“Get Me to the Church –
and the Festival on the Green – on Time!”
Meet organist Philip Allen Smith

After being introduced to the piano by his mother when he was 5 years old, Philip Allen Smith began studying organ at age 12. Soon afterwards, he became the organist for his father’s parish church in Toledo, Ohio and gave his first public solo organ recital just two years later. Today, Phil is the Organ Conservator for one of the premiere concert venues in the nation, the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, where his duties include bedazzling visitors with ‘demonstration performances’ on what may well be Disney Hall’s most acclaimed feature, its visually astonishing and acoustically unparalleled pipe organ.

Phil – who holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Organ from Spring Arbor College in Michigan and a Master of Music Degree in Organ and Church Music from the University of Michigan – also performs regularly with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Los Angeles Master Chorale. In addition, he is Interim Director of Music and Organist at The Church of our Savior in San Gabriel as well as Organist and Choir Director at Temple Israel of Hollywood.

Whether appearing as a soloist, a member of the Price/Smith Duo for trumpet and organ, or as an accompanist for choral groups like the Anglican Chorale, Cambridge Singers and Ventura Master Chorale, Phil has earned bravos worldwide – from Stockholm, Sweden; Copenhagen, Denmark; Weisbaden, Germany; and Dublin, Ireland in Europe to Washington D.C., Philadelphia, and Hollywood in the United States. He has also received invitations to perform at Wells Cathedral and St. Paul’s Cathedral in England, St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Ireland, the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles and the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California.

Yet the virtuoso organist can often be found in the classroom as well – offering lessons not only in organ but in piano and voice, too. In 2006, he wrote “A Forest of Pipes” and released a demonstration CD on the organ with expert Manuel Rosales, who built the famed organ at Walt Disney Concert Hall.