A Grand Instrument

The great organ of Washington National Cathedral was built by the Ernest M. Skinner & Son Organ Company and installed in 1938.

The great organ consists of 10,647 pipes.

Organ Recitals

Join us for recitals on the Cathedral’s great organ featuring organists from around the world. Recitals take place on Sunday afternoons. Please refer to the Cathedral Calendar for specific times. There is a suggested donation of $10 per person. No reservations are required, with the exception of groups.

2018-2019 Organ Recitals
  • September 23: George Fergus, Washington National Cathedral
  • September 30: Weston Jennings, First Presbyterian Church, Tyler, Tex.
  • October 7: Matthew Cates, University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Winston-Salem, N.C.
  • October 14: Erik Suter, American Guild of Organists
  • October 28: Elmo Consentini, Vienna, Austria
  • November 4: Stefan Donner, Vienna, Austria
  • November 25: Jeremy Filsell, Washington D.C.
  • Christmas Day: George Fergus
  • February 3: Alexander Straus-Fausto, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
  • February 17: Stephen Kalnoske, Damascus United Methodist Church, Damascus, Md.
  • March 3: Jeremy Filsell
  • March 10: Jordan Prescott, Peabody Conservatory, Baltimore, Md.
  • March 24: Jonathan Vaughn, Christ Church, Greenwich, Conn.
  • April 7: Virginius Barkauskas, St. Elizabeth of Hungary Roman Catholic Church, Melville, N.Y.
  • April 21: Easter Day, George Fergus
  • May 5: Richard Spotts, Doylestown, Pa.
  • May 12: Chuyoung Suter, Church of the Redeemer, Bethesda, Md.
  • May 26: Rebecca Marie Yoder, St. Columba’s Roman Catholic Church, Oxon Hill, Md.
  • June 2: John Walthausen, St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Glenmoore, Pa.
  • June 9: Jeremy Filsell
  • June 16: Paul Griffiths, London, United Kingdom
  • June 23: Jackson Borges, All Saints’, Rehoboth Beach, Dela.
  • July 4: Annual Independence Day Concert

 

The great organ has been revised and enlarged over the years to accommodate the changing needs of the Cathedral: view the great organ’s specifications (PDF).

Now Accepting 2018-2019 Series Applications

Organists who are interested in appearing on our series are encouraged to apply. Please send the following materials either electronically or through postal mail:

  1. an unedited recording of a public organ recital performed in the last two years
  2. a printed program from the recorded recital
  3. a current biography

If sending electronically, submit the complete materials to bstraley@cathedral.org (The Rev. Benjamin Straley, Associate Director of Music and Cathedral Organist).

If sending through postal mail, please mail to:

Music Office
Washington National Cathedral
Wisconsin and Massachusetts Avenues, NW
Washington, DC 20016

For any additional questions, please contact:
(202) 537-5553 or musicoffice@cathedral.org.

Weekly Organ Demonstrations

Mondays & Wednesdays
12:30–1:00 pm
  • Featuring an overview by a Cathedral organist about 10,650-pipe organ followed by a mini-recital
  • Reservations required for bus groups (no reservations required for individuals or families)
  • Organ demonstrations do not take place on holidays; check the calendar to confirm if an organ demonstration is scheduled on the date of your visit.