Reviving sacred music through organ scholarship program

A few years ago, Jennifer Sammons shared her daughter Mary's lifelong dream with Lillian Bielinski, a talented musician who gives music lessons throughout our diocese.
           
“I told her that Mary had always wanted to play the organ,” Jennifer said. “Soon after that, she and Fr. Nick Schneider decided to implement the organ scholarship program.”
           
The program helps prepare young people to bring the marvelous gift of sacred music more fully into the life of the Church.
 
 “Very simply put, the organ scholarship provides the gift of lessons to those keyboard musicians interested in learning the art and role of a liturgical organist,” Lillian said. “During the lessons, we work on the basics of organ technique, hymn playing, improvisation and classical repertoire. In addition to receiving regular lessons, each summer around 10 to 15 students enjoy a week-long series of masterclasses with Dr. Beverly Everett, which culminate in an organ recital.”
 
Dr. Everett is the Music Director of the Bismarck-Mandan Symphony Orchestra.
 
Using God-given talents
 
Students like Mary continue to experience beautiful blessings in their lives because of the organ scholarship program.
 
“It has helped her blossom in her faith,” Jennifer said. “She looks forward to spending time in church while she practices. It is her way of adoring God. She loves to play for God—He is the one she plays for.”
           
Mary currently plays the organ for St. Joseph's Parish in Mandan on one or two Sundays per month. She savors the opportunity to contribute to the reverence of Holy Mass by using the gift that God has given to her.
           
“The organ is my favorite instrument, and I feel it adds a lot to the Mass,” Mary said. “I have always felt connected to other Catholic musicians who played the organ throughout history. My favorite composer is Bach, and it is a great feeling to know that I am playing the same music that he played 500 years ago. From a very young age, Bach dedicated his music to the greater glory of God. Every composition he wrote, he wrote in the Name of God. He was very determined to give glory to God through his music.”
           
Ultimately, God's generosity knows no bounds. What has been a tremendous blessing to Mary and her fellow students, has been a blessing to those around them as well.
           
“Our whole family has learned about the treasury of sacred music in the Church by watching Mary play, discover and learn,” Jennifer said. “It has had great spiritual benefits for all of us. When I take Mary to St. Joseph's to practice, I often bring the younger kids with me. We have quiet prayer time, and read about the Mass or saints. They bring their sketch books and draw a stained-glass window, a design on the ceiling, or a hanging light fixture... all the while hearing the sacred music Mary plays. It’s time to just be in God’s house that we never would have thought to carve out otherwise.”
           
Offering organ scholarship
 
Lillian was first inspired to bring the organ scholarship program to our diocese because she wanted to make a return unto God for the blessings she received.
           
“As a young person, I received organ training through a scholarship program in the Kansas City Diocese,” Lillian said. “Those organ lessons had a huge, positive impact on my life, opening up a world of sacred music to me. I wanted to bring that same kind of opportunity to the young people of the Diocese of Bismarck.”
           
Looking forward, Lillian holds high hopes for what the new program will bring to our diocese, to our blooming young musicians, and to all who worship God faithfully in our churches.
           
“The students involved in the program have already begun playing regularly for Masses in the Bismarck/Mandan area parishes,” she said. “I hope that the students' careful preparation and service playing on the organ will elevate the culture of music present in our parishes, and encourage robust congregational singing for Holy Mass. Since the pipe organ is an instrument uniquely suited to use in the liturgy, it provides a renewed sense of sacredness and beauty in our communal worship. I hope the program continues to grow and we are able to reach more parishes throughout the diocese. Its overall goal is to encourage a new generation of liturgical musicians to make use of 'The King of Instruments' for the worship of Our King.”
           
By taking advantage of this unique opportunity, our young musicians will discover just a little more about their Catholic faith.
           
“Playing the organ is a beautiful art form and an important part of our Catholic heritage,” Lillian said. “It challenges young people to dedicate their best efforts for the liturgy because they have to practice for many hours. It also involves them intimately with the prayers and participation during Mass, and familiarizes them with great composers of sacred music. The Catholic Church has historically been the patron of composers and organ masters, from Palestrina to Mozart to Faure, and the Bismarck organ scholarship program is a modern continuation of that support for young artists.”
           
Father Nick Schneider, Director of the Office of Worship for the diocese, has witnessed the profound impact that the scholarship program has had on our diocese so far, and the way in which it has brought sacred music to life in our midst.
 
“There is this rich tradition of organ music in the Church,” he said. “Tradition sometimes earns the misinterpretation of 'holding on.' If we just hold on to something, it goes nowhere, and becomes stagnant. Rather, the word tradition literally means 'handing on.' It’s not about keeping something, but sharing it and allowing it to grow and develop.”
           
He has also seen how enriching it has been for the talented young people among us as well.
           
“Young people enjoy new challenges, especially purposeful challenges,” Fr. Schneider said. “They benefit from playing music, learning music theory, and connecting more deeply with the Church and Her mysteries. The people of God also benefit because they can enjoy beautiful organ music at Mass. Finally, the Church benefits. Many parishes have these tremendous instruments that really incorporate the entire building as a resonant chamber. Having them alive and used is a benefit. We are truly handing on an ancient practice to the young and keeping a tradition alive.”
           
Further, implementing organ music at Holy Mass enhances the voices God has given to those who seek to worship Him with their whole hearts, minds and souls. 
           
“The organ is the recommended instrument in the Catholic Church for a reason,” Fr. Schneider explained. “It supports and sustains the human voice naturally. In fact, many of the pipes are designed specifically either to mimic or to uphold the voice.”
           
In fact, even recent Church documents reaffirm the long-cherished, vital tradition of using the organ during the Holy Sacrifice of Mass, and even speak of it as essential.
           
According to Sacrosanctum Concilium, a document of the Second Vatican Council released in 1963, “The pipe organ is to be held in high esteem in the Latin Church, for it is the traditional musical instrument, the sound of which can add a wonderful splendor to the Church’s ceremonies and powerfully lifts up people’s minds to God and to higher things.” Furthermore, the General Instruction of Roman Missal (no. 393) expresses, “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.'”