This pilgrimage is reaching a climax. Tournemire was a man who through "L'Orgue Mystique" created one of the greatest works of Art in music history and died forgotten. Olivier Messiaen remarked, "Un jour, on rendra justice à Tournemire." That moment has come.

I am in great debt to the following churches and institutions that have thus far supported me in this venture:

All Saints Kingsway Church • Toronto, Ontario
Arch Street United Methodist Church • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The Basilica of Saints Peter & Paul • Lewiston, Maine
Beaumont Retirement Community • Rosemont (Bryn Mawr), Pennsylvania
Bruton Parish Church • Williamsburg, Virginia
Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church • Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania
The Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception • Denver, Colorado
The Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart • Newark, New Jersey
The Cathedral Church of the Nativity • Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
The Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine • New York, New York
The Cathedral Church of Saint James • Toronto, Ontario
The Cathedral Church of Saint Philip • Atlanta, Georgia
Chalmers-Wesley United Church • Québec, Québec
Christ Church • Charlottesville, Virginia
The Church of the Advent • Boston, Massachusetts
Church of the Assumption • Ansonia, Connecticut
The Church of the Epiphany • Miami, Florida
The Church of the Epiphany • Washington, District of Columbia
Church Music Association of America
The Church of Saint Mary Magdalene • Toronto, Ontario
Couvent des Ursulines • Québec, Québec
Doylestown Presbyterian Church • Doylestown, Pennsylvania
Epiphany Catholic Church • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
First Presbyterian Church • Allentown, Pennsylvania
First Presbyterian Church • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
First Presbyterian Church of Germantown • Germantown (Philadelphia), Pennsylvania
Grace Cathedral • San Francisco, California
Heinz Chapel, University of Pittsburgh • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Holy Spirit Chapel, Duquesne University • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Madonna della Strada Chapel, Loyola University • Chicago, Illinois
Metropolitan United Church • Toronto, Ontario
National City Christian Church • Washington, District of Columbia
Nova Southeastern University • Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Our Lady of Fatima Roman Catholic Church • Lafayette, Louisiana
Overbrook Presbyterian Church • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Princeton University Chapel • Princeton, New Jersey
Rockefeller Chapel, University of Chicago, • Chicago, Illinois
Saint Ignatius of Antioch • New York, New York
Saint John’s Cantius Roman Catholic Church • Chicago, Illinois
Saint John’s Lutheran Church • Allentown, Pennsylvania
Saint John’s United Church of Christ • Lansdale, Pennsylvania
Saint Louis King of France Roman Catholic Church • Saint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church • Lebanon, Pennsylvania
Saint Mark’s Church • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Saint Mark United Methodist Church • Atlanta, Georgia
Saint Mary’s at the Cathedral • Roxborough (Philadelphia), Pennsylvania
Saint Mary’s Roman Catholic Church • Newport, Rhode Island
Saint Matthew Lutheran Church • York, Pennsylvania
Saint Meinrad Archabbey • Saint Meinrad, Indiana
Saint Patrick’s Cathedral • New York, New York
Saint Paul’s Church • Chestnut Hill (Philadelphia), Pennsylvania
Saint Paul’s Church • Doylestown, Pennsylvania
Saint Peter’s Catholic Church • Columbia, South Carolina
Saint Stephen’s Church • Providence, Rhode Island
Saint Stephen’s Episcopal Church (Pro-Cathedral, Diocese of Bethlehem) • Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania
Saint Thomas’ Anglican Church • Toronto, Ontario
Trinity Church • Solebury, Pennsylvania
Trinity Episcopal Cathedral • Miami, Florida
Trinity Episcopal Cathedral • Trenton, New Jersey
Trinity Episcopal Church Copley Square • Boston, Massachusetts
Trinity Lutheran Church • Lansdale, Pennsylvania
Washington Memorial Chapel, Valley Forge National Park • Valley Forge, Pennsylvania
Washington National Cathedral • Washington, District of Columbia
Westminster Choir College (Masterclass) • Princeton, New Jersey

Travel: $1,200
Accommodation: ($150 per day) $2,700
Per diem: ($100 per day) $1,800
Recital: (Programs) $250 and (Schola) $1,200
Total $7,150