Building a Global Organ Community Through Film

Film director Will Fraser shares excerpts from two decades of work documenting cultural heritage related to the pipe organ and discusses the future of the instrument with a panel of distinguished organists.

Fraser is the founder of Fugue State Films, a boutique film company specializing in documentary films about the organ. He has made dozens of films about organs in Europe to critical acclaim (The Genius of Cavaillé-Coll, The English Organ, and Bach: The Great Toccata, among others), and has cultivated a following of dedicated organists and organ enthusiasts around the world. In the first portion of the event, Fraser will talk about his experience as a filmmaker and share excerpts from some of his work.

The second portion will serve as the formal launch of Fraser’s newest film project: a multi-part documentary film series called The Organ in America, which will be co-produced by Anne Laver, Associate Professor of Organ and Syracuse University Organist. Laver and Fraser will introduce the project and discuss the film’s themes and goals with a distinguished panel of organists, including Nathaniel Gumbs (Director of Chapel Music at Yale University), Colin MacKnight (Director of Music at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Little Rock, Arkansas), and Caroline Robinson (Assistant Professor of Organ at the University of Michigan’s School of Music, Theatre, and Dance). A reception will follow.

This event will also be streamed live via the Hendricks Chapel YouTube channel.

This event is part of the Syracuse Pipe Organ Festival: Building Community Through Music, April 4-6, 2025, and is co-sponsored by Hendricks Chapel, the Setnor School of Music, the Syracuse Chapter of the American Guild of Organists and the Humanities Center’s 2024-2025 Syracuse Symposium series on “Community.”

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