Short Noon Day Recital at Trinity Lutheran Church in Rochester, MN.

Declining trends of attendance for religious services in mainline Protestant and Catholic churches, the denominations most likely to sustain organs both financially and physically, should be cause for concern. While this program will provide an overview on what can be posited about the relationship of religious trends and the organ, its aim is not to sound a death knell. Recent secular and religious studies show us that secularization is multi-faceted—it has clearly not resulted (and is not resulting) in the absence of religion. Nevertheless, there has been substantial change. Beyond this overview, the program will speculate on potential positive futures through an analysis of secular uses of the organ from around the world. The inclusive use of the organ both within and outside of church still has the potential to create a vibrant future for the instrument.  

Kimberly Marshall and Alexander Meszler discuss their new resource, “The Online Encyclopedia of the Organ,” which brings together a team of editor-writers and international experts. The encyclopedia contains approximately 4000 articles with more than 750 graphics on topics related to the organ and its history, all cross-referenced. It is the first scholarly endeavor to include under-researched or misunderstood geographic areas such as South Africa, Korea, the Philippines, and Bolivia, as well as the work of women and people of color. This presentation will demonstrate the online encyclopedia and discuss strategies for how users can best exploit its articles, which include historical overviews, specifications, organists, and composers for the instrument. The resource is envisioned as a vibrant ongoing process of interacting with scholars globally to update and broaden the Encyclopedia with new collections of themed articles.