Slideshow pho­tos are a few of the pipe organs fea­tured at the OHS 2024 Bal­ti­more Convention.

OHS 2024 - Baltimore

OHS 2024

Bal­ti­more
 
Since 2017, we have been plan­ning for anoth­er great Bal­ti­more OHS con­ven­tion, thir­ty years since the pre­vi­ous gath­er­ing. Bal­ti­more was a 19th cen­tu­ry hub of Amer­i­can organ­build­ing with Roo­sevelt, Stein, Erben, Pom­plitz work­shops here and one of per­haps the least known Amer­i­can organ­builders, Hen­ry Nie­mann. Of these builders, Roo­sevelt, Stein and Nie­mann organs still exist and are on the pro­gram. Sad­ly, we mourn the loss of Pom­plitz, Erben, John­son and Nie­mann organs. Yet, we will rejoice in the restora­tion of a Nie­mann and John­son organ, both tru­ly delight­ful instruments.

Dr. Rollin Smith Research Grant

​Dr. Rollin Smith Research Grant

Sponsored by the Organ Historical Society

In sup­port of its mis­sion to enrich pub­lic knowl­edge, under­stand­ing, and appre­ci­a­tion of the pipe organ, the Organ His­tor­i­cal Soci­ety invites appli­ca­tions for its 2024 OHS Research Grant. An annu­al Grant of up to $2,000 sup­ports research projects relat­ed to the pipe organ — its builders, con­struc­tion, his­to­ry, styles, recep­tion, com­posers, reper­to­ries, organ­ists, per­for­mance prac­tice, and more. The Grant may be used to cov­er trav­el, hous­ing, and oth­er research-relat­ed expens­es. The Soci­ety encour­ages all inter­est­ed per­sons to apply.

Barbara Owen Fund

​The Barbara Owen Fund for Education

Sponsored by the Organ Historical Society

Funds from this account will be used to pro­vide free mem­ber­ship for any­one in high school or in a bachelor’s or master’s pro­gram study­ing the pipe organ. Doc­tor­al stu­dents are not eli­gi­ble. Dig­i­tal mem­ber­ships will be free for the dura­tion of their stud­ies with prop­er ver­i­fi­ca­tion. Con­tri­bu­tions to this fund help ensure a healthy, grow­ing mem­ber­ship in the OHS.

The James M. Weaver Prize

Exciting News about the James M. Weaver Prize in Organ Scholarship 

A prize to celebrate and foster the scholarly research of pipe organs. 

View pho­tos and bios of the Final­ists and Judges.

The Three Finalists

Ele­na Bac­quiera, Andrew John­son, Owen Sammons

A Breath of Fresh Air

Imag­ine watch­ing a 200-year old organ, bro­ken, tat­tered, and for­got­ten com­ing to life again. Imag­ine see­ing crafts­men and his­to­ri­ans work­ing togeth­er on a neglect­ed instru­ment, restor­ing it to glo­ry piece by piece. Imag­ine gaz­ing at its trans­for­ma­tion into an his­tor­i­cal­ly accu­rate ser­vice­able organ. Now, imag­ine hear­ing that instru­ment played for the first time in generations!

You can make these imag­i­na­tions come true. Join us as we attempt to cre­ate Breath of Fresh Air for the 1817 Hilbus Cab­i­net Organ.

Support the OHS

Support the OHS

Sup­port our won­der­ful programs.

 

OHS Annual
Fund Drive

Help sup­port oper­at­ing expens­es of OHS pro­grams and services.

Sustaining Membership

Sustaining Membership

Join Today!

The OHS is pleased to offer a Sus­tain­ing Mem­ber cat­e­go­ry.  For as lit­tle as $10 per month, you can sup­port the OHS grow stronger and more respon­sive to the pipe organ com­mu­ni­ty.  OHS and you – sus­tain­ing a life­time of history.

Big Things
Are Happening!

Celebrate the
re-opening

of the OHS Catalog

OHS News

i

Breaking News

Pipe Organ Database Gets New Look

After months of work and devel­op­ment, the new inter­face for the OHS Pipe Organ Data­base launch­es Fri­day, Jan­u­ary 26, 2024. The entire struc­ture and tech­nol­o­gy as well as true rela­tion­al data­base pro­to­cols make it supreme­ly faster than the cur­rent inter­face. We have tried to make it user friend­ly and intu­itive. We invite your review and com­ments. ALL com­ments and updates are sent to the edit­ing team through a con­tact form and will be han­dled. Note that the search and fil­ter func­tions are exact­ly that– results are fil­tered live as you type in para­me­ters. Loca­tion name, city etc nar­row the list of results live as you type. We look for­ward to this new era of the OHS Database.

https://​pipeor​gan​data​base​.org/

 

OHS Baltimore 2024

OHS 2024Convention Site

Bal­ti­more is the place to be in July of 2024. The vari­ety of his­toric instru­ments is astound­ing cre­at­ing a sound palette sure to please even the most dis­cern­ing appetite. And the food — well, you just have to be here to expe­ri­ence it for yourself.

Find out more

The Barbara Owen Fund

The Barbara Owen Fund for Education

Sponsored by the Organ Historical Society

Funds from this account will be used to pro­vide free mem­ber­ship for any­one in high school or in a bachelor’s or master’s pro­gram study­ing the pipe organ. Doc­tor­al stu­dents are not eli­gi­ble. Dig­i­tal mem­ber­ships will be free for the dura­tion of their stud­ies with prop­er ver­i­fi­ca­tion. Con­tri­bu­tions to this fund help ensure a healthy, grow­ing mem­ber­ship in the OHS.

Apply Now!

 

Upcoming Events

The Tracker

OHS pub­lish­es its jour­nal four times a year. The Track­er includes news and arti­cles about the organ and its his­to­ry, organ­builders, exem­plary organs, region­al sur­veys of instru­ments, and the music played on the organ. The empha­sis is on Amer­i­can organ top­ics of the 18th, 19th, and 20th cen­turies, and there are occa­sion­al arti­cles on Euro­pean top­ics. Most issues run 48 pages with many illus­tra­tions and photographs.

Dear Friend of the Organ –
A New Opportunity

Think about the plea­sure you will receive in offer­ing an OHS mem­ber­ship to a friend or rel­a­tive. You can share your love of the pipe organ and intro­duce some­one else to the good works of the Soci­ety in edu­cat­ing, pre­serv­ing and chron­i­cling our rich organ her­itage and cul­ture. Mem­ber­ships make splen­did gifts. The recip­i­ent will receive a sub­scrip­tion to our quar­ter­ly mag­a­zine, The Track­er, a spe­cial gift and all the ben­e­fits of mem­ber­ship, includ­ing mem­bers’ prices on many items in the OHS Catalog.

The OHS Mission Statement

The Organ His­tor­i­cal Soci­ety cel­ebrates, pre­serves, and stud­ies the pipe organ in Amer­i­ca in all its his­toric styles, through re­search, edu­ca­tion, ad­vocacy, and music.

The Organ Historical Society

330 North Spring Mill Road
Vil­lano­va, PA 19085 – 1737
(484) 488-PIPE (7473)
mail@​organhistoricalsociety.​org