A Sacred Sound May Fall Silent

Changes in musical tastes have also contributed to the shortage, officials said. Many churches have modernized their services to include music based on rhythm and blues, rock and other forms driven by electronic keyboard, drums and guitar instead of the traditional compositions of Johann Sebastian Bach.

"There are now ensembles, rock bands and electric canned music, as opposed to a real person playing a breathing instrument," said Fassler, of the Yale institute. "Many organs are going unused. It's a great tragedy to think of these magnificent organs being sold off because of a lack of interest."

Musicians said the biggest problem is financial.

"The pay is very minimal," said Douglas Paul Forbes, 53, organist and choir master at Baltimore's Memorial Episcopal Church. "The hours and the dedication it takes make many people unable to afford it. I don't know any organists, unless they are at very well-endowed parishes, who don't supplement their salaries. Then that means two jobs and a six-day workweek."

The American Guild of Organists, a professional organization serving more than 21,000 organ and choral musicians in the United States and abroad, recommends a base salary of about $47,000 to $63,000 for full-time organists holding doctorates; $42,000 to $56,000 for those with master's degrees; and $25,000 to $35,000 for half-time musicians with doctorates. But many churches do not follow those guidelines.

Despite the declining numbers, authorities said there are reasons to be optimistic that the trend will reverse. Programs to introduce children to the organ, such as the guild's week-long Pipe Organ Encounters, were filled to capacity in every city where they were offered in recent years, said James Thomashower, the guild's executive director.

And while some college organ programs are closing, others are starting. Renowned organist Gerre Hancock, who directed the organ program at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in New York City until he retired recently, and his wife, Judith, also a respected organist, plan to start a master's degree program in organ at the University of Texas at Austin.

Two seminaries on the campus of Northwestern University are working to develop master's programs in sacred music, said Christine Marshall Kraemer, who was a lecturer in Northwestern's now-defunct organ program.

"The organ is a fascinating instrument, an incredible machine," Kraemer said. "It seems like the organ has a connection with the church that cannot be denied and that must be preserved."

Gerri Marmer provided research assistance for this report.