East Texas Pipe Organ Festival

04/13/2026

One of our favorite Aeolian-Skinner artists to play for the organ festival is Scott Dettra. We always say to Scott, "We'll take you whenever we can get you."

We've just uploaded Scott's fabulous recital for us as the closing recital of our 2025 East Texas Pipe Organ Festival onto YouTube. Scott played our flagship organ, the 1949 Aeolian-Skinner, Opus 1173, at First Presbyterian Church, Kilgore, Texas.

This year's festival is set for November 8-12, and features your favorite Aeolian-Skinner artists (well, the ones that are still living...).

Register today at www.royperryfoundation.org

Click on the link below to watch Scott Dettra in action in Kilgore, recorded by our own Bart Ghent.

https://studio.youtube.com/video/RWflgPBaahQ/edit

04/03/2026

We have just uploaded Walt Strony's stunning concert for us on the 1949 Aeolian-Skinner, Opus 1173 at First Presbyterian Church, Kilgore, Texas during last year's East Texas Pipe Organ Festival.

Walt's program includes music by Callahan (the world premiere of his "Fantasy on B-A-C-H), Copland, Gershwin, Kreisler, Stravinsky, plus music from "My Fair Lady," a tribute to Judy Garland, and more.

For more information, and to register for this year's festival, visit
www.royperryfoundation.org

We hope to see you here in Kilgore in November, 2026 for another fabulous week of music-making with that glorious Aeolian-Skinner sound interpreted by your favorite Aeolian-Skinner artists!

Click on the following link to watch Walt in action:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoPwA03nS-o

Honoring the Life and Work of Roy Perry (1906-1978) Festival InfoContribute 3 The East Texas Pipe Organ Festival Contact us by email at [email protected] Festival Info ContactThe Roy Perry FoundationThe Roy Perry American Classic Organ Foundation was established for the purpo...

02/26/2026

Dear Friends, we have just uploaded John Schwandt's fabulous recital at St. Mark's Cathedral, Shreveport, Louisiana, recorded by our own Bart Ghent during our 2025 festival. The full recital is attached here.

John will be returning to us this year.

Our 2026 East Texas Pipe Organ Festival is now open for registration.

Mark your calendars for November 8-12. Register today at
www.royperryfoundation.org

Our festival honors the memory and work of Roy Perry, the Texas representative and tonal finisher for the Aeolian-Skinner Pipe Organ Company of Boston, Massachusetts. Mr. Perry was organist-choirmaster at First Presbyterian Church, Kilgore from 1932-1972. He and The Williams Family of New Orleans began their close relationship with the Aeolian-Skinner firm of Boston with their installation of our flagship organ, the 1949 Aeolian-Skinner, Opus 1173 at First Presbyterian Church, Kilgore, Texas. When Aeolian-Skinner’s president, G. Donald Harrison, inspected the Williams Family’s installation, he turned over all of the company’s work in Texas to Mr. Perry and The Williams Family.

Our festival generally features three prominent recitalists per day, plus visits to our own East Texas Pipe Organ Festival Headquarters, housing the William Teague Aeolian-Skinner practice organ and many libraries of printed scores, books, and memorabilia; and visits to local art museums and historic sites, and good times guaranteed for all.

This year’s opening concert will be held at First Presbyterian Church, Kilgore, on Sunday, November 8 at 5:00 p.m. with the choir of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, Houston, performing the Brahms “A German Requiem,” with Daryl Robinson conducting, and Ken Cown accompanying at the organ.

Other artists presenting programs during the week include Jeremy Filsell, Huw Lewis, John Schwandt, Damin Spritzer, Clark Wilson and many others

Our official hotel for the festival is the Kilgore Comfort Suites. Call the hotel at 903-984-2385 to make your reservation, and please mention that it is for the East Texas Pipe Organ Festival. The Kilgore Comfort Suites has recently been renovated, and we will be able to now return to our infamous nightly “Al’s Paradise” each evening honoring Albert Russell.

Register today at www.royperryfoundation.org

Mark your calendars for November 8-12. Register today at
www.royperryfoundation.org

Our festival honors the memory and work of Roy Perry, the Texas representative and tonal finisher for the Aeolian-Skinner Pipe Organ Company of Boston, Massachusetts. Mr. Perry was organist-choirmaster at First Presbyterian Church, Kilgore from 1932-1972. He and The Williams Family of New Orleans began their close relationship with the Aeolian-Skinner firm of Boston with their installation of our flagship organ, the 1949 Aeolian-Skinner, Opus 1173 at First Presbyterian Church, Kilgore, Texas. When Aeolian-Skinner’s president, G. Donald Harrison, inspected the Williams Family’s installation, he turned over all of the company’s work in Texas to Mr. Perry and The Williams Family.

Our festival generally features three prominent recitalists per day, plus visits to our own East Texas Pipe Organ Festival Headquarters, housing the William Teague Aeolian-Skinner practice organ and many libraries of printed scores, books, and memorabilia; and visits to local art museums and historic sites, and good times guaranteed for all.

This year’s opening concert will be held at First Presbyterian Church, Kilgore, on Sunday, November 8 at 5:00 p.m. with the choir of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, Houston, performing the Brahms “A German Requiem,” with Daryl Robinson conducting, and Ken Cown accompanying at the organ.

Other artists presenting programs during the week include Jeremy Filsell, Huw Lewis, John Schwandt, Damin Spritzer, Clark Wilson and many others

Our official hotel for the festival is the Kilgore Comfort Suites. Call the hotel at 903-984-2385 to make your reservation, and please mention that it is for the East Texas Pipe Organ Festival. The Kilgore Comfort Suites has recently been renovated, and we will be able to now return to our infamous nightly “Al’s Paradise” each evening honoring Albert Russell.

Register today at www.royperryfoundation.org

https://youtu.be/8hgfctmduUg?si=rdPoe9-gCLR2iXim

EAST TEXAS PIPE ORGAN FESTIVAL ST. MARK’S CATHEDRALSHREVEPORT, LATHURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 202510:00 A.M. JOHN SCHWANDT, ORGANIST PROGRAMPräludium in C Georg Bӧ...

02/20/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/17buEWKsLL/

Ken Cowan and Bradley Welch play the magnificent 1951 Aeolian-Skinner pipe organ at First Baptist Church, Longview, Texas for the 2025 East Texas Pipe Organ ...

02/04/2026

https://youtu.be/jk-VLTQhmso

Dear Friends,

Our latest video is now available on YouTube. Clark Wilson accompanies the Mary Pickford movie, "My Best Girl," on the 1949 Aeolian-Skinner, Opus 1173 at First Presbyterian Church, Kilgore, Texas during our 2025 East Texas Pipe Organ Festival, recorded here live in performance by our own Bart Ghent.

www.royperryfoundation.org

Clark Wilson accompanies the silent film, "My Best Girl," starring Mary Pickford on the 1949 Aeolian-Skinner pipe organ at First Presbyterian Church, Kilgore...

12/30/2025

Merry Christmas to all from the East Texas Pipe Organ Festival.

Here is William Watkins playing the Jean Langlais "La Nativite" on the 1949 Aeolian-Skinner. Opus 1173 at First Presbyterian Church, Kilgore, Texas.

William Watkins was a close friend of Roy Perry's, and his 1951 recital on Opus 1173 helped put the organ in Kilgore on the map.

https://youtu.be/XxdQ9jG0C-4?si=t9HN9QfQtPoTuZum

12/23/2025

This year's festival had so many high points that it is hard to distinguish one from another.

Daryl Robinson's recital on the 1949 Aeolian-Skinner at First Presbyterian Church was certainly among the best.

The recording here is by Bart Ghent.

The organ is meticulously cared for by Steve Emery.

Click on the following link to hear Daryl's program, which was given in honor of Armistice Day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeeEWfIavSE

12/05/2025

Our 2025 East Texas Pipe Organ Festival was a huge success! It was great meeting up with old friends and meeting new friends.

The complete festival was recorded by Bart Ghent, who worked miracles throughout the week. We must also thank Steve Emery who kept the organs in top-notch shape throughout the week that included temperatures from below freezing to downright tropical. Bart and Steve are truly miracle workers!

If you should happen to need an end-of-the-year tax write-off, we are a non-profit! Send your tax-deductible donations to

Roy Perry American Classic Organ Foundation
P. O. Box 2069
Kilgore, TX 75663

Meanwhile, enjoy this outstanding recital by ORGANIZED RHYTHM at First Baptist Church, Longview, Texas, during this year's East Texas Pipe Organ Festival with Clive Driskill-Smith and Joseph Gramley and the magnificent 1951 Perriola Aeolian-Skinner, Opus 1174.

EAST TEXAS PIPE ORGAN FESTIVAL

FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH - LONGVIEW, TEXAS
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2025 - 10:00 A.M.

ORGANIZED RHYTHM

CLIVE DRISKILL-SMITH, ORGAN
JOSEPH GRAMLEY, PERCUSSION

PROGRAM

Premier Air des Espagnols (from Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme) Jean-Baptiste Lully
(1632-1687)

Hoe-Down (from Rodeo) Aaron Copland
(1900-1990)

Pluto Stephen Eddins
(b. 1954)

Danse macabre Camille Saint-Saëns
(1835-1921)

Prélude et danse fuguée (organ solo) Gaston Litaize
(1909-1991)

INTERMISSION

Aragonaise (from Carmen) Georges Bizet
(1838-1921)

Graceful Ghost Rag William Bolcolm
(b. 1938)

A Song of Sunshine (organ solo) Alfred Hollins
(1865-1942)
Performed in memory of Charles Callahan

La Volta William Byrd
(1540-1623)

Devil’s Dance (from The Witches of Eastwick) John Williams
(b. 1932)

All arrangements by Clive Driskill-Smith and Joseph Gramley

1951 Aeolian-Skinner, Opus 1174
The Rogers Lacy Memorial Organ

Concert audiences across the United States, Europe and Asia have been brought to their feet by a pairing of musical personalities as improbable and winning as ORGANIZED RHYTHM’s combination of the pipe organ and multi-percussion.

British organist CLIVE DRISKILL-SMITH trained at Eton and Oxford. His solo performances around the world have earned him recognition as one of his generation’s star organists. Now based in Fort Worth, Clive is an active soloist, music director, collaborator and committee member of his local AGO Chapter.

Joining Clive in Organized Rhythm is percussionist JOSEPH GRAMLEY. An Oregon native whose own crowd-pleasing solo concerts and work with Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble have made him one of the leading multi-percussionists performing today, Gramley strives to both complement and augment Clive’s masterful registrations, textures, colors and sounds.

This powerful and harmonious duo presents what has been described as “...an exciting two-hour musical adventure, [offering] startling clear insight into what makes a live performance good, and why good live performances are important for us...passion, technical mastery, and precision...two young musicians doing what they clearly love--making music, not just for themselves, but for us as well." (The Granite State News, NH)

Trumpet and organ: it’s been done before. Flute and organ: it’s been done before. But the “symphonic-orchestral” pairing of organ and percussion remains a rarity, making Organized Rhythm the only full-time duo of its kind anywhere in the world. Clive and Joseph take every opportunity to explore the lyrical and powerful tonal aspects of thunderous and dulcet wood and metal organ pipes married to the visceral, arresting and delicate aspects of a wide array of percussion instruments from around the world through a collection of new works as well as transcriptions of recognizable classical compositions. Their repertoire spans from the music of J.S. Bach and Camille Saint-Saëns to that of Aaron Copland, John Williams and celebrated and innovative 21st century composers Nico Muhly, Angélica Negrón, William Susman and Brenda Portman. The duo’s adaptation of Gustav Holst’s The Planets has been played worldwide, from Budapest to Bloomington — Taipei to Tulsa.

Committed to collaborating with the leading composers of today, the Duo commissions and premieres new works each season. Listeners to the Duo’s recording Beaming Music will hear dozens of world drums, multiple metals, cymbals, tam-tams, multi-keyboard melodic percussion, orchestral percussion and timpani melding with the full organ’s sound. The duo has found balances in which even the soft bars of the marimba meld seamlessly with the organ’s softest registers. The creative ease that exists between the two – developed not only during travel and concerts, but while finding, arranging and shaping repertoire – is instantly evident to anyone watching them rehearse, perform and record. Recent sold-out performances include the Béla Bartók National Concert Hall in Budapest and Taipei’s stunning National Performing Arts Center.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LGrAtyUHEY

11/18/2025

On a bus ride during last week's fabulous East Texas Pipe Organ Festival, our festival regular, Michael Mahood, reminded me that I had not even posted all of last year's recitals on YouTube.

Thank you, Michael!

Here is the duo recital that Sunkyung Noh and Grant Smith played for us at First Methodist Church, Houston, October 24, 2024.

The recording is by our own Bart Ghent.

https://studio.youtube.com/video/yVIWHkIHai8/edit

11/09/2025

Dear Friends,

Today is the first day of our fifteenth East Texas Pipe Organ Festival honoring the life and work of Roy Perry.

Come join us for this exciting week of music-making on these glorious Aeolian-Skinner pipe organs designed and tonally finished by Mr. Perry.

Our first event is this evening at 7:30 at First Presbyterian Church, Kilgore, with the fabulous Clark Wilson accompanying the classic silent film, "My Best Girl," starring Mary Pickford.

Here is our schedule of events that are open to the public - and are free of charge!

2025 East Texas Pipe Organ Festival
November 9-13, 2025
Complete Schedule of Public Events - All Concerts are Free of Charge

Sunday, November 9
7:30 p.m. Silent Movie:
“My Best Girl”
starring Mary Pickford
Clark Wilson, organist
First Presbyterian Church, Kilgore

Monday, November 10
10:00 a.m. Duo Organ Recital
Ken Cowan & Bradly Welch
First Baptist Church, Longview

3:30 p.m. Recital
Music Associated with Charles Callahan
David Berryhill, pianist
Ken Cowan, organist
First Baptist Church, Nacogdoches

7:30 p.m. Organ Recital
Sheryl Sebo, organist
with Richard Leppert, viola
St. Luke’s Methodist Church, Kilgore

Tuesday, November 11
10:00 a.m. Organ Recital
Daryl Robinson, organist
First Presbyterian Church, Kilgore

2:30 p.m. Organ Recital
Chase Loomer, organist
St. Luke’s Methodist Church, Kilgore

7:30 p.m. Organ Recital
Walt Strony, organist
First Presbyterian Church, Kilgore

Wednesday, November 12
10:00 a.m. Recital
Organized Rhythm
Clive Driskill-Smith, organist
Joseph Gramley, percussionist
First Baptist Church
Longview

2:30 p.m. Organ Recital
Stefan Engels, organist
First United Methodist Church
Longview

4:00 p.m. Improvisation Masterclass
George Baker, guest speaker
First United Methodist Church
Longview

Thursday, November 13
10:30 a.m. Organ Recital
John Schwandt, organist
St. Mark’s Cathedral
Shreveport, Louisiana

3:00 p.m. Organ Recital
Alcée Chriss, III, organist
St. Mark’s Cathedral
Shreveport

7:30 p.m. Closing Concert
Scott Dettra, organist
First Presbyterian Church
Kilgore

www.royperryfoundation.org

10/10/2025

Come join us!

Register today at www.royperryfoundation.org

09/22/2025

Join us for this year's festival in Kilgore, Longview, and Shreveport - November 9-13 - to hear outstanding performances on our local Aeolian-Skinners tonally finished by Roy Perry and installed by the Williams Family of New Orleans.

Register today at www.royperryfoundation.org

This year's festival is dedicated to the memory of our friend, Charles Callahan. His works will be performed throughout the week, including a world premiere by Charles' friend, and Kilgore favorite, Walt Strony, of an unpublished manuscript of a fantasy on a familiar theme!

Our opening concert is by another Kilgore favorite, Clark Wilson, who will accompany the silent film, "My Best Girl," starring Mary Pickford, on the glorious 1949 Aeolian-Skinner, Opus 1173 at First Presbyterian Church, Kilgore.

Shreveport Day features recitals by Kilgore favorite, Susan Ferre, and newcomer (to us) Alcee Chriss, along with an extra outing to the fabulous Norton Art Gallery.

We have so many favorite organists! It is impossible to name them all here! Scott Dettra is certainly one of them. Scott will close our festival - this is our fifteenth year - on our flagship organ at First Presbyterian Church, Kilgore.

What a wonderful week it will be!

Don't miss it! While you are registering for the festival on our "sexy" new website created by Francoise Webb, David Brown, and Jim Weekley - www.royperryfoundation.org - don't forget to check out our selection of compact discs for sale. Buy, buy, buy! Spend, spend, spend!

We will post more exciting details soon.

Pictured are some of this year's guest presenters.