As part of the celebration of 200 years of Presbyterianism in West Gwillimbury, St. John’s Presbyterian Church reached out to OrgelKidsCAN, an initiative of the Royal Canadian College of Organists, to host a ‘Build an Organ’ program.
Music schools, classes, homeschooled children were all invited to participate in the free workshops – building a pipe organ from the kit shipped out by OrgelKidsCAN, learning more about the instrument, and having an opportunity to play St. John’s own magnificent organ.
The original pipe organ was installed in the old St. John’s Presbyterian Church on Church Street in 1915, a gift from the Carnegie Foundation. When a new church was built on 10 Sideroad in 2004, the pipes were preserved and moved into the sanctuary, providing a dramatic backdrop for services.
It was only last year, though, that a Viscount Schmidt Classique Kombination digital console and system were installed, finally bringing the pipes back to life.
Retired teachers Bob and Jean Lowe and other volunteers led the workshops. While Bob helped the kids fit together the many pieces of the kit to create a pipe organ made of wood, Jean showed them how to play the real thing, in the church sanctuary.
She demonstrated the range and the variety of sounds – from violas to trumpets – that the digital console can produce, and the complexity of the music. Organists not only use their fingers to play the chords on the three levels of keyboards, they use their feet, to add the bass notes.
“In some ways, it’s just like learning to play the piano,” she said, but “there’s so much to remember.”
And unlike a piano, which is is a stringed instrument, sounded through percussion, the organ is a wind instrument – and the notes don’t linger. Once the fingers are lifted from the organ keyboard, the sound stops.
The instrument requires the player to have a clear idea of each chord and sound, and decide whether to add chords, increase or decrease the volume, or change the key, Lowe noted.
“It’s just lots and lots of fun,” she said, encouraging the kids, most of them piano students, to sit down and try the keyboard and foot pedals.
“It’s an awesome instrument – so much fun,” Jean said. “No wonder it’s called the ‘king of musical instruments’.”
Nearly 60 piano music students participated in the workshops on Saturday, with additional workshops scheduled in the week ahead – including a group of home-schooled students, who had to reschedule.
When they arrived on Thursday, it was to discover that the organ kit had not yet arrived. Instead, they were given a lesson from Jean on the digital console – and an invitation to come back again, for more fun on the organ.
