Lately I have to admit that I’ve been a little discouraged about the few number of organists in this town. I’ve been getting calls from churches looking for both temporary and permanent organists where in reality, none can be had. You may remember that the priest at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church contacted me early in the spring, to find out if and when I could be available to substitute for their organist so he could take a vacation. (Read about my stress of trying to go from one church to another in my post, “You know you’re late.”)

Before I took the position of organist at Nuuanu Congregational Church three years ago, I was perhaps one of two or three freelance organists in this town. And years ago, we spent our vacation from the Lutheran Church of Honolulu substituting at St. Andrew’s Cathedral … a true busman’s holiday!

Today however, I think I can say with certainty that there are no organists available. Oh sure, there are some organists who don’t have church jobs anymore, but they have truly retired and no longer play. I can’t imagine myself in that position, but the day may be coming ….

So I was most surprised when this video popped up in my Reddit feed:

I recommend that all my students view this video!

The video is an excellent introduction to the organ, its components and even playing techniques. What’s surprising is that the narrator says that playing the organ is the way of the future, especially useful in the performance of synthesizers which apparently can take advantage of legato and pedal techniques.

As Hans Zimmer says in the video, the organ is a huge complicated synthesizer but is frequently stereotyped as an instrument found only in churches, an instrument belonging to our past. However he says that the organ has tremendous potential in the music of the future.

I found an article, “How the Organ Could Make a Comeback in Modern Church Music,” which on the one hand says that the “organ is alive and well and doing just fine,” but on the other:

But then in church music there exists a “wholly other” dimension, which now knows nothing of the organ. Contemporary/modern worship has run its course, and, especially in evangelical circles, it is increasingly common that no one has even heard a pipe organ played, much less played well, much less played well as an accompanying instrument in worship. This generation is not hostile to the organ. It is indifferent, because it doesn’t know it. Such people might have some vague, third-party understanding that the organ is something old, stuffy, and for church music’s yesteryear, but that’s about it.

I remember when concert organist Nathan Laube was here in Hawaii, a restaurant waiter asked him what he was doing here, and he said “playing an organ recital,” the waiter then asked, “What’s an organ?”

Unfortunately we are in an age where even pianos can’t be given away, and children are just not learning music in school. What can be done?

The greatest challenge as I see it is having a practice organ on which to practice