June 29, 2021
Pipe Organ Encounter attracts 15 students from across the country
Fifteen young organists from Kansas and across the country converged on the campus of Kansas State University for a five-day summer camp, Pipe Organ Encounter, to study the organ June 21-26. David Pickering, professor of music, served as director of the event.
Seven faculty colleagues from Lawrence, Lindsborg, Manhattan, Kansas City, Wamego and Wichita joined Pickering as instructors, teaching seven one-hour organ lessons, presenting workshops and performing in two recitals. Pickering directed a field trip to Kansas City where students had the opportunity to play the pipe organs of Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral in Kansas City, Missouri; Village Presbyterian Church in Prairie Village; and William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri.
The week culminated in a final student recital on Saturday, June 26, on the Austin organ in All Faiths Chapel. The Pipe Organ Encounter program, an outreach program to introduce the organ to young organists, has been taking place for more than 30 years. It is sponsored by the American Guild of Organists.