In July, Gen spent a week in the Netherlands playing the centuries-old organs that inspired our own. Read her reflections below!
Most people conjure images of tulips, bicycles, and windmills when they think of the Netherlands. My experience instead focused on historic organs and composers from the 16th and 17th centuries.
Each summer, the Noordbroek Organ Academy offers a small group of student and professional organists an opportunity to be immersed in the world of the 16th and 17th century North German Organ School. This school of organists, composers, and organ builders began with Dutch master Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562-1621) and continued to be cultivated throughout northern Germany and the Netherlands with Sweelinck’s students and following generations through the work of Dieterich Buxtehude (1637-1707). The instruments built during the time of the North German Organ School, many of them by the well known builder Arp Schnitger, have had a lasting and profound influence on organ design and construction, as well as shaping how composers were writing for the organ.
Here at Trinity Church, we experience this influence weekly. Taylor & Boody Organbuilders construct their instruments using historic organ building practices from the North German Organ School. This is why the large instrument housed in the gallery has the appearance of an old organ, when it is actually a mere twenty-six years old. The design of the case, fully mechanical action with wooden trackers, disposition of stops, temperament, and even the names of the stops are those that could easily be found on a three hundred-year old organ in the countryside of the Netherlands.
This connection is what inspired our former Assistant Organist Joel VanderZee and me to attend Noordbroek Organ Academy in July of this year. The opportunity to study historic music on period instruments, some of which may have been played by the composers themselves, was humbling and incredibly enlightening. During the weeklong academy, we joined six other organists from South Korea, China, and the US, for a series of lectures, masterclasses, private lessons, recitals, and individual practice time on numerous instruments throughout the province of Groningen, in the Netherlands.
Students were asked to come prepared with several pieces from the North German Organ School, which includes composers Weckmann, Tunder, Sweelinck, Scheidt, Scheidemann, Buxtehude, Bruhns and Böhm. Stylistic elements indicative of this period are chorale fantasias (elaborate, highly adorned pieces based on chorale or hymn tunes); independent pedal solos, written to utilize the new and full pedal keyboard designed by Arp Schnitger and played with the feet; and the free and exciting Stylus Phantasticus sections, best known in the music of Buxtehude.
Home base for study was at Der Aa-Kerk, located in the heart of the city of Groningen. As one of the most important remaining medieval buildings, Der Aa-Kerk towers over the cobblestoned open market area below and houses a well-known Schnitger organ that has drawn the attention of organists from around the world.
After a daily lecture and masterclass at the Aa-Kerk, we divided into groups and spent the afternoons on various historic instruments throughout the countryside in the Netherlands and northern Germany, many in their original condition. Evenings were spent at another church either practicing or attending a recital.
One of my own goals in attending NOA was to gain deeper insight into the music of the North German School – specifically regarding performance practice, sound, touch, and stylistic elements that I could directly apply to the Taylor & Boody organs at Trinity. I am pleased to report that the experience far exceeded my expectations, significantly deepening my overall understanding of the organ itself. I was vividly reminded of how fortunate our parish family is to have instruments of such fine craftsmanship and scholarship. In fact, with the exception of a doctoral student from the Eastman School of Music in NY, I was the only participant in attendance with regular access to a superb mechanical action organ! I am deeply grateful to the church for supporting my study leave and providing partial funding to attend NOA, and I look forward to using these insights to enrich the music ministry at Trinity.
— Virginia Bolena
October 1, 2026
A windmill for good measure!
