Welcome to the website of the Association of Friends of the Charbonnières Organ!


This site promotes the Bernard HURVY organ of the Notre-Dame-de-L'Assomption church in Charbonnières-les-Bains in the Lyon metropolitan area.


Every year since its inauguration in 2000, the Association of Friends of the Charbonnières Organ has hosted a musical season with 6 to 10 concerts by soloists, choirs and orchestras.

Our concert artists professionals, or from our conservatories (CNSMD and CRR), have a very high level, including winners of the prestigious "Olivier Messiaen" competition!


The organ, always at the center of our concerts, was built by Ateliers Bernard HURVY from 1998 to 1999 and is composed of 26 stops ; a 4-game expansion was released in 2006.

Its transmission is entirely mechanical and reputed to be surprisingly light and precise.


With the organ case located in the heart of the congregation, the organist's visual presence lends a convivial yet educational tone to our concerts, which highlight the organists' extraordinary mastery of the instrument. The more direct sound, less subject to church reverberations, allows for more detailed listening in polyphonic passages.


You will find the announcement of upcoming concerts, recitals and auditions, as well as more detailed information on the organ, his construction and his organ builder.


If you wish to join as an AAOC member, the application can be made through the downloadable document. If you simply wish to be informed of our activities, send us your email address.


Also take a look at the amazing improvisation concert which took place in Saint-Eustache on the night of Saturday, October 23, 2021, for 12 hours without interruption, by 60 organists!


We invite you to (re)discover our site, and to join us for our fabulous recitals!


Enjoy your visit and see you soon.!

Editorial

Dear music-loving friends,


Here we are at our twenty-fifth season of recitals 2025/2026, with new programs refreshing, which make us dream during these periods of heatwave ...


We continue our collaboration with the National Conservatory of Music and Dance (CNSMD) of Lyon, including students from the organ class who will give four recitals, two of which will be with other CNSMD instrumentalists, all of professional level.


We usually schedule a concert with organ and with the Lyon Regional Conservatory (CRR), which allows the catalog of pieces presented to be diversified, often with choir and orchestra accompanied by the organ.


Each season we associate the School of Music from Marcy-l'Étoile/Charbonnières (EMMC) to active participation, particularly for the Christmas concert, and the "Organ Gateway Class".


We also welcome other professional organists as soloists or accompanying another instrument.


We will be happy to see you again, ever more numerous to appreciate the talent of these young artists, whom you can also admire from the recordings on this site.


And, of course, remember, access is free!


July 2025

Our educational approach

One of our Association's missions is to promote the organ among young people in music schools in the region. To this end, a partnership between the AAOC and the Marcy-Charbonnières Music School (EMMC) (*) was established, leading to the creation of a "bridging" class whose first teacher was Isabelle MALLIE, followed by Junko ITO and Dorys LEMARDELEY.

This "Organ Bridge Classroom » allows you to move from piano to organ and build collaborations with other instruments for duos, trios and more (flautists, violinists, guitarists, trumpeters, drummers, and many others ...). Generally the EMMC organizes a Christmas concert on the first Sunday of Advent.


Every year, on the third Sunday of September, on the occasion of European Heritage Days, the AAOC allows those who are interested to visit the insides of the Organ (its mechanical and acoustic principles).


* The Marcy-Charbonnières Music School (EMMC) - more information

Links with conservatories

We welcome top-level musicians, students from the conservatories of our Lyon metropolitan area:


* The CNSMD of Lyon (National Conservatory of Music and Dance) - more information


* The Lyon Conservatory (formerly CRR, Regional Conservatory) - more informations