20th Monaco International Organ Festival - From 4 to 18 October 2025

This year, the International Organ Festival will offer audiences four concerts showcasing the rich heritage of the Principality’s organs.

The Festival will open with a concert held as part of the celebrations marking the three jubilee years of Saint Thomas Aquinas: birth (1225), death (1274) and canonisation (1323). Major works by Bach will be performed by Olivier Vernet, resident organist, at Monaco Cathedral on Saturday 4 October. An exhibition of the Saint’s relics will accompany the concert.

As a special guest celebrating the 20th edition of this event, Monaco Cathedral will welcome one of the most prominent organists of his generation, American musician Cameron Carpenter, on Friday 10 October. Both performer, composer and arranger, he has revolutionised the perception of the organ today, and each of his concerts is a vibrant experience for the audience.

At Sacré-Cœur Church, organist Gunnar Idenstam and violinist Lisa Rydberg will, for the Festival’s second concert, present a performance combining Bach’s repertoire with Swedish folk tunes, on Saturday 11 October.

The closing concert will feature the trio Pêr-Vari Kervarec, already known in the Principality since the Princely Wedding, at Saint-Charles Church on Saturday 18 October. Evoking the historic Breton Grimaldi sites, the ensemble offers more than music: it conveys a living memory, a bridge between history and the present, between the age-old stones of churches and cathedrals in France and the souls of those who come to listen.

Four different yet complementary worlds will enable audiences to discover the richness and variety of organ compositions and the immense expressive potential of this instrument, with one common thread: the organ in all its forms. The repertoire will range from traditional to contemporary music, with touches of folk inspiration.

Concerts at 8.30 p.m.

Free admission, subject to availability. 

Full programme and practical information: https://www.festivalorguemonaco.com/