This Saturday, February 12th at 7:00 pm, is the Fifth Annual Young Organists Concert. It is jointly sponsored by the Lutheran Church of Honolulu and the Hawaii Chapter, American Guild of Organists, of which Carl and I are long-time members. Twelve young organists, ranging from age six to seventeen, will perform and you can view the program by clicking  Young Organists 2010 program. You can see from their short bios that these students’ interests range from playing with Legos, to sports, to drama, to rocket science!

It was about twenty years ago that AGO member Donald Conover, from the Church of the Crossroads, celebrated a milestone birthday. Instead of receiving presents for himself, he asked that people donate to a Scholarship Fund to train young organists here in Hawaii. The Chapter has replenished the fund through the annual Midsummer Night’s Organ Concert held at Central Union Church and through these Young Organists Concerts. To date, over 60 students have been given assistance with organ lessons — several have gone on to further study on the mainland.

We’re just doing our small part to help alleviate the organist shortage here in Hawaii. Please come support these young people in their study of “The King of Instruments.”