Over the past seventeen years, I have devoted my time to the study of the works of the French organist, Charles Tournemire, with my particular focus being on his L’Orgue Mystique, which is a two-hundred-fifty-three-movement liturgical work that is fifteen hours in duration. I toured the United States and Canada throughout those years, performing portions of the work and, finally, performing the complete cycle in 2019, first in Bucks County and then in Pittsburgh for the Pittsburgh and Duquesne Chapters of the American Guild of Organists. Finally, this past year, my book on the subject—Charles Tournemire’s L’Orgue Mystique: La haute mission—was published by the Leupold Foundation. This volume provides a comprehensive summation of the circumstances that led to the creation of this masterpiece.

Armed with the book and two complete performances of the work, I am now ready to perform the entire L’Orgue Mystique in Philadelphia at Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church, Chestnut Hill, which is home to a culturally historic, newly restored Aeolian-Skinner organ that is also the largest church organ in the city. This will be done as a seventeen-part series on the Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays of Lent 2026, from February 23rd through March 31st.

The hope is to video record and live-stream the event to reach a broader audience. Once the series is over, the recordings will be posted on our website, which aims to educate the public about Tournemire and L’Orgue Mystique. Together with the book and videos featuring lectures and musical performances, this site will form a comprehensive educational resource for the performance of L’Orgue Mystique.

To that end, we are in the midst of raising funds—through multiple resources (including grants)—$4,000 ($200 per evening for the videographer, plus any additional expenses such as equipment, etc.) to accomplish this task. Should the fundraising exceed this figure, the remaining funds will be allocated to advertising, a vocal soloist for the opening and closing events, and other expenses incurred through this mammoth and historic project.