June 25, 2008
About 20 young organists-to-be took crayons in hand as part of a recent "just for fun" contest sponsored by T.S. Good Church Organ Company at Trinity Lutheran Church in Jenera, Ohio.
After coloring in a console to show their knowledge of its basic elements, the children enjoyed a chance to play the church's new Rodgers Trillium Masterpiece Series three-manual organ. Terry Brassell of T.S. Good Church Organ Company, an accomplished organist as well as an organ designer, said it was hard to tell who enjoyed the performances the most - the children or those who proudly watched them take their first turns on the bench.
"It's wonderful to see how fascinated kids are when they get a chance to make music with such an amazing instrument," Mr. Brassell said. "We hope this is the beginning of a lifelong interest in the ‘King of Instruments' for many of these great young people."
In addition to using crayons to identify the keyboards, pedals, music desk, stops and pipes, the children solved a word search puzzle with hidden bits of organ terminology. Following the judging, the day wrapped up with a pizza lunch for the entire class of winning students, courtesy of T.S. Good.
Mr. Brassell noted that the event grew out of the enthusiasm of two students from the church who attended the International Music Camp in North Dakota, where Rodgers sponsors the annual summer Organ Week program. John Inniger and Marcus Henning attended the camp when they were both 12 years old. On their return home, they were asked to play a small concert hosted by the church. Then staff members of the church school asked Mr. Brassell to put together a program of his own with younger students. "It was great fun and I am confident that there are a number of future organists (and Rodgers fans) among the group," he said.
