The store may be closed, but the Wanamaker building will be alive with art this fall.

Opera Philadelphia is throwing open the doors of the Wanamaker Building and inviting the city back into the historic Center City space. Experience the Grand Court and beyond as never before with an unexpected performance series showcasing music, art and voices of all ages.

“We want the Wanamaker Building to come alive with all of our voices, and plenty of music, visual art, film, dance, and community,” said Anthony Roth Costanzo, general director and president of Opera Philadelphia. “We are thrilled to partner with so many amazing artists and organizations in Philadelphia and beyond to enliven this space once again. From Mural Arts Philadelphia and Longwood Gardens to artists like Peter Richard Conte, Lawrence Brownlee, and Nathalie Joachim, to the Philadelphia Boys Choir and Chorale, Philadelphia Girls Choir, Commonwealth Youth Choir, and Brooklyn Youth Chorus, there is something for everyone this fall.”

At the center of many of the musical programs is the historic Wanamaker Grand Court Organ, designed by George Ashdown Audsley and built for the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair. It languished in storage until 1909, when Wanamaker acquired it for his store.

Thirteen freight cars were required to ship the entire organ from St. Louis, and installation took two years.

The organ was first heard in the building on June 22, 1911. The original instrument, the largest in the world and designed to be the equal of a full orchestra, had 10,059 pipes, and the colossus was enlarged to meet the ambitions of Wanamaker’s daily concerts, bringing the total to 28,750, still the largest fully functioning pipe organ in the world.

The public entrance for all PIPE UP! programming is located at 1300 Market St.

Some of the programming includes:

• An Evening of Opera Favorites: Peter Richard Conte and Opera Philadelphia: Oct. 17, 7 p.m., free.

In this partnership between Opera Philadelphia’s Pipe Up! Series and Longwood Gardens, Principal Organist Peter Richard Conte is joined by the Opera Philadelphia Chorus and Director of Music & Chorus Elizabeth Braden for an evening of beautiful operatic favorites.

Conte first performed on the Longwood Organ in 1990, when his close association with the fabled instrument began. He helped design the current console, styled to replicate the original Aeolian console from 1930. He was appointed principal organist of Longwood Gardens in 2011, in conjunction with the instrument’s rebirth after a comprehensive, 10-year restoration.

Conte is also the longtime John Wanamaker grand court organist. Appointed in 1989, he is the fourth person to hold that title since the organ first played in 1911.

• Duo: Oct. 21, 12:30-1:15 p.m., free.

Conte and Andrew Ennis perform music from their new album, “Duo,” which features duets for flugelhorn and organ as well as organ music for four hands.

• Peter Richard Conte and the Rodney Marsalis Philadelphia Big Brass: Oct. 25, 7:30-8:45 p.m. Tickets: Pick Your Price starting at $11.

The Rodney Marsalis Philadelphia Big Brass, a 10-piece brass ensemble whose playing is “so compelling nothing else really mattered’ (The Philadelphia Inquirer), joins legendary organist Conte for an innovative concert featuring everything from Bach to Bourbon Street. The concert will feature conductor Andrew Ennis, with music arranged by Ennis and James Bettencourt.

• An Evening with Lawrence Brownlee: Nov. 4, 8 p.m. Tickets: Pick Your Price, starting at $11.

Tenor Lawrence Brownlee has been hailed as “an international star in the bel canto operatic repertory” (The New York Times), “one of the world’s leading bel canto stars” (The Guardian), and “one of the most in-demand opera singers in the world today” (NPR). He is the artistic adviser for Opera Philadelphia, a role he began in 2017. Join him for an evening of arias in the Grand Court.

• City to City: A Youth Choir Celebration: Nov. 15, 7 p.m. Tickets: Free or Pick Your Price.

Opera Philadelphia brings together the next generation of vocal talent from New York City and Philadelphia for an unforgettable evening of music in the iconic Grand Court of the Wanamaker Building. Experience the power and beauty of the acclaimed Brooklyn Youth Chorus, Philadelphia Boys Choir and Chorale, Philadelphia Girls Choir, and Commonwealth Youth Choir, as they fill the historic space with soaring harmonies and vibrant energy. The evening will also feature the majestic sounds of the world-famous Wanamaker Organ, making this a truly one-of-a-kind performance that celebrates the joy of choral singing, the spirit of community, and the enduring connection between two great cities.

• Nathalie Joachim in Concert: Nov. 19, 7 p.m. Tickets: Pick Your Price, starting at $11.

Grammy-nominated performer and composer Nathalie Joachim, a Haitian American artist hailed for being “a fresh and invigorating cross-cultural voice” (The Nation), serves as Opera Philadelphia’s composer in residence during the 2025-26 Season. In her first performance, Joachim curates a concert highlighting her own compositions as well as works and artists that inspire her. She’ll perform selections from her opera-in-progress “Le présent éternel” as well as her album “Fanm d’Ayiti,” which celebrates and explores her Haitian heritage and received a Grammy nomination for Best World Music Album. (Note: this concert will not feature the Wanamaker Organ).

Tickets are available at https://operaphila.org/festival/pipe-up.

Meanwhile, the Wanamaker Building’s windows have always been the site of festive and artistic displays, and to celebrate that legacy, Opera Philadelphia teams up with Mural Arts Philadelphia for window art created by Sāgar Kāmath, an interdisciplinary artist working between mediums of painting, sculpture, installation, sound, video, collage, public art and dance.

His practice investigates the multiplicities of his identities as an Indian-born American through narrative building, materiality, line, space and movement.

Kāmath’s mural design takes aesthetic and thematic inspiration from Indian folk painting, Mexican surrealism, Joan Miró, and Marc Chagall’s opera paintings and theatrical set paintings, with a Dr. Seussian lens. The collage of characters, instrumentalists, singers, audience members, and set design elements are meant to allude to the classical imagery associated with opera, capturing a range of emotions such as betrayal, vengeance, joy and patriotism.

Kāmath and the Mural Arts team will be installing the mural as part of October’s Mural Arts Month, and invite pedestrians to stop and experience the art as it is created.