OHS | Convention | Biggs Fellowship



E. Power Biggs at the Flentrop Organ Adolphus Busch Hall Harvard, University

Deadline
February 28 each year of an
OHS National Convention

Join NOW!
Apply for the E. Power Biggs Fellowship!

In 1978 a small group of concerned members of the Organ Historical Society breathed life into an idea. Why not set up a scholarship or program enabling students to attend the now well-established annual conventions of the Society? With a few seed gifts, the E. Power Biggs Fellowship was born. The National Council at the time had two members who had become interested in the Society after being brought to a convention by friends.

How fitting to establish a Fellowship honoring one of the 20th Century’s most notable advocates for a re-examination and understanding of the historic pipe organ? At a time when the great concern of the industry was for survival, few knew what impact the “new electronic organs” would have on the pipe organ in general, and, more broadly, the organ as a modern instrument, Biggs was recording 300-year-old organs in Europe that most people had never heard. Americans in particular had virtually never been exposed to such sounds!

The goal is simple: A Fellowship is awarded to a deserving candidate to cover the cost of convention registration (including food), travel and hotel costs and member ship for two years in the OHS. After experiencing a week-long exposure to 35 or so pipe organs of various periods, we hope that we capture the interest of an individual, that they will become future advocates for the survival of the pipe organ and remain active members. The retention rate has been enormous (about 70%!) and the Biggs Fellowship has produced numerous National Officers and Councilors.

Since those early days, through regular annual giving and with a substantial bequest from Mrs. Margaret Biggs, the Biggs Fellowship Fund has grown into a small endowment, producing enough proceeds to allow varying numbers of persons to be annually awarded expense-free attendance at National OHS Conventions, enabling the program to reach beyond the original pool of “students”. Tastes in pipe organs and musical styles fluctuate, changing and evolving over the years, but the basic tenets are the same. Interest in the pipe organ as a musical instrument and a variety of styles of organ building broaden perspectives of recipients.

2008 E Power Biggs Fellows

Adam Gruber		Demetri Sampas

Laura Trotta		Bernadette Wagner

There is no age limit. Biggs Fellows have been as young as 12 and as old as grandparents. The prerequisite is simple and direct, in retaining the spirit of the founders of the Fund: applicants aged 23 or older cannot have previously attended an annual convention of the Organ Historical Society. The initial and primary intent of the Fellowship is to introduce people to the Society [and often the pipe organ] through its conventions. This modified restriction encourages students and other interested young people to apply for a Fellowship.

Below is a link to a short questionnaire (PDF file or Microsoft Word form) which you can download from this page and mail to the OHS at the below address. We ask that you obtain the nomination of a member of the OHS as endorsement. [If you do not personally know a member, you can contact me at the address below, and I will facilitate your application.]

We encourage you to explore the OHS. We are much more than the best source of pipe organ recordings in the world! If you are already a member, why not nominate someone for a Fellowship today?

Paul R. Marchesano
(OHS Councillor for Education, 1999-2007)

Deadline:
February 28 each year of an OHS National Convention

Submit application to:

Dr Derek Nickels, Chair

denickels@holycomforter.org

				E. Power Biggs Fellowship Application Form in Word and PDF formats
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