Local Organists' Associations

[DQB123]

Our OA was established in 1996 and quickly membership reached 100+. But now we are finding that whilst membership remains high, attendence at the meetings has declined to the extent that at the last two meetings attendence was eight and four respectively. At Committee I have mentioned that there is a tendency to advertise a meeting in the monthly newsletter [as being an evening in the company of] "a famous William Hill organ" or "an interesting Conachar organ". How many organs can be interesting and if they are interesting then why are they interesting? In the early days we visited a Norman & Beard organ in a large chapel. Before the meeting I researched some of the history of that firm and started the evening with a talk about their activities at the turn of the 20th century, together with a discussion of the character of the instrument that we were viewing, after which came an open console session followed by tea and biscuits.

 

Our Association has its share of folks who dominate the console some with their Lefebure Wely books of trash, and others with their lengthy Franck Chorales. The basic ground rule was that we are not here to comment on people's playing abilities, and that if criticism should ever arise, that would be the time to close shop. We also had a strict "chucking out" policy -- the meeting was declared over by 9.30pm and people left promptly, in order that people such as keyholders would not be kept waiting around.

 

It was good in the early days, but it seems that the group has run out of steam and now finds itself in terminal decline. Is it worth soldiering on? Or is there any shame in recognising that all groups have their day, after which comes closure.

[MusingMuso]

Our OA was established in 1996 and quickly membership reached 100+. But now we are finding that whilst membership remains high,  attendence at the meetings has declined to the extent that at the last two meetings attendence was eight and four respectively. At Committee I have mentioned that there is a tendency to advertise a meeting in the monthly newsletter [as being an evening in the company of]  "a famous William Hill organ" or "an interesting Conachar organ".  How many organs can be interesting and if they are interesting then why are they interesting? In the early days we visited a Norman & Beard organ in a large chapel. Before the meeting I researched some of the history of that firm and started the evening with a talk about their activities at the turn of the 20th century, together with a discussion of the character of the instrument that we were viewing, after which came an open console session followed by tea and biscuits.

 

Our Association has its share of folks who dominate the console some with their Lefebure Wely books of trash, and others with their lengthy Franck Chorales. The basic ground rule was that we are not here to comment on people's playing abilities, and that if criticism should ever arise, that would be the time to close shop. We also had a strict "chucking out" policy -- the meeting was declared over by 9.30pm and people left promptly, in order that people such as keyholders would not be kept waiting around.

 

It was good in the early days, but it seems that the group has run out of steam and now finds itself in terminal decline. Is it worth soldiering on? Or is there any shame in recognising that all groups have their day, after which comes closure.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

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Perhaps there are certain basic rules to success, and I might be so bold as to suggest that the last thing you want is a "free for all" aproach of organ-crawls and open-console sessions.

 

A GOOD OA must tread a path which balances art/entertainment/companionship/support and education to varying degrees, because the young like to learn, the old like to be part of a group, the non-players want to be entertained and everyone likes to feel supported by their peers and fellow enthusiasts.

 

Far too often, the emphasis is on "things past" rather than "opportunities available" in the here and now.

 

For that reason, I would always try to avoid things which dwell on organ-history and organ-building, because that is a minority sub-group in any organisation.

 

It IS possible to entertain, amuse and educate at the same time, and lectures can be a good opportunity for that if you get the right speaker. I can recall being absolutely delighted with talks from a certain Frank Fowler, a certain Dr.Wylde, John Bertalot and, above all, from the prodigious talent as speaker/performer of the late Bill Davies.

 

Recitals are nice if they are good, but a batch of poor organists playing badly is not the most inspirational thing in the world, even if it does permit an opportunity for members to express themselves.

 

I reckon I could deliver a very interesting talk about Eastern European music and organs, which would fulfil the purposes of education, entertainment and history in equal measure, with a number of stunning sound-tracks available to hear.

 

Don't forget a Christmas Party....doing daft things and playing games.....this is so important to the social dimension. Quiz nights are also a good idea; especially if two OA's enter competing teams!

 

There are so many ways to improve the lot of OA's, but actually dragging them into the 21st century is quite a challenge in most cases.

 

I'm sure it can be done, but it does tend to ruffle the feathers of certain die-hard hacks who work themselves into ill-gotten positions of power and influence.

 

Good luck......but never say never again.

 

MM