Orgue & Cosmos Festival

The organ and the stars: a unique encounter in the Pyrenees

The Orgue & Cosmos Festival was born from the desire of the association Les Orgues du Haut Salat to create a dialogue between two seemingly distant worlds: organ music and astronomy. The Saint-Barthélemy church of Oust, with its restored organ and remarkable acoustics, offers an ideal setting for this encounter between art and science. The festival takes place every year in August, over two to three days, attracting a curious and passionate audience from all over southern France.

Dominique Proust, astrophysicist and organist

The central figure of the festival is Dominique Proust, an astrophysicist at the Paris-Meudon Observatory and titular organist of the Notre-Dame de l'Assomption church in Meudon. This internationally renowned scientist-musician has given over 300 concerts across Europe, Canada, Brazil, Chile, Peru, and Australia. During the festival, he offers concerts-lectures exploring the links between music and the cosmos, between the harmonics of the organ and the vibrations of the universe. Accompanied by his wife Vera, he provides musical moments of great spiritual and intellectual intensity.

Digital art and organ improvisation

The festival also highlights contemporary creation. In previous editions, composer and improviser Marc Giacone presented performances where digital synthesis videos were projected on a large screen in the church while he improvised on the organ in synchronization with the images. These visual and sound creations offer a unique immersive experience, between digital art and sacred music, extending the dialogue between science and art at the heart of the festival.

The Saint-Barthélemy church and the organs of Haut Salat

The association Les Orgues du Haut Salat has been working for several years on the restoration and enhancement of the organs in the Haut-Couserans region. The Saint-Barthélemy church in Oust houses an organ whose restoration has brought an exceptional musical heritage back to life. The Orgue & Cosmos Festival is part of this heritage valorization effort, offering a high-level cultural event that draws attention to the richness of the organ heritage of the Pyrenean valleys.