The fall organ conference, held September 13–16, 2015, at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music (JSoM), was a mix of the practical, the academic, and the experiential. This year’s conference addressed the necessary changes occurring in both church music and liturgy. These ideas were woven throughout the three-day conference, which featured numerous distinguished presenters and spirited roundtables.
Sunday, September 13
The attendees were treated to an inspiring concert by JSoM’s Historical Performance Institute, featuring medieval music and poetry—some spiritual, some profane. The performers used texts by Julian of Norwich, from Carmina Burana, and music of the period associated with these texts. The singers/readers semi-staged the concert, with subtle changes in accents to their basic black attire and dramatic movements that enhanced the understanding of the texts.
Monday, September 14
The Reverend Barbara Brown Taylor, Butman Professor of Religion and Philosophy at Piedmont College and New York Times best-selling author, gave both an opening convocation address and a keynote presentation, “What, in God’s Name, Are You Doing?” Challenging the widespread understanding of worship music as a mere accompaniment or enhancement of the spoken ritual, she spoke of music’s “mystical language of unsaying” and focused on the “spectacularly non-verbal” power of music to elicit awareness of the unfathomable, the un-nameable essence of God.
Citing resonating connections between humans, the planets, and the stars, Taylor highlighted the need for musicians to care “for the sound by which creation came into being,” and spoke of our work as “keepers of the keys” [pun intended] in terms of locking and unlocking the mysteries of “placeless places.” She also reminded us of the theological significance of creating and listening with [not to] music in community, “letting the music work its way around and through the different sized holes in each one of us.” She assured us that there is not a contest between word and music, but that “there is a time for saying and a time for unsaying.” Recalling an anthem text, she pointed to the often-greater importance of feeling over knowing: “I don’t know you, but I like you.”
A spirited panel discussion, “Where Do We Go From Here? The Possibilities Are Ours To Create!” featured Carla Edwards, professor of organ at DePauw University; Rev. Taylor; Tamara Gieselman, university chaplain at the University of Evansville; Marilyn Keiser, Chancellor’s Professor Emerita of Music at JSoM; and Douglas Reed, adjunct professor of organ at JSoM. The discussion picked up the themes presented in the keynote, with an emphasis on the acute need for clergy and musicians to work in concert to create a meaningful worship experience. The afternoon ended with an advance screening of the soon-to-be-released documentary Sacred Sound: A Documentary on the Royal School of Church Music in America, presented by its producer, Robin Arcus.
The evening session, “A Calling to Music and the Arts,” was a festival of both familiar and new hymns and poetry that underscored the text of those hymns. Robert Nicholls (director of music, First Presbyterian Church, Evansville, Indiana), a prize-winning improviser and noted choir director, led a choir composed of current organ majors and conference attendees in robust singing of hymns, which were skillfully accompanied by varied improvisations. All church musicians know the excitement of singing hymns with colleagues, and this was such an event, made even more exciting by the beautiful C. B. Fisk organ in Auer Hall.
Tuesday, September 15
The day focused on the practical aspects of our profession. James Mellichamp, president of Piedmont College, gave an inspirational lecture on issues musicians face in the current religious climate, “Your Vocation Lies Elsewhere: Reflections of an Organist Turned College President.” Mellichamp used his personal narrative to show how he was able to pivot his career by realizing that church music was the first step to his current position within academia.
This was followed by Mary Ann Hart’s (professor of voice at the JSoM) insightful, funny, entertaining, and useful demonstration of easy ways to train volunteer choir members. The audience knew that something special was going to happen when she passed out soda straws and plastic coffee stirrers prior to beginning her demonstration! The morning ended with Marilyn Keiser’s one-hour presentation showcasing a wide array of new organ literature suitable for worship that included preludes, postludes, incidental music, and new harmonizations for hymns.
Mitchell Rorick (associate director of music, Trinity English Lutheran Church, Fort Wayne, Indiana) began the afternoon with his presentation “Enlivening Worship without (Many) Pyrotechnics.” This practical demonstration showed how traditional instruments used non-traditionally, non-traditional instruments used traditionally, and other art forms can enhance worship. One of the more interesting resources was the development of a steel band, which, like all of the creative resources and ideas he presented, can be an intergenerational activity. After a rehearsal with members of Trinity Episcopal Church, Bloomington Choir, and conference participants, the afternoon ended with a lovely and moving Evensong directed by Marilyn Keiser.
The day ended with a banquet and the presentation of four Oswald Gleason Ragatz Distinguished Alumni Awards, to Carla Edwards (DM, 1997), Yun Kyong Kim (MM, 1996; DM, 2010; faculty, St. Claire Community and organist/choirmaster, Christ Episcopal Church, Dayton, Ohio), Yoon-mi Lim (DM, 2010; associate professor and Albert L. Travis Chair of Organ, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas), and James Mellichamp (DM, 1982). The audience was then treated to a recital on the C. B. Fisk organ, Opus 91, in the Alumni Hall of the Indiana Memorial Union by Drs. Kim and Lim. Dr. Kim gave a spirited performance of Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in E Minor (BWV 548) and works by Frank Bridge, Jean Guillou, and Maurice Duruflé. Dr. Lim introduced the audience to some lesser-known works by Marcel Paponaud, Guy Bovet, Alexandre Boëly, and Iain Farrington that were very sensitive and well suited to the nature
of Opus 91.
Wednesday, September 16
The conference closed with a panel discussion, led by the Indiana Organists United (IOU) board of directors, to map the future of the Fall Organ Conference. The discussion was led by Patrick Pope (organist and director of music, Episcopal Church of the Holy Communion, Charlotte, North Carolina), IOU president, and Edie Johnson Overall (organist and music associate, Church Street United Methodist Church, Knoxville, Tennessee), IOU president-elect. Those who attended the conference made many excellent suggestions, which the IOU board considered and acted upon at its afternoon meeting.
