The organ in brief
The organbuilders:
Aristide Cavaillé-Coll (1878)
Victor Gonzalez (1939)
Georges Danion/S. A. Gonzalez (1977)
Michel Gaillard/Manufacture Aubertin (2013)
Console:
Christophe Cailleux/Organotech (2024)
Built for the 1878 World Fair and the Trocadéro concert hall in Paris, this monumental instrument (82 stops and 6,500 pipes) was the “showpiece” of the most renowned organ builder of the time, Aristide Cavaillé-Coll. The greatest musicians were all eager to play this prestigious organ, which was used for the first performances of the Requiems by Maurice Duruflé and Gabriel Fauré, the Organ Concerto by Francis Poulenc, and key works by César Franck, Charles-Marie Widor, Marcel Dupré, Olivier Messiaen, Jehan Alain, Kaija Saariaho, Édith Canat de Chizy, Thierry Escaich and Philippe Hersant. In 1939, the organ was reassembled in the new Palais de Chaillot by Victor Gonzalez, then in 1977 transferred to the Auditorium de Lyon by his successor, Georges Danion. In 2013, the organ was restored by Michel Gaillard (Manufacture Aubertin), who returned it to its former splendour. Its wide range of stops means that today it can handle every repertoire, from Bach or Couperin to the greatest Romantic and contemporary works. Outside Paris (the organs in the Maison de la Radio and the Philharmonie), it is the only large concert organ in France. Since October 2024, it has had a brand new console, designed and built by Christophe Cailleux/Organotech.
The concerts in 2025/2026
festival Lumière

Petit concert d’orgue #1
Tom Rioult

Petit concert d’orgue #2
Axel de Marnhac

Présentation de l’orgue
Grégoire Rolland
Biennale de l’orgue

Murnau, Tabou
Karol Mossakowski
Biennale de l’orgue

Les arts face aux enjeux écologiques
Table ronde
Biennale de l’orgue

Balade en forêt
Concert commenté
Dès 7 ans
Biennale de l’orgue

Le souffle de la forêt
James McVinnie / Grégoire Rolland
Biennale de l’orgue

James McVinnie
Attrape-rêves
Biennale de l’orgue

Petit concert d’orgue #3
Thibault Fajoles

Tango & co
Renaudin Vary / Brut / Rolland

Ourania Gassiou
Sonata eroica

Jonathan Scott
L’orgue symphonique
Mozart Forever

Midi de l’Audi #3
Orgue et cuivres

Face-à-face
Grégoire Rolland / Cuivres de l’ONL


1939: Palais de Chaillot

1977: Auditorium de Lyon

The works premiered on the instrument
