Derek Nickels
I began studying piano at the age of 9 and was thrilled to find something that interested me since sports really wasn’t my thing. I had always been interested in the organ because of its variety of sounds and really wanted to study the organ, not the piano. Luckily, I had a great musical start with Ann-Marie Schaffer as first and only piano teacher. She made sure I had a solid background the basics and music theory.
Since I grew up only blocks away from Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ, I began attending organ recitals by ASU students at Gammage Auditorium, the home of a 50-rank Aeolian-Skinner installed in 1965. I began studying organ with Melanie Ninnemann (then a graduate student at ASU studying with David Johnson and now Director of Music at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis) in 1978. The organist at the little Lutheran church where I grew up resigned in February 1979. After some arm-twisting from my parents and encouragement from the church’s pastor, I became the organist. The organ was probably the first Allen organ ever made and its speakers crackled and popped as I tried my best to make it sound like a pipe organ.
I joined the AGO in 1980 as a senior in high school and eagerly awaited the TAO to arrive every month to read cover to cover all about the organ and organists. I learned very quickly that the world of organs and organists is a rather large and diverse family. Since I had attended so many recitals at ASU, I began to develop long-lasting friendships with many of the organists I met through AGO meetings and events. They were very encouraging and supportive of a young and naïve kid. I had the opportunity to hear some of the big names of the day perform for the Central Arizona AGO Chapter: Wolfgang Rübsam, Wilma Jensen, Catharine Crozier, Frederick Swann, Marilyn Mason, to name a few.
One of the biggest moments of my early musical life was when I arrived at Southern Methodist University in Dallas as a 17-year old freshman in August 1981 to study with Robert Anderson. With Bob’s demanding and rigorous schedule for his students (two lessons a week: one private lesson and one group lesson, and of course, studio class), I learned a lot about disciplined practice and being prepared in performance – whether it was playing a recital or playing a service. I was the only freshman that year and was fortunate to have older classmates (mostly graduate students working on either Master of Music in organ performance or Master of Sacred Music degrees) who were more like older siblings to me. Dallas was already an “organ city” with a number of notable organ installations throughout the metro area. The Dallas AGO was very active, with many European organists performing memorable and eye-opening recitals for the AGO: Jean Guillou, Luigi Tagliavini, Marie Claire Alain, Louis Roubillard, Guy Bovet, among many other prominent organists from here in the states.
After moving back to the Phoenix area to complete my Masters and DMA degrees with Robert Clark at ASU, I moved to Chicago in 1997 to be the interim organist at Rockefeller Memorial Chapel. Ironically, Bob Anderson had grown up in Hyde Park only blocks from Rockefeller Chapel. When I called Bob to let him know that I was moving to Chicago, he was delighted to hear the news and recounted his experience of hearing Marcel Dupré play a recital at Rockefeller in 1940, inspiring him at age six to become a musician.
It has been very enjoyable to serve on the boards of the North Shore AGO, and the Chicago-Midwest Chapter of the Organ Historical Society over the years. If there is one thing that I have learned, it is to be involved with your professional organizations. We are a unique profession of musicians from many diverse backgrounds and experiences, yet our common ground will always be the music we offer every week.