Since its creation in 1995, the “Mai de l’Orgue”, whose vocation is to put the spotlight on young artists on the road to professionalism, has enabled the public at the Prieurale de Cunault to discover and applaud over a hundred musicians, most of whom have now become major players in the world of the organ and music.

The reputation of the French organ school attracts many foreign students. This unique 2024 edition is dedicated to them. The assiocation “Les Amis de l’Orgue de Cunault” is delighted to welcome four brilliant organists from different countries (Russia, Japan, Hungary and Germany) to the Cunault church on Sundays 5, 12 and 19 May 2024 at 5pm.

These young musicians, currently studying at the Conservatoires Supérieurs de Paris, Lyon and Strasbourg, will take possession of the great organ of the Prieurale, built by the organbuilder Boisseau from Poitou 50 years ago.

The programmes offered by the four young artists are varied and specially designed for the instrument.

The instrument.

The organ at the Prieurale de Cunault is a mechanically driven instrument, with 37 stops and 3074 pipes, divided between four manuals and a pedalboard. It is unique in its genre for its proportion of reed stops (10 out of 37), three of which are placed in chamade (horizontal pipes outside the case). This gives it an extremely wide range of sound and enables it to tackle a large part of the repertoire. Its unique location at ground level, in the heart of the Prieurale, means that the concert performers are close to the audience, and the audience can observe the organ console and the concert performers at close quarters.

Artistic director.

Since 2023, Thomas Pellerin, organ teacher at the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional d’Angers and co-artistic director of the Heures Musicales de Cunault, has been artistic director of the Mai de l’Orgue, succeeding Eric Lebrun, founder of the event and organ teacher at the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Saint-Maur-des-Fossés.