$2.1 Million Gift To Provide Univ. of Iowa Organ Scholarships

R. E. Coleberd is an economist and petroleum industry executive.

In the March, 1997, edition of this journal we published
"Is The Pipe Organ A Stepchild In Academe?" The purpose was to call
attention to the perilous status of the King of Instruments in many
institutions of higher learning and to suggest concrete ways to shore up its
uncertain future. We closed the article with a call to action, a plea for
concerned friends of the organ--faculty, students, alumni and laymen--to take
determined action. We cited two examples of what is required: "Friends of
the Northrop Organ" at the University of Minnesota and alumni tours of
Woolsey Hall at Yale University, and we mentioned a followup article spotlighting promising developments.

The purpose of this article is to review the nature of the
problem in the context of the current complexion of higher education and to
discuss several auspicious programs in some detail.  The wholesale neglect, abandonment, and sell-off of organs
in colleges and universities which, sadly, threatens to continue, is perceived
as a nationwide phenomenon. This situation is attributed to the emergence of a
pervasive market-driven mentality in academe. Ill-advised budget officers and state legislatures are today preoccupied with student numbers and credit hours as the overriding criteria for funding. Policy and operating decisions by
administrators are based upon a frantic search for "hot buttons"
(computer science and genetic engineering, for example) to bolster enrollment
amid intense competition for students who are increasingly vocationally
oriented in their choice of school and curriculum. This short-sighted pragmatic
approach threatens the distinguishing features of a campus setting and its
time-honored mission as the repository of our culture, and the harbinger of our
future as a cultivated society.

In preparing this article the author has talked with a score
of music professors in all types of schools, public and private, large and
small, coast to coast. He has discovered some remarkable programs, which are
attracting institutional and community support leading to increased student
enrollment and funding. If the bold and imaginative initiatives taken by many
schools are adopted by others, the pipe organ has a bright future in academe.

Invaluable Goods

We repeat our premise that a pipe organ is not merely an
appliance or teaching device, but is a campus jewel along with the telescope,
the book collection and the art gallery. So recognized, these treasures should
be impervious to cost-cutting, down-sizing and departmental budget allocations
based upon enrollment. They should be classified as "invaluable
goods," a concept eloquently articulated by Professor Kenneth Arrow of
Stanford University, an internationally renowned economist awarded the Nobel
Prize in economics in 1972.  The
occasion for his commentary is his review of Margaret Jane Radin's seminal work
Contested Commodities in which her fear is that "actions which are
essential to personal identity fall under the sway of the market and are
measured by its criteria." Arrow's concept of invaluable goods rests upon
the belief that certain aspects of human life are so essential to whole
personhood that their existence and ultimate value cannot be measured in
dollars and cents. They are not--and should not be--bartered in the marketplace
and their value should not be judged by a monetary payoff. He acknowledges that
this concept is symptomatic of  a
failure of economics (and of the market mentality): "One of the oldest
critiques of economic thinking has been its perceived disregard of the deeper
and more sacred aspects of life" he writes.1 In short, when we begin, or
insist on, valuing the fundamentals of human life in terms of money, putting a
price on them and, without hesitation, buying and selling them based on this
criterion, we are asking for trouble. One example Arrow gives of invaluable
goods is children. No matter how poor or desperate a family might be, the idea
of selling the children is utterly unthinkable. Is it time that we invoke the
spirit of invaluable goods in our colleges and universities and declare the
pipe organ and other jewels of the campus as integral to the deeper and more
sacred aspects of the higher learning, and thereby untouchable?

We continue with the admonition that the trancendent
three-dimensional sound of a majestic pipe organ, as heard in an auditorium
convocation or chapel service, can evoke emotions which contribute immeasurably
to a vital sense of identity and community in the collegiate experience. One
striking, if novel, example of the lasting imprint of this experience is in
Robert L. Duffus's delightful little book The Innocents at Cedro. It
style="mso-spacerun: yes">  recounts the year 1907-08 when Duffus
and his brother William kept house for Thorstein Veblen in their sophmore year
at Stanford University. The publisher described the book as "an
unforgettable evocation of American college life in the early 1900s."
Written in 1944 near the close of a distinguished career in journalism as a
member of the editorial board of the New York Times, Duffus recalled what,
nearly four decades earlier, were his most cherished memories of college life,
the experiences that meant the most to him. Among them was joining fellow
students for a sack lunch on the quadrangle and listening to Professor Blodgett
practicing on the chapel organ. "The music would rumble along, formless in
the distance, but pleasant and tranquil" he wrote. 2

Auditorium Organs

We noted in the previous paper that the auditorium and its
majestic pipe organ have all but disappeared as a centerpiece of campus
activity. Too small for many functions or pre-empted by the drama department,
the auditorium often stands anonymously as a symbol of the vast increase in
enrollment and of specialized curricula, which together with other forces, have
compartmentalized student life into various "schools,"
style="mso-spacerun: yes">  i.e., engineering, business, nursing,
agriculture and others. We are happy to have discovered two exceptions.

Mansfield University

Mansfield University in Pennsylvania is one of fourteen
former state teachers colleges which now comprise the "University
System."  Its two organs are a
25-stop three-manual Austin, Opus 297, 1917, in Strawn Auditorium and a 27-stop
three-manual Moller, Opus 10652, 1970, in the Stedman Theater wing of the
Butler Music Building.

  These
instruments are the pride and joy of President Rod C. Kelchner, a graduate of
the school, who says: "You would have to drag me across the campus kicking
and screaming to get rid of our organs." He calls them significant symbols
in the ambience and character of the school and its history. He laments that
with the many changes in academe in recent years, history fades and is
forgotten; hence the need for reminders and recognition. Just as furniture
makes a house livable, hospitable to visitors and complements the personalities
of the occupants, so too do the treasures of a campus give it definition and
persona and bridge the generations, he asserts.

President Kelchner's office, not the music department, has
contracted for five maintenance visits per year for these instruments. This is
particularly significant because it illustrates the role the top administration
must play in the recognition and preservation of campus instruments. His
loyalty and devotion are especially noteworthy because Mansfield has not been
immune to organ enrollment trends. When the organ professor retired two years
ago he was not replaced, there are currently no organ majors on campus, and he
has had to go off-campus to find people to play the organ for commencement.

In another gratifying endorsement of music and its place in
the history of Mansfield, which will gladden the hearts of musicians
everywhere, President Kelchner chose Carl Ruck, a graduate of the school, as
commencement speaker two years ago. A well-known keyboard performer in the
Washington, D.C. area, Mr. Ruck also performs frequently on campus and is a
member of the alumni board. Kelchner toyed recently with the idea of a "non-traditional"
commencement, calling for the speaker, a musician, to be seated at the organ
console in Strawn Auditorium, playing and narrating classical music and its
place in time-honored liberal education, providing an alternative to the customary remarks to graduates.   

Boston University

The John R. Silber Symphonic Organ in the George Sherman
Union at Boston University is an eloquent example of the role of a pipe organ
as a distinctive jewel in a campus setting This instrument originated from gifts
of two residence organs to the school by prominent trustees who recognized the
lasting value of them in America's musical heritage and whose resources and
devotion to the school found expression in creating this one-of-a-kind campus
jewel.  The first organ was a small
Skinner in the home of Percy Rockefeller in Greenwich, Connecticut. The second
was a larger Aeolian from the Winchester mansion of William E. Schrafft, the
Boston candy-maker. Meticulously restored and greatly enlarged by organbuilder
Nelson Barden, this spectacular instrument resides in Metcalf Hall in the
Sherman Union, and was dedicated in October, 1994, in honor of Silber, the
Chancellor of Boston University.

This majestic instrument not only replicates the prominence
of an auditorium organ at the turn of the century, it goes a step further in
defining the institution and making a lasting impression on the students. With
102 ranks and 6,815 pipes, displayed prominently with the entire mechanism, the
latter behind plate glass windows, it becomes a commanding presence in the
ambience of student life. As Jonathan 
Ambrosino remarks: "From the start, the instrument was designed to
be a living display of art and technology, restored to perfection and open to
the public.  Whether playing or silent, the organ makes a statement on many artistic levels."3 As students pass through the building daily to and from classes, and as alumni gather for
special occasions,  the visual
presence and glorious sounds of this organ, linking past to present and transcending the cares of life, will evoke a lasting memory.

Promoting the Pipe Organ

In the economic realities of higher education, the market
mentality of administrators and state legislators who view a school today as a
business is here to stay, like it or not. In the final analysis, the best
guarantee of preserving faculty positions, maintaining instruments, and
budgeting scarce resources for tuning and periodic restoration and updating is,
first, never to miss a chance to call attention to the instrument. Second, is
to "shake the bushes" and aggressively recruit students from
traditional sources on campus and non-traditional sources within the community.
The type of missionary zeal required is found in Prof. William Kuhlman of
Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, who says proudly: "I have done everything
but stand on my head to bring about organ awareness and appreciation."
Indeed he has:  organ crawls after
church, summer organ camps for local grade school children, demonstrations for
faculty and board of regents spouses, family camps, church heritage workshops,
Halloween "monster concerts" and presentations to the local Rotary
Club.

In research for this paper the author has surveyed all types
of schools across the nation. He has come upon some enterprising and
imaginative faculty who are "pulling out all the stops" to promote
their departments, programs and instruments with gratifying results.
style="mso-spacerun: yes">  For purposes of analysis and
discussion, it is useful perhaps to divide the landscape of higher education
into three categories: small liberal arts colleges, state colleges including
urban branches of state universities, and major music schools and universities,
particularly those noted for professional and graduate study.

Liberal Arts Colleges

The liberal arts colleges were historically church
affiliated and many retain strong church ties today. The Lutheran schools, in
particular, enjoy a rich legacy of liturgical music in the heritage of their
denomination, and churches of all denominations traditionally reflect the
prominence of music in the experience of corporate worship. Thus, the church
connection augurs well for maintaining pipe organs as integral to campus
resources and central to the music program. These schools benefit from an
articulate and active alumni and the corresponding sensitivity of the
administration and trustees to alumni concerns in budgeting decisions. The
choice of liberal arts as an initial course of study is perhaps indicative of a
lesser concern with the vocational job-market payoff in selecting a school and
a curriculum. The church-going life style of students enrolled in these
schools, particularly those students having a musical background and interest,
may cause them to contemplate making a musical contribution to parish life and
to prepare for organ and choral opportunities. Therefore, although these
schools are not totally immune to the market-orientation mind-set, and have
adjusted curriculum to broader trends, they have never suffered such a loss of
organ enrollment as to justify ending the curriculum and liquidating the
instruments. The challenge of these schools is to continue to insure the
rightful place of music in the philosophical and operational image of the
liberal arts and to affirm organ study in music programs, resources and curriculum.

Marylhurst College

Practical Outreach

One of the most imaginative and innovative programs in a
four-year undergraduate curriculum is the one developed by Nancy LeRoi Nichol
at Marylhurst College, a Catholic women's school in Portland, Oregon. Acutely
aware of the precarious position of organ studies in her school and elsewhere,
where faculty are constantly admonished to "double our enrollment"
and to be "accountable" in matching revenue with cost, she has taken
giant steps to expand the student base far beyond the traditional BM and BA
degree programs in organ performance and sacred music. Her efforts benefitted
from a rich tradition in sacred music in the order which founded and operates
the school, and from the George Bozeman rebuild of a vintage Hutchings-Votey
tracker instrument installed in the auditorium in 1995.

Cornerstones of the new format at Marylhurst are two new
classes, a one-semester "Meet the Organ" and a one-year "Basic
Training in Organ." The first class is a semi-private group of three to
four students who, in recent enrollment, have ranged in age from 24 to 74. They
are seeking primarily a general introduction to the instrument. The class may
include non-organ music majors, non-music students from other departments and
music aficionados from the community. It sets its own course of study such as
service playing knowledge and skills, a specific repertory area, or perhaps,
depending on the students, preparation for an AGO exam. The goal of this course
is to foster a love of the instrument and its music, to recognize its singular
historic prominence in the spectrum of music and to promote the contemporary
role of the organ on campus and in the community.

The "Basic Training in Organ" class meets
two-hours a week in three ten-week terms, for a total of 60 hours of
instruction. Enrollment is limited to eight participants who are solicited
through a letter to local clergy of all faiths. It reminds them of the chronic
local, as well as national, shortage of organists and points out that this
economical and efficient program will fulfill their needs. Churches also are
encouraged to subsidize all or part of the students' $1242 per year tuition as
a wise and minimal investment that will pay rich dividends for many years in
the worship life of the congregation. Results have been most encouraging, with
interest coming particularly from piano teachers who welcome the opportunity to
broaden their keyboard experience and to increase their income potential by
becoming part-time church organists. In the class they learn fundamentals of
technique, registration, practical repertoire, and begin each class playing
church hymns.

The new programs more than meet the cost-revenue guidelines
mandated by the administration at Marylhurst. The semi-private group
instruction has been particularly successful in increasing productivity of
faculty resources without any decrease in quality. In Professor Nichol's
experience, the group format, with its collegial and supportive atmosphere for
learning, is far more advantageous to students at this juncture in their
careers than are individual studio lessons. In addition, the group format makes
lessons financially attractive for many students. At the end of the
introductory year the students can choose private lessons or continue in
semi-private instruction in groups of three. The school also has established a
Certificate in Sacred Music option, a two-year program in which one-half of the
curricula is in theology and the other half in music. The success of the
Marylhurst programs can be explained, in part, by the fact that it is primarily
a commuter school in an urban setting. Community outreach and the role of
continuing education is an established factor in its educational philosophy.
Thus, it has long been accustomed to probing the surrounding area for special
educational needs and the corresponding potential for enrollment.

Dordt College

Church Music Training

Dordt College in Sioux Center, (northwestern) Iowa,
illustrates the importance of a strong denominational and cultural tradition in
providing a prominent instrument on campus, and in keeping vibrancy in its
organ curriculum. A comparatively new school, founded in 1955, Dordt is
affiliated with the Christian Reformed Church of Dutch heritage.
style="mso-spacerun: yes">  Most students are from Christian high
schools where music programs are strong. Many students, including 150 from
Canada, are first or second generation immigrants from Holland where the organ
is a centerpiece of their culture. When these families visit the campus they
ask about the pipe organ. The large Casavant tracker instrument in the
auditorium makes a statement (see photo). Thus, music and the organ program,
established in 1967 by Dr. Joan Ringerwole, are a priority in the mission of
the school. The auditorium platform and instrument are reserved for organ
students from 6:00 am to 3:00 pm, after which it is available for choir, band,
orchestra, and other ensembles. As in many other church-affiliated colleges, a
number of non-music majors take organ lessons, seeking to become good hymn
players and build a repertoire of church music, perhaps in anticipation of
strong church ties as adults and an active role as a musician in the local
parish.

The place of organ in the achievements and image of the
school were recognized in an alumni magazine article, "Playing the organ
is their occupation," featuring four graduates from the 1980s who have
gone on to graduate study and to choice positions in the profession. These
include Dr. Christian Teeuwsen, professor of music at Redeemer College in
Ancaster, Ontario; Dr. Laura Vander Windt, organist and choirmaster at All
Soul's Church in Oklahoma City;  
Dr. Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra, university organist and music professor at
Eastern Michigan University; and Dr. Martin Tel, chapel organist and lecturer
in church music at Princeton Theological Seminary. "They're a passionate
group. Each of them speaks with warmth and intensity about the organ, its
repertoire and the joy of playing it," the alumni magazine columnist
wrote. Another organ graduate of Dordt, Brent Assink, president of the St. Paul
Chamber Orchestra, was named outstanding alumnus two years ago. A current
student, Bonnie Runia, a senior from Melvin, Iowa, won first place in her
junior year in the National Federation of Music Clubs competition. These people
speak with glowing praise for their teacher, Dr. Ringerwole, who inspired them.
"She was a gentle spirit, always pushing us to pursue excellence but never
hard on us. At the same time she expected a lot from us," said Vander
Windt.4

University of Evansville

Musical Anchor for Liberal
Arts

The University of Evansville, in Evansville, Indiana,
affiliated with the United Methodist Church, enjoys a rich tradition in organ
which dates back to 1919. The relocation of the school from Moores Hill,
Indiana to Evansville that year coincided with the installation, in the
Soldier's and Sailor's Memorial Colliseum, of a large Moller concert organ.
James Gillette, the first chairman of the music department at the school, was
also the municipal organist. He was succeeded as organ teacher on campus by
Ralph Waterman, who served many years. The program made giant strides in the
1960s under the leadership of Carl Staplin, the nationally-known keyboard
artist now at Drake University, who guided the selection of Holtkamp
instruments for the concert hall and the chapel. Staplin was succeeded by
Robert Luther, who moved to Carleton College in 1975 and he was followed by the
present incumbent, Douglas Reed.

The program also enjoys active support
style="mso-spacerun: yes">  by the administration.
style="mso-spacerun: yes">  The president, Dr. James Vinson, a
physicist by training who has a special affinity for organ music, says:
"The presence of the organ at significant ceremonies greatly enhances the
event." The two visiting artists in the annual recital series, in addition
to Reed's faculty recital, are funded by the administration. The college
chaplain, Dr. John Brittain, also an organist, is equally enthusiastic for the
organ program and its place in the school, as are the comparatively large
number of musicians in other departments.

A distinguishing feature of the Evansville liberal arts
philosophy and of the place of music in it, is the three-semester World
Cultures Curriculum. Here Reed presents a lecture on baroque keyboard music and
plays the harpsichord and the two Holtkamp organs. The organ is used
style="mso-spacerun: yes">  during noontime chapel recitals and was
part of a successful "Music at Midnight" event. Another popular event
in recent years was a "Handel with Care" program endowed by an
alumnus. On tours of the campus for visitors and prospective students, student
guides are instructed to call attention to the instruments.

Other attractions at Evansville for prospective organ
students are the Neu Chapel Organ Scholarship, awarded to a freshman, selected
by audition, each year. Also, the community's unusually rich organ resources
represented by Fisk, Jaekel, and Taylor & Boody tracker instruments.
Students are welcomed at performances and in master classes at the First
Presbyterian Church (C. B. Fisk, Opus 98, 1991) funded by the church's Sacred
Arts Series.

Organ Study and Other Curricula

If liberal arts students also are sensitive, ultimately, to
the employment outlook (i.e. the absence of well-paying positions in church
music), a majority of organ students are likely to be part-time while wisely
acquiring marketable skills in other departments. Nonetheless, part-time
non-music degree students are quite enough to support a program and to justify
the security of organ faculty and resources. This is the experience of Dr. John
Behnke of Concordia College in Mequon, Wisconsin. The majority of his students
are in accounting, business, physical therapy and other majors. They welcome
the opportunity to pursue a personal if not a primary career interest. His
appeal to them is based on his fervent belief that the future of the organ and
its role in a liturgical setting 
(where it is the most effective musical vehicle for leading group
singing) is in training grassroots organists. "Playing hymns well, playing
exciting uplifting hymn preludes are of equal importance to the organ
masterworks," he says, adding "I believe training an organist
exclusively for a career as a concert performer is unrealistic." The
importance of a church focus is echoed by Professor John Ferguson at St. Olaf
College who asks: "Why should a church invest in a college or university
trained organist if that person leads congregational singing no more creatively
than an amateur?" His experience suggests that students are interested in
developing skills as church organists as well as performers of the literature.
"They know that most of the professional opportunities are in
churches." The dual focus upon literature and church music at St. Olaf
perhaps explains why the organ department remains strong with 12 Bachelor of Music performance or church music organ majors out of a total of 26 organ students this year.

Much recruiting of high school students for future organ
study is indirect, as Davis Folkerts of Central College in Iowa explains. That
is, it begins with  the admissions
office soliciting applicants in the entire spectrum of music: band, orchestra,
vocal and keyboard. John Hamersma of Calvin College in Michigan finds music
students often are persuaded that organ study wisely complements their basic
program; such as in fulfilling the keyboard requirement in music education, or
as part of a combined degree, perhaps in music and religion. He observes
that  the organ holds a fascination
for students, once on campus, because of its size, visual appearence, range of
pitch, volume and color. Karen Larsen of Wartburg College in Iowa notes that
the flexibility of combined degrees, and of a broad curriculum in music, is
especially appealing to students due to uncertainties of the job market. And as
W. N. Earnest of  The Old Presbyterian Meeting House in Alexandria, Virginia notes: "Schools of all sizes and the AGO should recognize that churches aren't looking just for organists anymore; they're looking for ministers of music."

In the church affiliated liberal arts colleges, organ
teachers are accustomed to teaching courses as well as studio lessons and, in
fact, they welcome this broad approach to music as integral to their
philosophical approach to education. Professor Rudolf Zuiderveld of Illinois
College considers himself a professor of music, not just
style="mso-spacerun: yes">  of organ. He views himself as an
advocate of the liberal arts and its cosmopolitan approach to learning, a
curriculum he much prefers over a conservatory education at the undergraduate
level.

Drake University

At Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, a regional
privately-supported school, promoting the pipe organ is, in large measure,
maintaining the momentum of its sterling reputation. Drake is an eloquent
example of a thriving private school in a large metropolis (Washington
University in St. Louis is another) which is a focal point of the artistic and
cultural life of the community. It enjoys high visibility and widespread
community financial support. This in turn fosters administrative resource
priorities in support of its image.

Drake is well-known and highly regarded in the organist
profession,  particularly for its
excellent preparation for graduate study. This mirrors its emphasis on
performance. The bachelor's degree curriculum in church music requires the same
number of performance hours as a performance degree. The school's reputation is
also based upon its faculty and resources. The former began with the venerable
Frank Jordan in the 1940s , continued with the legendary Russell Saunders, and
is represented today by the well-known Carl Staplin. The resource attraction is
anchored in the 1972 Fine Arts Complex featuring a 50-rank three-manual
Holtkamp recital  instrument, a
three-manual Reuter studio organ and two modern practice organs. Mechanical
action instruments by Phelps and Dobson in nearby churches are also used for
teaching and recitals. Total organ enrollment of 39 students in 1997-98 attests
to the vibrancy and competitive position of  the school. Drake has recently launched a certification in
church music program encompassing seven courses in church music and eight hours
of studio instruction scheduled in weekend classes and to be completed over two
years.

State Colleges

In our second category of schools are former state colleges,
many of them now universities, which began as teachers colleges, located
regionally throughout the states, and new schools. Grand Valley State
University in Michigan is 
representative of large public institutions which emerged in response to
population growth and voter demand for higher education. It also reflects the
crucial role of private funding in adding essential resources to the base of
public support. Founded only thirty years ago, it enrolls thirty thousand
students, and aggressively recruits from the region with an ever-expanding
array of courses and programs. The Cook-DeWitt ecumenical center and concert
hall, the gift of two families, houses a 27-rank, two-manual Reuter organ. This
instrument permits organ instruction as the initial step in the future development of an organ curriculum.

In this classification we also include branches of state
university systems located in metropolitan areas, schools that are
predominantly vocational in orientation, offering myriad programs for part-time
and full-time day and evening students of all ages. These schools are the
quintessential examples of mass higher education focusing on transmitting
knowledge and skills and on training students for opportunities in the world of
work.

With their emphasis on career preparation in certificate and
degree programs, these publicly-supported schools are expected to bear the
brunt of the projected tidal wave increase in enrollment in the next several
years (400,000 in the next eight years in California alone), placing a premium
on facilities and bringing enormous pressure to increase faculty-student
ratios. The urban campus perhaps will end up resembling Grand Central Station,
with legions of students funneling in and out, moving anonymously through their
huge classes with scarcely any attachment to the school. Adding to this
prospect is the anticipated revolutionary impact of the Internet which in the
long run may diminish seriously the role of the campus in the educational
process. 

Yet sheer numbers and the clamor for low-cost education
should augur well for a minimum number of students in organ. Although campus
facilities may be crowded, the proximity of church instruments nearby, many of
them large and up-to-date, should fill the needs.  These schools will be able to capitalize on nearby
off-campus resources because churches, desperate for revenue, will be only too
glad to rent their faciliies. 

Central Missouri State

Central Missouri State University in Warrensburg, Missouri,
is symbolic of the transition of a school from having an auditorium organ as a
campus centerpiece to a much larger campus with specialized department
facilities. In 1923 the school installed a three-manual Austin organ in the
auditorium as a memorial to alumni casualties of World War I. Its prominence in
the image of the school was indicated 
by the photograph of the console in the college viewbooks of this era.
Heavily used until after World War II, the organ and the auditorium were
largely abandoned as a music facility when instruction and performance relocated
to a new music building with a McManis organ (see photo) which now services
department needs.

CMSU reflects some developments in state funding which in
their experience have worked to the detriment of organ enrollment. Formerly,
students paid a flat tuition fee per term which covered every type of
instruction, including studio organ lessons at no extra charge. This encouraged
students, many with strong church ties, to study organ as an academic interest
apart from their major field of study. Beginning in 1985, however, the school
moved to a fee schedule based upon number of credit hours. With the rising cost
of higher education, coupled with the premium placed on graduates with
marketable skills, the result of this "pay by the drink" mentality
has been to force students to concentrate on their major and degree
requirements, and to forego organ lessons because of the additional cost. In
Professor William McCandless's judgment, this has caused a noticable reduction
in organ enrollment, omitting those who had looked forward to beginning or
continuing an interest in organ with the resources on campus.

In another far-reaching development in Missouri, perhaps to
occur sooner or later in other states, the legislature has stipulated that each
of the five regional state colleges specialize in a particular curriculum,
ostensibly tied to vocational preparation; one in technology, another in public
service, another in teacher training, etc. The purpose is to foster economies
of scale in educational resources and to stem the tide of rising costs to the
taxpayer. The implications of this development are ominous for the fine arts in
general and music in particular. The legislature has mandated that all future
capital expenditures be channeled into these narrow specialties, and if capital
funds fall short of need, existing resources be converted, without hesitation,
to the newly-concentrated programs. This, in effect, seriously diminishes the
American tradition of liberal higher education and moves these hapless
institutions one step closer to becoming trade schools.

Promotion of the organ by interested people outside the
music department and the school is illustrated by the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign.  When Michael
Ferris, the organ teacher, resigned to accept a position at the Eastman School
of Music, the chairman of the music department dragged his feet in appointing a
successor. Clergy at campus churches and thoughout the two cities called and
wrote to the dean pleading with him to replace Ferris, which he did in the
person of Michael Keeley. Steve Shoemaker, pastor of the McKinley Foundation
and Presbyterian Church, observes that In the March, 1997, edition of this
journal we published "Is The Pipe Organ A Stepchild In Academe?" The
purpose was to call attention to the perilous status of the King of Instruments
in many institutions of higher learning and to suggest concrete ways to shore
up its uncertain future. We closed the article with a call to action, a plea
for concerned friends of the organ--faculty, students, alumni and laymen--to
take determined action. We cited two examples of what is required:
"Friends of the Northrop Organ" at the University of Minnesota and
alumni tours of Woolsey Hall at Yale University, and we mentioned a followup article spotlighting promising developments.

The purpose of this article is to review the nature of the
problem in the context of the current complexion of higher education and to
discuss several auspicious programs in some detail.  The wholesale neglect, abandonment, and sell-off of organs
in colleges and universities which, sadly, threatens to continue, is perceived
as a nationwide phenomenon. This situation is attributed to the emergence of a
pervasive market-driven mentality in academe. Ill-advised budget officers and
state legislatures are today preoccupied with student numbers and credit hours
as the overriding criteria for funding. Policy and operating decisions by
administrators are based upon a frantic search for "hot buttons"
(computer science and genetic engineering, for example) to bolster enrollment
amid intense competition for students who are increasingly vocationally
oriented in their choice of school and curriculum. This short-sighted pragmatic
approach threatens the distinguishing features of a campus setting and its
time-honored mission as the repository of our culture, and the harbinger of our
future as a cultivated society.

In preparing this article the author has talked with a score
of music professors in all types of schools, public and private, large and
small, coast to coast. He has discovered some remarkable programs, which are
attracting institutional and community support leading to increased student
enrollment and funding. If the bold and imaginative initiatives taken by many
schools are adopted by others, the pipe organ has a bright future in academe.

Promoting the Pipe Organ

In the economic realities of higher education, the market
mentality of administrators and state legislators who view a school today as a
business is here to stay, like it or not. In the final analysis, the best
guarantee of preserving faculty positions, maintaining instruments, and
budgeting scarce resources for tuning and periodic restoration and updating is,
first, never to miss a chance to call attention to the instrument. Second, is
to "shake the bushes" and aggressively recruit students from
traditional sources on campus and non-traditional sources within the community.
The type of missionary zeal required is found in Prof. William Kuhlman of
Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, who says proudly: "I have done everything
but stand on my head to bring about organ awareness and appreciation."
Indeed he has:  organ crawls after
church, summer organ camps for local grade school children, demonstrations for
faculty and board of regents spouses, family camps, church heritage workshops,
Halloween "monster concerts" and presentations to the local Rotary
Club.

In research for this paper the author has surveyed all types
of schools across the nation. He has come upon some enterprising and
imaginative faculty who are "pulling out all the stops" to promote
their departments, programs and instruments with gratifying results.
style="mso-spacerun: yes">  For purposes of analysis and
discussion, it is useful perhaps to divide the landscape of higher education
into three categories: small liberal arts colleges, state colleges including
urban branches of state universities, and major music schools and universities,
particularly those noted for professional and graduate study.

Liberal Arts Colleges

The liberal arts colleges were historically church
affiliated and many retain strong church ties today. The Lutheran schools, in
particular, enjoy a rich legacy of liturgical music in the heritage of their
denomination, and churches of all denominations traditionally reflect the prominence of music in the experience of corporate worship. Thus, the church connection augurs well for maintaining pipe organs as integral to campus resources and central to the music program. These schools benefit from an articulate and active alumni and the corresponding sensitivity of the administration and trustees to alumni concerns in budgeting decisions. The choice of liberal arts as an initial course of study is perhaps indicative of a lesser concern with the vocational job-market payoff in selecting a school and a curriculum. The church-going life style of students enrolled in these schools, particularly those students having a musical background and interest, may cause them to contemplate making a musical contribution to parish life and to prepare for organ and choral opportunities. Therefore, although these schools are not totally immune to the market-orientation mind-set, and have adjusted curriculum to broader trends, they have never suffered such a loss of organ enrollment as to justify ending the curriculum and liquidating the instruments. The challenge of these schools is to continue to insure the rightful place of music in the philosophical and operational image of the liberal arts and to affirm organ study in music programs, resources and curriculum.

Conservatories and Universities

Our third category of schools comprises the nationally known
professional schools and universities including:  Eastman, Oberlin, New England Conservatory, Westminster
Choir College, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, North Texas and Yale. We are also happy
to note that, contrary to the report in the previous article, Syracuse
University, long a member of the elite group, is again prospering and
attracting students under the dynamic leadership of Katharine Pardee. The
curriculum of these schools is centered on career preparation as a performer or
teacher and, with the exception of Oberlin, focuses primarily on advanced
degrees. 

These prestigous schools enjoy a level of recognition and
support not found elsewhere among private and public institutions. The organ
faculty, with advanced degrees from top-drawer schools, are well-known and
highly esteemed in the profession, by virtue of their recital appearences
before American Guild of Organists gatherings as well as from their
well-publicised recital tours in this country and abroad. Their accomplishments
and high visibility contribute to the luster of the programs, are a key factor
in attracting highly qualified students, and, most important, guarantee vital
institutional support. Status-conscious administrators acknowledge that recital
performances and offices in professional organizations are, in terms of
institutional recognition, almost the equivalent of a Nobel Prize.

In addition, these institutions frequently are beneficiaries
of substantial private funding by wealthy individuals and families who identify
with the school as alumni or as benefactors in the arts. A striking example is
the $50 million 1973 endowment of the School of Sacred Music at Yale University
by Clementine Miller Tangeman, based on the Cummins Engine Company fortune
style="mso-spacerun: yes">  A more recent illustration is the $18
million Simon Music and Library building at Indiana University, now awaiting a
52-stop Rosales tracker organ. This building was funded exclusively by private
subscriptions to the University Foundation, not an appropriation by the
legislature of state tax dollars. 
The University of Iowa music department has also been privately endowed.
The prominence of these schools, in recent times, has hinged significantly on
private funding and their continued prosperity will depend on these sources.

These schools represent what Martin Trow defines as elite
higher education which centers around high ambition and the resources required
to nuture it. This paradigm reflects a close and prolonged relationship between
student and teacher, and the social and physical setting in which this kind of
relationship can exist, i.e., low faculty-student ratios, excellent physical
plant and other resources. It makes high demands on students in the severity of
the curriculum and because of these demands it does not encourage or admit
older or part-time students. It is most likely to be residential, highly
selective and richly staffed. Clearly these schools are in a class by
themselves. As Trow notes: " . . 
. elite higher education is too costly; . . .  only a fraction of students and teachers have the interests,
motivations and ability to profit from the intense and demanding personal and
intellectual relationships that mark it."5

Oberlin College

No discussion of the pipe organ in academe would be complete
without reference to Oberlin College which stands preeminent in the history of
music in colleges and universities in America. The nation's first conservatory,
founded in 1865, Oberlin is internationally recognized for its faculty and
facilities offering world-class musical training. With its rich tradition,
legions of distinguished artists and performers among its graduates,
unparalleled facilities, and uncompromising ideals in the higher learning, it
is clearly the exception to other schools. A leitmotif for excellence in
American higher education, the school has been blessed with the resources
required to maintain its gold-plated image. The luster and status of organ
study at Oberlin is confirmed by the spectrum of instruments beginning with the
1974 Flentrop in Warner Concert Hall embracing the 18th-century North German
style. It continued with the Brombaugh organ in Fairchild Chapel as an exquisite
example of the late Renaissance period. To complete the rainbow the school has
contracted for a $1.2 million Fisk organ, scheduled for installation in Finney
Chapel in 2001. A symphonic organ, made possible by the initial bequest of Kay
Africa, it will be well-suited for music of the 19th and 20th century. Styled
in the paradigm of Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, this Tiffany instrument will
reinforce Oberlin's image as progressive and up-to-date in the world of organ
pedagogy. In  the Fisk Opus List it
joins the company of Harvard, Stanford, Michigan, Rice and Wellesley, among
others, in the gallery of this prestigous trophy builder.
style="mso-spacerun: yes">  North Texas University has also
selected Fisk to build the recital organ for its new concert hall, as yet
awaiting funding.

Yet despite its lofty status, and the preferred position of
its graduates in the music marketplace, Oberlin has addressed the legitimate
aspirations of students who seek flexibility and potential employment options
outside music performance. The answer is a double degree program; a fifth year
program established thirty years ago for conservatory students who then receive
a Bachelor of Arts degree. This "Double Degree" program now includes
one-third of the 550 students enrolled in the conservatory. Officially described
as a program to produce a more broadly educated person, it undoubtedly reflects
a recognition by the school, and by the students, of the need to explore many
possibilities at this juncture in their budding careers. Oberlin's challenge is  to continue to command the financial resources needed to attract top talent, which means the generous scholarships required to bid them away from  competing schools.

Westminster Choir College

The staggering financial requirements of private higher
education today were dramatically illustrated in the recent history of
Westminster Choir College whose phalanx of prominent graduates have made it a
household word in American church music. According to Professor Eugene Roan,
the merger with Rider College (now University) three years ago was a godsend in
the fortunes of a school that, despite its sterling reputation, could not have
survived as a stand-alone institution 
For Rider, a college little-known outside New Jersey, the Westminster
acquisition gives them an instant nationwide visibility and prestige that no
amount of money could buy. As for Westminster, it gained the necessary
resources in scholarships and bricks and mortar to continue its storied
tradition. The organ program counted a total enrollment of 51 in the Fall of
1997 including 22 graduate students. The standards of admission and levels of
performance are the highest on record, according to Roan. An excellent
placement program features a subscription-only job newsletter circulated every
two weeks. With a preferred position in an uncertain nationwide job market for
church musicians, Westminster should continue to attract students who can
reasonably expect to find employment in their chosen profession upon
graduation.

The so-called elite institutions under discussion are
indicative of the fact that nationwide there is a core of highly qualified and
professionally ambitious students who actively pursue quality education in
high-profile schools, but who are increasingly selective in their choice of
school and are actively shopping for the best financial package. Therefore, the
financial challenge is one of obtaining scholarship money in ever increasing
amounts to attract the top talent and to compete successfully with other
schools which are seeking the same students. This is the economic price one
must pay for being an elite institution.

Summary

We have argued that the pipe organ is a jewel of a campus
setting, imparting definition and meaning to the collegiate experience.
Unfortunately, this fact has not been adequately acknowledged by the majority
of decision-makers. We have shown that if the organ is not to continue to fall
victim to enrollment criteria as the basis for funding, it must be aggressively
promoted on campus: to trustees, alumni, visitors, townspeople, in special
programs and to today's generation of students.  It should be featured in campus publicity, on tours, in the
alumni magazine, and in the recognition of organists among prominent alumni.
Marylhurst, with its enterprising community outreach, Dordt capitalizing on
church ties, and Evansville emphasizing the core of the liberal arts, are
showing the way. The innovative approaches of these schools, others we have
noted, and, no doubt, many more, can be adopted and applied successfully by
schools everywhere. The costs are minimal and the potential rewards are great.
Undeniably, the potential is there--in group study, combined curricula, and
untapped student sources within the community.

Organ professors in academe are a very close-knit
professional group who communicate with each other frequently and who are eager
to find ways to bolster the immediate prospects of their school and the
fortunes of their colleagues elsewhere as well. They should be encouraged to
exchange ideas in regional and national gatherings of organists and music
educators and on the Internet. The professional media should be admonished to
publicise program details and achievements. Perhaps the AGO should contemplate
establishing awards to individuals and programs that demonstrate innovation and
leadership in advancing the profession and the instrument.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>      

For critical comments on earlier drafts of this paper the
author gratefully acknowledges: 
Byron Arneson, Nelson Barden, Jack Bethards, Charles McManis, Albert
Neutel, Jack Sievert and Haskel Thomson.

For research input the author thanks:
style="mso-spacerun: yes">  John Behnke, Margaret Cries, George
Damp, Delbert Disselhorst, W. N. Earnest, John Ferguson, Davis Folkerts, Lee
Garrett, John Hamersma, Rod Kelchner, William Kuhlman, Karen Larsen, William
McCandless, Thomas Murray, Nancy LeRoi Nichol, Dale Peters, Douglas Reed, Joan
Ringerwole, Eugene Roan, Larry Smith, Carl Staplin, Herman Taylor, James
Vinson, Chris Young, and Rudolf Zuiderveld.

Notes

                        1.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>                  Arrow,
Kenneth J., "Invaluable Goods," Journal of Economic Literature, Vol.
XXV (June 1997), pp. 757-765.

                        2.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>                  Duffus,
R. L., The Innocents at Cedro, New York: 
Macmillan, 1944, p. 25. 
Reprint Augustus M. Kelley.

                        3.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>                  Ambrosino,
Jonathan, "The John R. Silber Symphonic Organ at Boston University",
The New England Organist,Vol. 7, No. 3, May & June, 1997, pp. 8-11.

                        4.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>                  Jongsma,
Sally, "Playing the organ is their occupation," The Voice,
style="mso-spacerun: yes">  Dordt College, Vol. 42, No. 4, May,
1997, pp. 12-13.

                        5.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>                  Martin
Trow, "Aspects of Diversity in Higher Education" in Gans, Glazer, Gusfield
and Jenks, eds, On The Making of 
Americans:  Essays in Honor
of David Riesman, Univ. of Pennsylvania Press, 1997, pp. 171-270.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>        

David Arthur Sansome Gell, 70 years old, died March 2, 2014, in Santa Barbara, California. Born in Alberta, Canada, his musical journey began at age 8 as a boy chorister in an Edmonton, Alberta, church. After immigrating to Alhambra, California, he began organ lessons at age 13.

Gell attended California State University at Los Angeles, majoring in history and music; he graduated in 1966 from Azusa Pacific University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in music, studying organ and theory with Gerald Faber. He did graduate study at the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, the University of Hawaii (Manoa), and with Emma Lou Diemer at the University of California at Santa Barbara. During the Viet Nam conflict, he served on board the USS Klondike, and as organist and assistant to the Pacific Fleet Chaplain in Pearl Harbor. 

David Gell served as organist and choirmaster at churches in Monrovia, California, New Orleans, Louisiana, and Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, First Congregational Church, and Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Santa Barbara. His greatest distinction was as Minister of Music, Organist and Composer-in-Residence of Trinity Episcopal Church, Santa Barbara. During his 30-year tenure, he helped create several community concert series, including an Advent Series, Old Spanish Days Fiesta with La Música Antigua de España, Young Artists Concerts, and music and organ demonstrations to school children. He served as organist-in-residence at major cathedrals in Britain during five concert tours with the Santa Barbara Boys Choir. 

Active in the American Guild of Organists, he had served as dean, sub-dean, and treasurer of chapters in Hawaii and Santa Barbara. He performed in Canada, Louisiana, Hawaii, and California, including at Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles and AGO regional conventions. He established the local chapter of the Choral Conductors Guild and served as founder, first conductor, and president of the board of the Santa Barbara Master Chorale.

David Gell composed works for orchestra, vocal solo, choral anthems and cantatas, concertos for instruments, fanfares, an organ sonata, string quartet, chorale preludes, and hymn introductions and intonations for the Episcopal Church’s 1982 Hymnal. Gell generously shared his scores, interpretation ideas, and ingenious methods of registration and of managing multiple pages of scores. His memorial service included music by his favorite composers—Buxtehude, Stanley, Handel, and Emma Lou Diemer. Two of his own organ compositions were included: “Meditation on Picardy” and “Toccata on ‘Only begotten, Word of God.’” In honor of his service in the Navy, Taps was played. 

David Arthur Sansome Gell is survived by his wife of 45 years, Carolyn Gell. Memorial contributions may be made to the Azusa Pacific University School of Music, Organ Scholarship Advancement, P.O. Box 7000, Azusa, CA 91702-7000.

—Charles Talmadge

Perry G. Parrigin, 88, passed away December 26, 2013, in Columbia, Missouri. Born in Paintsville, Kentucky, he received his bachelor’s degree in music from the University of Kentucky in 1947 and his master’s degree in organ from Indiana University in 1949. Following his military service at Fort Knox, Kentucky, as a chaplain’s assistant, he studied under Robert Baker at Union Theological Seminary in New York, and at the University of Colorado. Parrigin moved to Columbia in 1953 to teach music theory and organ at the University of Missouri; he retired from the university in 1989 as Professor Emeritus, and became organist and choirmaster at the Missouri United Methodist Church, serving in that role from 1953–1963 and from 1980–1997 as organist. During his tenure he oversaw the renovation and expansion of the church’s Skinner organ. He was named Organist Emeritus in 2000. Parrigin was a longtime member of the Kiwanis Club and the American Guild of Organists. Perry G. Parrigin was preceded in death by his wife of 32 years, Elizabeth, and is survived by several nieces and nephews. 

Robert L. Town, professor of organ emeritus at Wichita State University, died on December 10, 2013. He was a master teacher, recitalist, and consultant during his long and productive career. (See Lorenz Maycher, “A Conversation with Robert Town,” The Diapason, May 2008.) Born October 31, 1937, in Waterman, Wisconsin, his interest in the pipe organ began at age three, when he attended church for the first time. At age 12, he headed a successful campaign to purchase a Hammond organ for his church, and at 15, he was appointed organist at First Baptist Church in Weedsport, New York. Town received his Bachelor of Music degree in 1960 from the Eastman School of Music, studying with Catharine Crozier. He entered Syracuse University as a master’s student of Arthur Poister, graduating in 1962 and continuing his studies there while filling a one-year vacancy in the department. Later, he continued his doctoral work with Marilyn Mason at the University of Michigan. At age 25, Town won the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Young Artist Competition, over two finalists ten years his senior; this led to his national debut as a recitalist in a career playing in the United States, Canada, and Europe, including at the Kennedy Center, St. Thomas Church for the New York World’s Fair, and Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. 

Town became chairman of the Wichita State University organ department in 1965 and taught until he retired in 2006. His students were successful in prestigious competitions over a 20-year period, including two winners at Fort Wayne in addition to nine finalists at the Ruth and Clarence Mader competition (Pasadena), the Gruenstein competition (Chicago), and the national undergraduate competition in Ottumwa (Iowa). Two students won international competitions and three were selected as Fulbright Scholars. Perhaps his greatest achievement was in securing the four-manual, 63-stop, 85-rank Marcussen tracker pipe organ at Wichita State University in 1987. Marcussen and Son had never produced an instrument in the United States but were persuaded when told that Wiedemann Recital Hall (named for the organ’s benefactor, Gladys Wiedemann) would be erected specifically to house the organ. In 1994, the Rie Bloomfield Recital Series was endowed on the campus.

Professor Town’s estate provided a bequest to establish the Robert L. Town Distinguished Professorship in organ, a position currently held by Professor Lynne Davis, and provided for the ongoing maintenance of the Marcussen. Ten years before his death, Town made an endowed gift to keep all of the practice organs on the campus well maintained. Memorials may be sent to Harry Hynes Memorial Hospice, 313 S. Market, Wichita, KS 67202 or the Marcussen Organ Maintenance Fund, c/o WSU Foundation, 1845 N. Fairmount, Wichita, KS 67260. 

William Kuhlman is Professor of Organ at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa where he has taught since 1969. He is a graduate of Saint Olaf College and received his advanced degree from Syracuse University. His major instructors have included David N. Johnson, Arthur Poister, Grete Krogh and Harald Vogel. He has previously written an article for The Diapason entitled "Andrew Carnegie and the Organ," and an article in the July 2002 issue of The American Organist reviewing "Sacred Music 2002" at the University of Iowa. He recently recorded a new compact disc of organ and brass music for Telarc with the Empire Brass at Luther College. He performs five days a week for services of the campus community on the 3-manual, 41-rank Robert Sipe organ at the 1500-seat Center for Faith and Life. Kuhlman is represented by The Concert Artist Cooperative.

Small liberal arts college teaching is an area rich in challenges and creative possibilities. Having taught in the field for the past 34 years has prompted me to reflect on its rich opportunities as well as its perils for those desirous of a walk down similar paths. Few students in graduate studies working toward career paths in college or university teaching can anticipate the realities awaiting them upon successfully joining this guild. In the paragraphs that follow I will share a few of my experiences in hopes that the information will benefit those seeking to pursue an academic career.

Henry Adams once said, "A teacher affects eternity; one can never tell where one's influence stops." At this very moment, graduate students throughout the many fine programs around the country are honing their skills as performers and becoming the best players they possibly can. Their influence on organ students of the future will undoubtedly manifest itself in many positive ways. When the young Arthur Poister was teaching in Sioux City, Iowa, he had no idea that he would later be quoted over and over again and regaled as one of the great seers of organ pedagogy in the 20th century. Likewise with Russell Saunders when he was a young man teaching at Drake University: he never realized how far-reaching his influence would be as a scholar, a student of the instrument and its literature, and as an extraordinary "teacher of teachers." For those unfamiliar with these two names, Arthur Poister at Syracuse University and Russell Saunders at Drake (and later, the Eastman School of Music) were surely considered two of the giants of organ teaching in America from the 1950s through most of the 80s. They would undoubtedly agree with the quote attributed to the English music critic/musicologist Ernest Newman, who said: "A good teacher is slowly discovered. The bad teacher is quickly found out!" For those aspiring to this wonderful profession, the rewards are many, the diversity of experiences enjoyable and a great pleasure at times. The positives far outweigh the negatives.

But a few caveats would well-serve those aspiring to academia. Organ teaching and playing in America has undoubtedly reached a level unparalleled in history. The instruments we play and teach on are of a caliber unrivaled anywhere in the world. Top-flight preparation through superb teaching continues to produce competition winners and wonderful young artists. One wonders, however, whether playing skills alone will suffice to prepare graduates from our excellent conservatories, colleges and universities for the few teaching positions that become available each year. Perhaps a few musings from personal experience will be helpful.

When I was in graduate school studying at Syracuse with Arthur Poister, my interest in theory, history, pedagogy, church music and service playing was secondary to the pursuit of my performance skills. I had assimilated a reasonably good feel for liturgical organ playing growing up in the atmosphere of St. John Lutheran Church and Grace Lutheran Church in the western Chicago suburbs, where an excellent brand of church music was being espoused by the likes of Gerhardt Becker, Carl Schalk, Paul Bouman, Paul Bunjes, Richard Hillert and other giants of Lutheran church music. By the time I left high school I had played a fair number of church services (which I enjoyed immensely) and adored playing hymns both on G. Donald Harrison's Aeolian-Skinner at church as well as on our Model 45 Baldwin at home. When my parents bought our Baldwin on South Wabash Avenue in Chicago, the demonstrator was none other than the inimitble Reginald Foort, the staff organist at the BBC in London prior to the war. I was privileged to have lessons from him for about two years while I was studying with our local Lutheran church musicians Becker and Bouman. Reggie taught me technique from the "Stainer Method Book." Later on we worked on the E-Flat Trio Sonata of Bach and assorted chestnuts from the orchestral literature such as his transcription of Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld and some glorious renditions of tunes such as "Night and Day" and "Dancing on the Ceiling."

All of these eclectic experiences helped to kindle my passion for playing the organ and served me well in college and university and my first organ-ist/choirmaster position at St. Michael's Episcopal Church in the idyllic town of Cazenovia, New York. However, like my colleagues in the graduate program, most of my energy was expended in preparing memorized organ recitals and studying a narrow range of literature. Our primary goals were to hone our skills to become the best teachers and players that we could become. In this respect, "Mr. Poister" was the paragon of the "model teacher/performer."

When I decided to track into academe in the late 1960s, the opportunities were plentiful. Many good jobs were open in both church music and college work. However, when I was hired into my first full-time position at Jamestown College in North Dakota in 1967, I quickly experienced a "wake-up call" when I found myself on committees, teaching and advising non-major students and thus having to know and understand the college catalogue and all its nuances. I was required to play for college celebrations and chapels, conduct the touring a cappella choir, teach piano and harpsichord, music history, church music, a January term course on "The Fine Arts in Chicago" and assorted other duties I had never dreamed I would be undertaking. Once over the initial shock, I dug in and started shoveling.

Teaching in a small town at a small liberal arts college with students that were either beginners or low intermediate players presented a new set of challenges. As the only professionally trained organist in the region, I felt like I was stranded on a wind-blown oasis at times. My two departmental colleagues were a band director and a flower-child composer/theorist with whom I maintained splendid relationships, but whose direct interest in my own field was, to put it mildly, limited. I missed the interchange and compatibility of the Syracuse classmates in Mr. Poister's last studio at the University. I longed to commune once again with wonderful organ colleagues like Wayne Leupold, John Strege, Bill Neill and Larry Smith and to chat endlessly about notes inégale, interpretations of the Reubke Sonata or whatever other subtle nuances of performance practice that may have been subjects for nattering as we met in the halls and coffee shops at the time.

It was fortuitous that when I went to Luther College, Decorah, in 1969 with a few years of college teaching under my organ shoes, I was a little less naive than several years before. I reveled in the opportunities afforded by the rich organ culture that Gerhard Krapf had cultivated in the State of Iowa. I delighted in the collegial relationship which I formed with both Gerhard and his superb colleague Delbert Disselhorst and later on Delores Bruch at the University of Iowa. I found great inspiration in the work that Gerhard and the university organ technician Carroll Hanson had done to introduce great new organs into the state. My work was cut out for me to emulate their model in both teaching and bringing much-needed new instruments to my "quadrant" of Iowa.

The reality of my first years at the new position came as somewhat of a shock to this idealistic young savant, eager to make his mark at his first college job. A number of smaller shocks hit me straight on:

* Luther College conducted non-compulsory daily plus Sunday chapel services. A lot of literature had to be covered in a given week with a dozen voluntaries and hymns to be played, and numerous choral and instrumental accompaniments to be learned.

* I was given about a dozen liberal arts students per semester to advise. A few were music majors, but many were pursuing majors in biology, classics, French and other areas outside my field of expertise.

* I served on a variety of committees--the curriculum committee, (which I also served as chair), social committees (for Christmas parties, faculty retirement fetes and the like) and on planning committees for extra-curricular events such as college anniversaries, celebrations like the Martin Luther 500th anniversary, the Bach celebration in 1985 and three visits by the King and Queen of Norway. There were convocations featuring Vice-President George H.W. Bush, Attorney General Edwin Meese, Crown Prince Harald of Norway, and later on, his son Prince Haakon.

* I had to find concertatos as we planned Homecoming worship services, Baccalaureates, Christmas concerts and other festival services. I discovered that I really needed to do my homework here and ended up writing many of my own. This too was a new experience for me.

* I was required to teach theory and ear training to fill out my load--areas  which I never dreamt I would have to master. In the process I had to become conversant in Sibelius, Finale and various software programs such as MacGamut and C.A.T. I felt like a fish out of water much of the time!

* I found myself attending more required meetings than I thought possible. A typical week: Monday afternoons, Sunday worship planning with campus pastor A; Wednesday mornings, full college faculty once a month, and the Humanities Division every other week; Wednesday afternoon's meetings with Campus Pastor B to choose hymns and plan daily chapel services; Friday mornings three times a month, full music faculty meetings; other days--meetings of ad hoc committees of various kinds. In short, a lot of time that I once thought I would spend in a practice room.

* As an apparent result of having attended another "liberal arts" college as an undergraduate (Saint Olaf), I found myself teaching courses in the general humanities. I learned that there are certain perils resultant from conversations at social occasions with English faculty. Indiscriminately dropping authors' names or titles of recently read books can lead one down yet another dark alley such as becoming the discussion leader in sections of the core program for first year students with topics like "Greek Mythology" or "Maoist China"!

Despite having resisted and often eschewed past parental advice, I find myself having saved a few chestnuts of my own to pass on to the next generation of prospective small college pedagogues:

Music appreciation. Sometime your organ load may be too small and you'll be asked to teach this or a similar introductory course populated by Physical Education or Science majors wishing to fulfill their fine arts requirement. Even though this is not your specialty, you will be asked to be a good scout and to pitch in. Know your Grieg Concerto and Peter and the Wolf and you will have a jump-start! Ear training and sight singing are other favorite courses which department chairs like to pass around to fill applied teacher's loads, the general assumption being that these are courses that anyone can teach!

Politics. You will want to get your own agenda across, but you will want to do so in such a way that you keep your fellow colleagues' diverse needs in mind as well, and find ways of working within your department without alienating your co-workers. You may for example want to initiate an organ project, which I have had the opportunity to do on four different occasions at our college. It will be very important for you to diplomatically nurture this idea with your colleagues without forgetting that they too may have needs important to them. The eternal problem is how to strike a balance and be a good department member at the same time as having your agenda realized at some point in time.

The draft. I was fortunate not to be drafted into the armed services back in the 60s. But in the 70s, I found myself drafted in my college job into other similarly rigorous duties by befriending one of our theater directors and finding myself joyfully conducting orchestras for musicals like Kurt Weill's Three Penny Opera and playing one of the two piano parts for a production of The Fantasticks.

Developing an audience for organ music. I did not immediately find the same receptive and interested audience for organ music we experienced at graduate school. You will undoubtedly have to build an audience for organ music in the community. The organ journals have had exhaustive articles on this subject over the years and so this turf does not need to be re-seeded. The surest way to kill an uncultivated audience would be to play a dry, academic recital right off the bat, or to have a guest who does so. Be sensitive to the tradition and level of musical sophistication or lack thereof.

New instruments. You may have the wonderful opportunity to procure a pipe organ sometime in your career. A whole host of creative ideas about who the best builder might be for the task, about how to raise funds, and about how to engender enthusiasm and excitement for the project will have to be thought through. Back in the 70s, long before Pipedreams was so much a part of our lives, I hosted a half-hour program each week on our local radio station called "The King of Instruments." I scripted and narrated the program myself, and would play organ recordings from the station's library and reel-to-reel tapes from my own performances and that of my friends and colleagues. This was one of several techniques I thought would engender some interest in attaining new organs at our college. It worked!

Hosting recitalists. You will have to get to know the ins and outs of "presenting." This means finding appropriate recitalists either from your pool of acquaintances or from the management rosters. It can also involve seeking funding through various sources, selling tickets, promoting the recital through your church or college newsletter, radio, TV, posters, church bulletins, newspapers and so forth. How much or how little hosting needs to be done? Donor dinners, AGO and student guild chapter sponsorship are all avenues worth pursuing.

*

In order to achieve promotion and tenure commensurate with your degrees and years in service, several things are necessary. You can read all about this in a college's faculty handbook, but here is the Cliff Notes summary:

Practice time. Many times in schools of music and colleges with strong programs such as ours with 50 faculty and staff in our department, recital and performance work will suffice instead of research. However with a full teaching load, practice time is often precious to find and the first thing to go. I set aside "untouchable" hours from 7:30 until our chapel service begins at 10:00 am and work on recital, church, chapel and accompaniment music during that period. One would be wise to set aside a part of your day in your life as church musician or academic, and make this time sacrosanct. No calls, no interruptions, no make-up lessons!

Contributions to the department. You will be asked to be on calendar committees, library acquisition committees, building committees, departmental publication committees, ensemble committees and a host of other arcane bodies within your department, which set policy, curriculum and other functions of the program. You must do this willingly and cheerfully if you ever expect to receive the requisite glowing evaluations from the colleagues who will review your work. The hiring and review process now as compared to 30 years ago is thoroughly analytical, precise, regulated and organized. Many of us opine that we probably never would have risen through the ranks to full professor if the current rubric had applied when we were climbing the "tenure ladder."

Contributions to the college and the community. A young faculty member with aspirations toward tenure gladly, willingly and eagerly serves on various strange "task forces" and ad hoc committees in order to be noticed by deans and department heads. Directing and/or playing at local churches or synagogues, becoming a participant on school or hospital boards and service organizations are small but integral factors in the tenure mix.

Writing skills. We think so often in music that writing is secondary or maybe not at all important relative to what we will do in a college job. Nothing could be further from the truth. I am constantly writing: grant proposals, proposals to committees, drafts of ideas, reports, minutes of meetings, articles for newsletters and magazines, and a variety of diverse documents such as letters of recommendation for graduate study, letters supportive of Fulbright and Rhodes scholarship applicants and the like. I also am constantly being asked to write evaluations for colleagues in the department who are up for promotion and tenure, or are applying for other jobs. Being able to write clearly is not a luxury but a prerequisite of the job.

Speaking skills. You are frequently required in an academic position to speak at faculty meetings, to introduce speakers, to give talks to local organizations, to do workshops of various kinds, to be a consultant for organ projects, to speak at AGO and church body conventions, conferences and workshops. Speaking confidently with a modicum of good grammar and syntax, and presenting oneself in a professional manner is paramount.

Corollary Issues

As College Organist at a relatively small (2800 students) but important college in the region, I am often called upon to give advice to churches on finding organists, and in replacing or restoring a variety of organs out and about. Be ready to willingly help out, or have access to people who might be able to give the needed advice. You will find yourself the "caretaker" of organ and perhaps church music in your area and will be called upon to be the local resource for a variety of strange and interesting requests, often hilarious, sometimes bizarre. A few examples:

a. "Where can I find replacement tubes for my Hammond B-3?"

b. "How much is my Estey reed organ worth? Would you appraise it for me?"

c. "Where can I find an organ arrangement of The Battle Hymn of the Republic?"

d. "Would you play a recital on our 1920 Hinners for our church's 100th anniversary celebration? You might want to tune it first!"

e. "Would you be willing to go through my late Aunt Minnie's organ music and tell me what it's worth for tax purposes?"

f. "Would your music library like my late great-uncle's collection of revival hymnbooks?"

g. "Could the College use a pair of Leslie speakers?"

h. And, of course, the perennial questions: "Do you have any students that could play for services this year at West Paint Creek Presbyterian Church in rural What Cheer? Our council just raised the fee to $20.00 per service."

If you are teaching as I do, in a small college atmosphere, you will soon find that a five-day workweek is impossible for the most part. You may spend part of your weekend supporting colleagues' lectures and performances, attending your students' junior and senior organ recitals or those of students and instrumentalists enrolled in your classes. When your own students present recitals there will of course be the attendant hours of extra coaching and rehearsal. Many of your "free" Saturdays may be usurped by admission department requests to meet with prospective students who can only visit the campus over a weekend. You will want to become better known in the community by helping your colleagues in the area with recital and workshop programming. Become active in the local AGO and regional denominational associations. Attend lectures by colleagues in other departments and show interest in areas beyond your own program and agenda.

Recruiting. You may be surprised to discover that dozens of talented organ students are not automatically going to come knocking at your studio door. You have to find clever ways to encourage the good ones to enter your studio. Scholarship support from your administration is critical. Sponsoring workshops in organ and church music, summer organ camps and keyboard festivals are all part of the game we have to play to get good students to come to an expensive school and study organ as one of their academic subjects. We may fall into a few great students with little or no effort but most frequently will have to work hard to convince them of the benefits of our program versus that of our competitors. Read your magazines. Be an activist in the perpetual campaign to interest young people in our instrument. Find out how to sponsor a Pipe Organs and Pizza event for young keyboardists, invite youngsters in church choir programs up to the organ loft, invite school groups to come in and have a fun, entertaining 30-45 minutes hearing the sounds and experiencing the wonders of the pipe organ. Our future as teachers and performers depends on energetic new ideas and creative approaches.

Studio teaching. I was absolutely certain when I started my teaching career that all of the pieces I had labored on during my college and university studies would be within easy access of most if not all of the students whom I would teach. Sowerby, Reubke, Liszt, Mendelssohn, Bach, Buxtehude, Bruhns, Lübeck, Böhm, Sweelinck, Scheidt, Hindemith, Langlais, Messiaen--no problem! And then, of course, there'd be the ever-reliable Gleason and later on Stauffer and Ritchie, Soderlund, and Davis, for those few beginners who needed a little retrofitting or tune-up. Nothing could have been further from the truth. Many, if not most of the students enrolled for lessons at small liberal arts colleges are either taking lessons for the first time, or for only a year or two. Many will be non-music majors. In counting my student load of 16 lessons in the spring semester, four were education majors, four were applied music majors, and the rest from other departments with history, nursing and/or undetermined majors. From amongst these diverse groups, many will end up giving junior and senior recitals at the point at which they are prepared and interested in doing so. Others take lessons simply because they want to be prepared to play a competent church service. The dilemma in a liberal arts program is whether to accept only high-potential students with great keyboard ability or to accept most or all of those who enroll and teach to their level. On the one hand, it's more interesting and professionally fulfilling to accept only a few "superstars." On the other hand, one's teaching load may, as a result, be filled with duties outside of your expertise or general interest.

Be prepared to teach entry-level pieces such as Dupré's 79 Chorales, Keller's 80 Chorale Preludes, Pachelbel and Walther manualiter, easy trios by Krebs, Hudson, using method books such as Roger Davis or the new series that Wayne Leupold has developed. Accept every promising pre-college age student you can lay your hands on. This is our future as organ pedagogues if our instrument is to survive. Isn't it ironic that in the present day, we're experiencing a level of organ building in the country unprecedented in history, while in many quarters, organ music in many churches is being relegated to the dust heap in favor of the praise band!

Coda

Bring to your job applications and your vitae as diverse and well-rounded a background as you can manage within your graduate programs. Deans and department chairs that are looking at dossiers are rarely looking for a candidate qualified to teach only to their specialty.

The diversity of experiences which include living life in a bucolic college town with diverse cultural and physical attributes, interesting colleagues and the rich opportunities available, all serve to  make a career in college teaching well worth considering. Perils and pitfalls exist, but in the end, the rewards are abundant.

This article was developed from a lecture presented at the University of Iowa on November 11, 2001.