BILLINGS — An internationally known concert organist is returning to Billings to perform at a historic downtown church, and organizers hope the performance inspires young musicians to explore the pipe organ.
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The concert Thursday evening at First Congregational Church on North 27th Street will showcase the largest pipe organ in Montana and raise money for student scholarships through the Yellowstone Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.
For many musicians, the pipe organ's sound is what draws them.
“I love that pipe organs are so immersive," said Nathan Sonnenschein, the church's historian. "It's very much live music, is that when you're in the space, it surrounds you, and you can really feel it."
That sound captivated Barbara Gulick when she was young.
“I've always been fascinated with the sound of the organ," said Gulick, a retired organist and member of the Yellowstone guild chapter. “I used to sneak into the church when the organist was practicing just to hear the sound, and I kept begging the organist for lessons.”
Gulick and other guild members have been trying to spark that same curiosity in a new generation of musicians.
The regional chapter, which includes members from Billings and Bozeman, has about a dozen members and works to promote pipe organ music and train new players. Gulick said the group is concerned about a shortage of organists as church attendance declines and fewer congregations employ full-time musicians.
"This is the phase that we are in right now, to develop some more new organists, especially young ones," said Gulick. "The organist has to lead with authority without drawing attention to herself, himself, so it takes a special skill development.”
The guild hopes Thursday’s concert will help do that. The performance will take place at the church, which was recently added to the National Register of Historic Places — the first church in Yellowstone County to receive the designation.
According to Sonnenschein, who also plays the organ, the building houses the largest pipe organ in Montana. It was originally installed in 1973 and expanded in 1982.
“We have this amazing organ, and we want to share it,” Sonnenschein said.
"We try to do what we can because we have this amazing organ we want to share," he said. "I think a lot of people see the pipes for a pipe organ, and then they also see the console, which is where the organist plays, but there's also all these other pieces that make it work ... It's certainly an investment."
For the concert, the guild invited concert organist Doug Cleveland, a Washington state native who has performed in all 50 states and around the world.
"In 2004, I played at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, which was a huge highlight of my life," said Cleveland. “It's really exciting to have such a diverse palette of sounds. It's a real symphony orchestra at my fingertips and for the feet."
Today, he serves as an organist at Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago, home to the city’s largest pipe organ. However, Cleveland's connection to Billings goes back decades.
In 1987, when the Yellowstone chapter hosted the Northwest Regional Convention of the American Guild of Organists at First United Methodist, Cleveland won the competition.
"It really helped a lot to launch my career because that's where I became kind of known," he said.
"It was his first competition," added Gulick. "It's taken a long time, but it's been fun to be with him again.”
Returning to Billings now feels like a full-circle moment. Cleveland said mentors and competitions played a major role in helping him develop as a musician, and he hopes this concert might inspire someone else to follow a similar path.
“I was very fortunate, and I was very lucky to win a couple competitions that really helped launch my career, and I'm very grateful for that, and to have elders that wrapped their arms around me and led me in the right direction," said Cleveland.
Proceeds for the concert will go toward the guild’s scholarship fund for high school students interested in studying the organ.
For Cleveland, the goal goes beyond a single performance.
"There aren't as many organ students because the church attendance has really dropped, and there aren't as many full-time jobs in churches, so we're trying to develop new ways for organists to be employed," he said. “I'm hoping that we'll have some folks that have never heard a pipe organ concert before and convert them to be lovers of the organ."
For Gulick and other guild members, even one inspired student would be a success.
“I hope that some youth and even adults might be inspired to play," said Gulick. "And I don't know, the spirit moves in mysterious ways, and I'm fully cognizant of that.”
