Washington DC Stake Center
June 15-16, 2018
It all began on August 24-25, 2013, with the first Multi-Regional Organ Workshop Washington DC 2013, which took place in the Mount Vernon Chapel in Alexandria, VA. About 150 people from 19 stakes attended this historic organ workshop, organized by Marj Volkel and Dr. Doug Bush. This workshop also included an organ concert and a Hymn Sing Fireside in the Mount Vernon Chapel. The response to the first workshop was so impressive that at the end of the workshop an announcement of a follow-up workshop 2014 was made. That workshop was held at the Washington DC Stake Center on April 11-12, 2014, and was organized by Sunni Mumford, Ceri Benson, and Dr. Don Cook. An organ concert/hymn sing fireside was presented on the night before the workshop. In total, 190 people from 29 stakes attended the 2014 workshop. Since then, there have been several smaller interim organ workshops in the DC area. On January 22 and 23, 2015, Dr. Cook returned to DC to give two 2-hour workshops, one at the Washington DC Stake Center and the other at the Mt. Vernon VA Stake Center, respectively. On March 12, 2016, Dr. Cook presented a 3-hour workshop at the McLean VA Stake Center.
This year, the BYU DC Regional Organ Workshop was organized by Dr. Don Cook and by our Local Coordinator, Rebecca Green, and the local committee, consisting of Emily Adams, Melinda Baird, Kurt Christensen, Rita-Jo Houston, and Li-Fang Tsai. The night before the workshop, an amazing organ concert was presented by 5 of the presenters: Don Cook, Kymberly Payne, Valerie Harris, Felipe Dominguez, and Neil Harmon. On Saturday morning, during the registration hour before the workshop, Dr. Cook had an informal discussion and introduction with the early arrivers as they ate a continental breakfast in the cultural hall. Some of youth were off to the side having lots of fun trying to assemble a pipe organ. The pipe organ really exuded organ music. At 8:30am, attendees assembled in the chapel to participate in the Hymn Sing. At 9:00am, opening exercises were held in the chapel, after which the attendees separated to the workshop classes, which were taught by 6 instructors: Don Cook, Kymberly Payne, Valerie Harris, Felipe Dominguez, Neil Harmon, and Jonathan Evans. After the classes, everyone gathered for the closing exercises in the chapel, where Dr. Cook encouraged every student to continue their organ education through several avenues. The workshop concluded with lunch in the cultural hall and social mingling.
Evaluations received from over 60% of the registrants were collated. Here are the results. The top 3 reasons (see Figure 1) for choosing to attend this year’s BYU DC organ workshop were: 24% to enhance music skills, 22% to receive new information, and 20% to receive technical training. This is basically the same response as the one for the 2014 Organ Workshop.
Figure 1. Pie chart showing top reasons for attending this year’s BYU DC organ workshop.
The 3 most effective ways (see Figure 2) of hearing about the organ workshop this year were: 35% receiving email, 18% hearing announcement at church, and 12% receiving encouragement from church leader. The top 6 suggestions for future classes were: hands-on class, registrations, types of organs and organ parts, hymn marking, pedals, and a class for adult beginners. The top 5 suggestions for future workshop improvements were providing a longer break and sticking to class schedule, providing more seats for crowded classes, using a camera in multi-purpose room, providing more handouts, and showing more demos in class.
Figure 2. Pie chart showing top methods for learning about this year’s BYU DC organ workshop.
Quantitatively, here are the statistics for the workshop: 203 people preregistered, 155 people attended from 26 stakes represented, 11 classes, 15 one-on-one sessions, 4 organs at the same time in the stake center, and 6 awesome instructors. Based on the session attendance, as well as the number of water bottles taken in and the food consumed, as many as 20 more folks might have attended without signing in. More importantly, the workshop provided ample amount of proper instruction from professionals on how to play the organ. Handouts plus a lot of advice were poured upon the students. There were many opportunities to mingle with the experts and to ask plenty of questions. The students were given encouragement and motivation to continue training after the workshop and to improve their organ skills in the service of others.
With the addition of a youth track and a profuse amount of advertising geared towards the youth, 65 youth attended this year's organ workshop. This was a great opportunity to expose the youth to the mysteries and wonders of the organ and to encourage them to become more proficient at the organ for future church service. the one-on-one classes allowed the students to demonstrate their proficiency on the organ and to ask questions of the instructors.
In his opening remarks at the organ concert, President Kim Golightly, 1st counselor in the Washington DC Stake, shared this quote. "Among all other instruments which are suitable for divine worship, the organ is 'accorded pride of place' because of its capacity to sustain the singing of a large gathered assembly, due to both its size and its ability to give 'resonance to the fullness of human sentiments, from joy to sadness, from praise to lamentation.' Likewise, 'the manifold possibilities of the organ in some way remind us of the immensity and the magnificence of God.'" (U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, “Sing to the Lord: Music in Divine Worship,” 2007) This grand message set the tone of the entire organ concert and workshop. When the instructors played the organ, we heard and felt the majesty of the organ and thus the "magnificence of God." Through the workshop lessons, we learned to appreciate the ability of the organ to create a range of human sensations.
The number of students who were positively influenced and inspired from the organ workshop made it all worth the effort and time to organize such a magnificent event. We thank Dr. Cook and all of the instructors, the organizing committee, the Washington DC Stake Presidency, and Marjorie Volkel for making this organ workshop possible and beneficial to so many participants.
Benjamin Tsai
High Councilor in Washington DC Stake and advisor to organ workshop organizing committee
July 10, 2018
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