About the Roy Perry Foundation

The Roy Perry American Classic Organ Foundation

The Roy Perry American Classic Organ Foundation was established in
November 2019 as a non-profit foundation in the state of Texas, and as a 501(c)3 foundation with the Internal Revenue Service in 2020 for the purpose of preserving, recording, and studying organs built in the American Classic style, designed and finished by Roy Perry, and other organs congruent with them, and presenting them to the widest possible audiences, through festivals, recordings, publications, competitions, and the maintenance of a research archive and library.

The foundation supports the East Texas Pipe Organ Festival, first held in 2011 and held annually in the East Texas cities of Kilgore and Longview, and other cities such as Tyler, Shreveport, Dallas, and Houston. The scope and artistic level of the festival is commensurate with that of an American Guild of Organists regional convention. A balanced presentation of young emerging organists and prominent established artists is always evident in the festival itinerary.

The festival was founded to honor the life and work of Roy Perry who was a designer, finisher, and sales representative of the Aeolian-Skinner Organ Company in the post-World War II era, and centers its activities in Kilgore and Longview where there exist three such organs which Perry finished and the Williams family of organ technicians installed and maintained for many years, and where Perry was the organist of the First Presbyterian Church in Kilgore for 40 years.

The foundation headquarters office, which also serves as a local performance venue, is located in downtown Kilgore, Texas, and includes in its holdings the William Teague residence organ; Michael Fox Library of books and recorded sound; C. Thomas Rhoads Library of books, scores and recorded sound; Paul Andersen Library of books and periodicals; William Watkins Library of organ scores; The John Beck Library of reel-to-reel tapes; many artifacts directly connected with Roy Perry and The American Classic Organ, as well as the archives of the Leo Sowerby Foundation.