Juno

I'm not looking to major in music, I am in fact about to start applications for graduate school in literature, but that's beside the point. I'm posting here because I thought the people around here would be most likely to have the answer to my question.

I'm an organ scholar at my university here in the UK - basically it means that I accompany the chapel choir, have a lot of input into chapel music, do some choral directing but mostly, try to get better at the organ!!! If I were to stay in the UK for my PhD, I could continue in such an arrangement as an organ scholar, either here or at one of the other older UK universities which have chapels and organs and suchlike. Such universities have a strong tradition of sacred music and lots of opportunities for organists and choral singers like me. I enjoy this sort of music, I'm good at it, and I like the fact that as a singer and organist I actually contribute to the university in a significant way (rather than hiding out in a practise room playing Brahms rhapsodies, delightful as that is ...)

HOWEVER, for academic reasons, I would very much like to do my PhD in the US, and my research comes before my musical commitments. However, I was wondering if there's anything like this sort of tradition in American universities, and if organ scholarships are given to students in the same way that they are over here at Oxford/Cambridge etc.

(If anyone is confused about what being an organ scholar involves, I'd be happy to clarify further..)

thumper1

My kids were members of a children's choir which had an organ scholar from Yale for several years. You might want to contact Yale and see what their program has to offer you.

binx

Organists are few and far between here - every one that I have known has their pick of jobs. Churches are desperate.

musicianmom

You should check out the metro area you are interested in before taking Binx's comments to heart.

I have a number of church musician organist friends - Anglican and RC traditions primarily, some Lutheran. (They aren't all of those persuasions, but respect and know the traditions and have had jobs within those denominations.) In my observations, certain cities do have a handful of jobs that would pay (generally a single) person enough to live on - barely, sort of - but the jobs are quite competitive. I know organists at the top of their fields who have been lucky to get jobs in Boston and Chicago. There were many applicants for the positions they managed to land. Most of the others I know are married with a working spouse and the organist is not the primary bread winner.

Does AGMA have some kind of union paper that lists openings? That might be a spot to research typical opportunities. Good luck!

BassDad

The American Guild of Organists has a website at American Guild of Organists that lists job openings throughout the country. It also has a list of colleges with organ teachers, although many of these might give first preference for scholarship money to someone majoring in music.

Organists seem to be a little more common in this part of the country than they are in Georgia. Finding a position that pays a full-time living wage is pretty much impossible, it is expected that most organists will have other employment.

neumes

And I think the RSCM (Royal School of Church Music) has American listings; may have to join--I'm guessing you know about this. Also ChoralNet.org.

From my limited perspective (Northeast, fairly close to NYC), there are lots of organists vying for jobs--graduates from or in some cases graduate students at Eastman, NEC, Juilliard, Yale; even UK grads)--but as a woman you might be in higher demand, esp. if you are good with kids. Good luck!

Hunt

At some churches the organist and choir director are the same person--it seems like you might have the qualifications for such a position.

musicianmom

Thank you BassDad. Too many unions/professional organizations....

Lorelei will quite properly take me to task for referring an organist to AGMA rather than AGO.

binx

Sorry - didn't mean to imply living wage. The friends I know have all been hired part-time. I was thinking the OP wanted to know chances of getting work; not necessarily careers.