Sorry we are closed…

Sorry we are closed…

It is a sad situation, but with more and more organ clubs closing we really start to wonder if the formula of the traditional organ club needs to change. Go back to the 1970’s when the organ was having its hey day, clubs were being run and operated by an age group of people in their 30’s, 40’s upwards. Most organ clubs now have members mainly of the age group 55+ and many are struggling to inject new blood and enthusiasm.

Is this because organ clubs are too set in their ways, is it because interest in the hobby is no longer interesting to children, or is it because artists keep playing the same music and don’t vary their programme to accommodate a younger audience?
We have been recently conducting our own survey amongst young people who are learning to play keyboard and asked what they thought about the organ.

Here are just a few comments:

“The organ is something you play in church”
“My gran has an organ”

These comments show us that a young persons (age group 9-12) view does not hold the organ as something to aspire to. Is this down to the way the instrument is marketed by manufacturers, or is this down to the way that organ clubs convey themselves to a younger audience.

This is a very heated subject and to be honest, we don’t think there is a magic solution, but would like to see if there is some way of getting younger people to want at least to play an organ as a step up from the keyboard.

Is there a way we can keep organ clubs and the hobby alive? are we wasting our time trying to attract more childen and is there really a future for the organ? Tell us what you think the answer is below.