Charleston’s own Matthew Wilkinson, recently returned from advanced study in Germany and now music director at historic St. Michael’s Church, makes his L’Organo debut, giving the 2026 L’Organo series a superb start on the Austin instrument at St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church on Marion Square, a favorite Spoleto performance venue.  His eclectic program culminates with the brilliant pyrotechnics of Liszt’s great “Ad nos” Fantasia.

This young artist brings a brilliant resume, blazing virtuosity, and a wealth of imagination to his recital on the newly restored organ at First (Scots) Presbyterian Church. A recent Yale graduate, he will also include several of his trademark orchestral transcriptions in his program.

Bringing French organ music by Dupre, De Grigny and Franck (along with some Bach) to the rich sounds of Charleston’s most French-style organ, Dr. Taylor, now hailing from Alabama, holds degrees from Eastman, Indiana U, and Wheaton College

Noted for his dazzling virtuosity, Dr. Davis is Senior Organist at Second Presbyterian Church in Memphis; he will use the full resources of Mother Emanuel’s Zimmer organ in Gospel settings by Asriel Davis and Raymond Haan, as well as the music of Bach, Florence Price and a new piece commissioned by Dr. Davis

Dorothy Papadakos is a Juilliard-trained Concert Organist & Composer, internationally renowned as one of the great organ improvisers of our time. Join us at Summerall Chapel for an entertaining Organ concert accompanying silent films. Dorothy is celebrated for her rave reviews of silent film screenings and for improvising on the world’s great pipe organs.

Returning from Arkansas to delight his many Charleston admirers, the program of CofC graduate Jack Cleghorn includes the Tuba Tune of Norman Cocker and “The Squirrel” by Powell Weaver, along with music of Rasthorne, Bach, the Franck Chorale in B minor and the rousing Carillon de Westminster by Vierne.

The beautiful chapel at Bishop Gadsden, with its lovely acoustics and Schoenstein organ, is the setting for an afternoon of well-known and lesser-known vocal and organ works by Bach, Gershwin, and Piazzolla, as well as Liszt’s “Weinen, Klagen”, performed by two distinguished Korean/American artists.

“The Dancing Shoes” begins Godwin Sadoh’s Franco-African Triptych, closing the largely French program presented by well-known Charlotte musician Monty Bennett; an added bonus will be the afternoon sun illuminating the glorious stained glass windows at St. Clare.

Virtuosic showpieces by Dupre and Duruflé highlight the concert presented by this Chinese-born Curtis graduate, on the newly restored organ at First Scots; her program also includes music of Calvin Hampton and a “Symphony in the Teapot” by Qi Zhang

Born and educated in Poland, trained and now resident in Arizona, Ilona brings her brilliant virtuosity to bear on the music of Eastern Europe and the Americas, including Müthel, Ratusińska, Bach, and Villa-Lobos; she performs on the lovely English-style instrument in St. Michael’s Church, so fitting for its English Baroque interior.

The annual Ben Hutto Memorial concert, presented on the Gabriel Kney organ Ben was so proud to install in the 1970’s in the Cathedral of St. Luke and St. Paul, this year features a unique mother/son combination, Virginia being a leading musician in Staunton, Virginia, and Jonathan a recent graduate of Oberlin.

Native of Germany, now Director of Music at St. Ignatius in Austin, Texas, with a recital career including Berlin Cathedral and Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, his program concludes with the “American Rhapsody” of Pietro Yon, and includes music of Bach, Franz Lehrndorfer, and his own transcription of Howard Shore’s “Lord of the Rings.”

Having spent last year as a regular recitalist on the huge instrument at Macy’s in Philadelphia, Curtis graduate Sarah Palmer will be right at home on the great Zimmer organ at the Citadel, bringing L’Organo 2026 to a rousing close with Anne Wilson’s Toccata, music of Bach, Whitlock and Durufle, and Ives’s “Variations on America”.