I looked at my calendar a few days ago, and realized it was time for another Dean’s Message. It seems as if I just wrote one last week. And that experience reminded me about how frequently I feel that way as an organist. I remember some years ago, standing at the console after a postlude one Sunday, with people milling about, and two people in particular waiting to talk with me. One was an instrumentalist with a piece of music that we were playing together the following Sunday. We spent a few seconds talking about it, and planning a rehearsal time that week. Not an uncommon occurrence for any of us, right? But the reason I remember it to this day is that the second person waiting for me, also a musician, was observing the interchange, and was blown away. He said something like, “Wow, no time to rest for organists, huh? You literally just finished playing the postlude, and are already having to refocus on next week.”
It’s true, when you think about it. Few other musicians have to learn the quantity of music that we do, and have the experience of playing in public so frequently. A burden at times, to be sure, and at some points in the church year, it can be downright overwhelming. But overall, what could be more satisfying, stimulating, and challenging as a musician?
Andrea Handley, Dean