Karen Black
Rudi Inselmann Endowed Professor or Organ
Wartburg College
Waverly, Iowa
Wartburg College is located in northeastern Iowa in the small city of Waverly, population approximately 10,000. The college is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), although the student body is comprised of many faiths, and all are welcome. Currently there are about 1450 students, and about 140 music majors. Within the music department, the largest areas are music education and music therapy. Wartburg offers BM degrees in Performance and Music Therapy, a BME degree, and a BA degree. Students with organ as a primary instrument can pursue the BM in performance or a BA in Music with a Church Music Concentration.
The college is fortunate to have excellent organs for practice and performance. There are six organs on campus:
The Wartburg Chapel, built in 1994, houses a 1996 Dobson (mechanical key action/electric stop action; 2 manual and pedal; 22 stops/32ranks). The Chapel seats approximately 400 and has an outstanding acoustic for the organ. It is the primary organ teaching and performance venue. Brief Chapel services are held here three times per week. Part of my responsibilities including helping plan and play for these services. Students perform preludes, hymns, or postludes occasionally as well. The choirs (there are 5 choirs, and additional student-led choral groups) also perform in the Chapel, and so this organ is used for choral accompaniment as well.
There is also an organ in the 1400 seat Neumann Auditorium, a 1967 Schlicker (electro-pneumatic action; 3 manual and pedal; 53 stops/55 ranks). This is used for our annual Christmas with Wartburg concerts, which typically sells out for the three performances held here. This hall previously was used for Chapel services, and still hosts a Homecoming Festival worship service and other large campus events for which the organ is sometimes used.
A smaller recital hall (Orchestra Hall) houses another Schlicker (electro-pneumatic action; 3 manual and pedal; 18 stops/19 ranks). Before the Chapel was built, this was the primary teaching instrument. It is now mostly used for practice or accompaniment for instrumental and vocal student recitals which are held here.
There are three additional instruments in organ practice rooms: a Reuter and Schlicker (both 2 manual) and a 1 manual Zimmer, mechanical key and stop action.
There are currently 8 students in the organ studio. As with most years, the students range from beginners to 1or 2 organ majors. Some are just interested in learning the instrument as a minor applied area, and some plan to play for churches after graduation. The Church Music concentration, as a BA degree, allows for the possibility of a double major. A student organ major this year is double majoring in business, for instance. I am happy to teach them all, as sometimes the non-organ majors are excellent and dedicated, and there is such a great need. In my rural area, I get many requests from churches looking for students to fill organ positions, and I don’t have enough students to fill those requests.
I am fortunate to have been here when the Rudi Inselmann Organ Endowment was established. Rudi was a Wartburg alum, and very interested in helping to encourage students to pursue organ studies. The endowment provides a significant scholarship and has allowed for a few initiatives over the past approximately 15 years. In 2011, the Bach’s Lunch Organ Series began. These are noon hour recitals held six times per year. Organists come mostly from the Midwest region, and I am able to pay a small honorarium to performers. The local AGO Chapter sometimes hosts one as a member’s recital, and the final recital of the year is always presented by the Wartburg organ students. The series has a quite loyal following among local community members in addition to students. The endowment also helps fund other organ recitals, such as a concert by Damin Sprizter this past September. Other initiatives supported by the endowment were a POE held at Wartburg in 2016, and a CD I recorded in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Dobson organ in 2022.
This year marks my 32nd year teaching at Wartburg, and I feel fortunate to be in a place that continues to support organs and organists. Former students have gone on to do many things: become church music directors, pursue advanced degrees in organ, followed by full-time church work, jobs in publishing and editing, teaching, and seminary studies. It is rewarding to watch as students continue to grow and develop as musicians and professionals after they have graduated!
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