Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2001 | 8:47 a.m.
While some people around the country are playing a dirge for organ music in religious services, UNLV soon will have the largest pipe organ in the state on which to train a new generation of musicians for churches that prefer traditional sounds to the contemporary ones that are gaining popularity.
A donor, whose identity has not yet been unveiled, is contributing $500,000 to build an organ that will be a centerpiece for a 350-seat recital hall in the $7.5-million, 35,000 square-foot Beam Music Center, under construction on the UNLV campus.
The center is due to open later this year. The organ will be installed sometime after the facility opens.
Paul Hesselink, dean of the Nevada School of the Arts as well as a part-time UNLV music instructor, put the deal together. He said, "When the (center) was designed and planned, at least eight or nine years ago, it was envisioned there would be a pipe organ in the (recital) room, but there was no funding for it."
The organ will have 53 sets of pipes, surpassing in size the largest pipe organ in the state, at Reno's Trinity Episcopal Church, which has 37 sets of pipes.
While these organs are large, they are tiny compared to some of the largest in the world, including the Wanamaker Organ in Philadelphia, a 287-ton instrument with 28,500 pipes, and the pipe organ at the Atlantic City Convention Hall in New Jersey, which has 32,000 pipes.
Hesselink said the organ at UNLV will be used for concerts, as well as to train students.
"Once the organ is installed, we hope it will be kind of like the 'Field of Dreams' -- 'build it and they will come' -- sort of thing," he said.
Organ music, especially in churches, has gained attention recently through a number of national news stories reporting a decline in traditional religious music, and an increase in contemporary music. Rock bands, jazz musicians and others are replacing organs.
Raymond J. Barnes, dean of the Southern Nevada Chapter of the American Guild of Organists (AGO), says it's true that some churches around the country are turning their backs on organ music. But that is not the case in Las Vegas.
"We have 60 members (in the local AGO), which is up about 20 percent from five years ago," said Barnes, who also is the full-time music director at Trinity United Methodist Church in Las Vegas.
He said 18 churches in Las Vegas have pipe organs, but dozens of others have electronic organs or synthesizers.
While he says he is concerned about the lot of the organ, he is optimistic about the resurgence of interest in the instrument among young people. "When I went to a national convention (recently), I couldn't believe how many young people were there."
Still, other organ enthusiasts see two issues at hand -- one a matter of taste and another a matter of economics.
In some cases organists are being replaced by rock bands, and others are quitting because most jobs don't pay well enough.
"Organ departments (at churches) are getting smaller and smaller," said Margaret Hannah, 64, who has been a professional organist all of her adult life. "You can't make a living at it unless you're at the top of the heap."
Hannah, who has lived in Las Vegas since 1957, is a part-time organist at the University United Methodist Church across the street from the UNLV campus on Maryland Parkway. She played the organ for Griffith United Methodist Church for 18 years.
"When I first played, I received $5 per service. I wouldn't play for free," she said. "I have always done it. I am privileged to be paid for what I do, but it has always been part time.
"You can't make a living at it unless you work full time at a highly visible church in a metropolitan area. Not many can make a living full time unless they play and teach."
Apart from the economic concern, Hannah said contemporary music is encroaching on traditional church sounds. Her own church has two traditional services, as well as a contemporary service.
"That's the trend," she said. "Contemporary groups are getting away from organ music, per se. As a result there is much less classical training. (Churches) are catering to younger generations."
'Blended' services
Warren Marsh, music director of the First Presbyterian Church at 1515 W. Charleston Blvd., said there is a nationwide trend toward more contemporary music, but it "varies from congregation to congregation."
Marsh said some churches are more "seeker sensitive. They tend to feel the only music really relevant to people they are trying to reach is a style they are familiar with, which is a more commercial, or secular style. They (take contemporary music) then change the lyrics to more spiritual.
"These are called 'praised songs.' To these people the only thing that's relevant for that type of music are instruments found in commercial settings, dance band-type instruments, as opposed to the traditional-style pipe organ and piano."
First Presbyterian Church, he said, offers "blended" services, featuring praise songs and more traditional worship-style music.
Jane Holman, spokeswoman for the First Presbyterian Church, said her church is known for its diverse music program, which includes everything from organs to bells and bands.
Marsh said music preferences tend to be generational. "The traditional, main-line churches tend to find that their congregations come to church with the expectation of traditional worship services, whereas your contemporary churches go for more contemporary sounds."
One church, he said, offers five services. "The main difference is in the style of music. The sermon message is the same, but each service has different music, such as country-western and jazz."
He doubts that one style ever will replace another. "There's no real danger of the organ disappearing. It's just that some churches will never use an organ. Some churches use no instruments at all."
Pay scale
Barnes recognizes the problem the profession has attracting organists because of pay issues. "One of the problems with shortages (of organists) is that in today's world, young people want security and a decent wage."
Traditionally, church organists have had neither. But, Barnes said, that situation is changing as churches begin to recognize the need to pay their musicians.
Nationally, the pay scale established by AGO for an organists ranges from $14,316 per year (with benefits) for a certified organ player who works 10 hours per week to $79,000 per year (with benefits) for an organ player with a doctorate degree who works 40 hours per week.
"Many young people are not inclined to go into the profession because of money and benefit issues," Barnes said. "But it's changing. It's come a long way."
Hesselink also has seen a turnaround in the declining organist trend. "This semester I have 11 (organ) students (at UNLV), which is as many as I ever had here," he said.
Hesselink said several things are being done to rekindle the interest in organ music, both on a local and national level. AGO, he said, began a program in 1992 called Pipe Organ Encounters, which promotes competitions and outreach programs.
Locally, the Southern Nevada Chapter of AGO sponsors an annual event called Pipes, Pedals and Pizzas, in which middle- and high-school students with an interest organ music are brought together for an informal educational session. The next one is scheduled for Feb. 24.
"We show them videos about the exciting things that are happening," Hesselink said.
As to the issue of organ music versus contemporary music, "I sort of smile at that because the sort of music they call contemporary really isn't. It's kind of left over '60s rock-inspired sort of stuff. But I think that it's already beginning to lose interest in some parts of the country.
"For me, personally, I don't want my music on Sunday to sound like it does the rest of the week. I want something different to set the church music apart.
"We hear the stories about everybody moaning and groaning about inroads that contemporary music has made. But just about every church of the main-line denominations that have gone that route has also hedged their bet a little bit by continuing to have traditional services."
Hesselink remains optimistic about the future. "I don't think the story is in yet," he said. "AGO is not giving up without a fight. We think there's a future for the organ."
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