The first slate of programming is announced today, with more performances, art, and fun to be announced on a rolling basis. For example, stay tuned for dates and details about a Halloween film series, accompanied by live organ and curated by film critic and historian Carrie Rickey.

At the center of many of the musical programs is the historic Wanamaker Grand Court Organ, designed by George Ashdown Audsley and built for the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair. It languished in storage until 1909, when Wanamaker acquired it for his store. Thirteen freight cars were required to ship the entire organ from St. Louis, and installation took two years. The organ was first heard in the building on June 22, 1911. The original instrument, the largest in the world and designed to be the equal of a full orchestra, had 10,059 pipes, and the colossus was enlarged to meet the ambitions of Wanamaker’s daily concerts, bringing the total to 28,750, still the largest fully functioning pipe organ in the world.

The public entrance for all PIPE UP! programming is located at 1300 Market Street.

PIPE UP! is supported by a $1 million grant from the Wyncote Foundation. Additional support is provided by TF Cornerstone. Capacity building support for audience engagement and development has been provided by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage.

Mural Arts Window Display
Through December
The Wanamaker Building’s windows have always been the site of festive and artistic displays, and to celebrate that legacy, Opera Philadelphia teams up with Mural Arts Philadelphia for window art created by Sāgar Kāmath, an interdisciplinary artist working between mediums of painting, sculpture, installation, sound, video, collage, public art, and dance. His practice investigates the multiplicities of his identities as an Indian-born American through narrative building, materiality, line, space, and movement. 

Kāmath’s mural design takes aesthetic and thematic inspiration from Indian folk painting, Mexican surrealism, Joan Miró, and Marc Chagall’s opera paintings and theatrical set paintings, with a Dr. Seussian lens. The collage of characters, instrumentalists, singers, audience members, and set design elements are meant to allude to the classical imagery associated with opera, capturing a range of emotions such as betrayal, vengeance, joy, and patriotism.

Kāmath and the Mural Arts team will be installing the mural as part of October’s Mural Arts Month, and invite pedestrians to stop and experience the art as it is created.

Duo
Tuesday, October 14, from 7:00-8:15 pm
Tuesday, October 21, 12:30-1:15 pm
FREE general admission
Wanamaker Grand Court organists Peter Richard Conte and Andrew Ennis perform music from their new album, Duo, which features duets for Flugelhorn and organ as well as organ music for four hands.

An Evening of Opera Favorites: Peter Richard Conte and Opera Philadelphia
Friday, October 17, at 7:00 pm | Wanamaker Grand Court
FREE general admission

Thursday, October 23, at 7:30 pm | Longwood Gardens
$35 at longwoodgardens.org

In this partnership between Opera Philadelphia’s Pipe Up! Series and Longwood Gardens, Principal Organist Peter Richard Conte is joined by the Opera Philadelphia Chorus and Director of Music & Chorus Elizabeth Braden for an evening of beautiful operatic favorites.

Conte first performed on the Longwood Organ in 1990, when his close association with the fabled instrument began. He helped design the current console, styled to replicate the original Aeolian console from 1930. He was appointed Principal Organist of Longwood Gardens in 2011, in conjunction with the instrument’s rebirth after a comprehensive, ten-year restoration. Conte is also the longtime John Wanamaker Grand Court Organist; appointed in 1989, he is the fourth person to hold that title since the organ first played in 1911.

Peter Richard Conte and the Rodney Marsalis Philadelphia Big Brass
Saturday, October 25, from 7:30-8:45 pm
Tickets: Pick Your Price starting at $11
Tickets go on sale on Thursday, October 16, at 10:00 a.m.

The Rodney Marsalis Philadelphia Big Brass, a 10-piece brass ensemble whose playing is “so compelling nothing else really mattered’ (The Philadelphia Inquirer), joins legendary organist Peter Richard Conte, Wanamaker Grand Court Organist, for an innovative concert featuring everything from Bach to Bourbon Street. The concert will feature conductor Andrew Ennis, with music arranged by Ennis and James Bettencourt.

An Evening with Lawrence Brownlee
Tuesday, November 4, at 8:00 pm
Tickets: Pick Your Price starting at $11
Tickets go on sale on Thursday, October 16 at 10:00 a.m.

Tenor Lawrence Brownlee has been hailed as “an international star in the bel canto operatic repertory” (The New York Times), “one of the world’s leading bel canto stars” (The Guardian), and “one of the most in-demand opera singers in the world today” (NPR). He is the Artistic Advisor for Opera Philadelphia, a role he began in 2017. Join him for an evening of arias in the Grand Court.

Brownlee performed the lead role in the 2015 world premiere of Charlie Parker's YARDBIRD, a sold-out performance that was instrumental in Opera Philadelphia's commitment to new repertoire. On Oct. 10, he releases his new album Golden Age with soprano Erin Morley, celebrating the world of 19th-century opera and the timeless beauty of the golden age of bel canto featuring the music of Donizetti, Rossini, Bizet, Delibes, and Verdi. (Note: this concert will not feature the Wanamaker Organ)

City to City: A Youth Choir Celebration
Saturday, November 15, at 7:00 p.m.
Tickets: Free or Pick Your Price starting at $11
Tickets go on sale on Thursday, October 16 at 10:00 a.m.

Opera Philadelphia brings together the next generation of vocal talent from New York City and Philadelphia for an unforgettable evening of music in the iconic Grand Court of the Wanamaker Building. Experience the power and beauty of the acclaimed Brooklyn Youth Chorus, Philadelphia Boys Choir and Chorale, Philadelphia Girls Choir, and Commonwealth Youth Choir, as they fill the historic space with soaring harmonies and vibrant energy. The evening will also feature the majestic sounds of the world-famous Wanamaker Organ, making this a truly one-of-a-kind performance that celebrates the joy of choral singing, the spirit of community, and the enduring connection between two great cities.

Nathalie Joachim in Concert
Wednesday, November 19, at 7:00 p.m.
Tickets: Pick Your Price starting at $11
Tickets go on sale on Thursday, October 16 at 10:00 a.m.

Grammy-nominated performer and composer Nathalie Joachim, a Haitian American artist hailed for being “a fresh and invigorating cross-cultural voice” (The Nation), serves as Opera Philadelphia’s Composer in Residence during the 2025-2026 Season. In her first performance in this new role, Joachim curates a concert highlighting her own compositions as well as works and artists that inspire her. She’ll perform selections from her opera-in-progress Le présent éternel as well as her album Fanm d’Ayiti, which celebrates and explores her Haitian heritage and received a Grammy nomination for Best World Music Album. (Note: this concert will not feature the Wanamaker Organ).

Additional programming will be announced.