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No plumber needed
These pipes are for celestial sound
Friday, Dec. 26, 2008
 Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo
by GARY SMITH
Benn Morgan poses with the business end of the pipe organ he installed in his Charlotte Hall home.
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Beethoven had a birthday party at Benn's house this year, just like every year.
"Beethoven was born on Dec. 16, so I invite all my friends to come over on the 20th," Benn Morgan, a local musician, performer and music instructor, said. "Usually I have between 80 and 100 people show up, but I never know who will be there. We sing ‘Happy Birthday' to Beethoven around 9 p.m., and we always have people who play instruments and sing, and then we do some holiday carols."
Morgan, who lives in Charlotte Hall, said he needs to ‘red-up' for the party and start getting prepared.
"Have you heard the term ‘red-up' before?" Morgan asked. "My mother in West Virginia used to always say that when she wanted to put things in order. I guess that was her way of saying getting ready."
Morgan, who was born in West Virginia, started taking piano lessons when he was 10.
"My dad was musical, and he sang in the church choir," Morgan said. "My mother didn't have any formal instruction, but she knew when I played something wrong."
Morgan graduated from West Virginia University with a master's degree in music education and began looking for a job.
He taught high school music in West Virginia for three years and then decided it was time to leave home.
After a road trip to California with his family, in which they slowly meandered back and forth across the country seeing anything and everything that looked interesting, Morgan checked for music teacher openings back at the local college bulletin board.
"There were about 10 jobs I thought were interesting," Morgan said. "So I sent them postcards to see if they were interested in hiring me."
Morgan heard back from someone in a place called St. Mary's County.
"I told them I didn't remember sending them a card, and they said that they hadn't, but they heard I was looking for a job," Morgan said. "I decided to teach at Margaret Brent Middle School in Helen for one year, kind of like on my way to Florida. I must have liked it really well, because I am still here 50 years later."
"It's become home," Morgan said.
After retiring from teaching in the schools, Morgan took a year off to explore the possibility of doing the job as a musical director at a church in the Washington, D.C., area, but decided the hustle and bustle of driving to the District every day wasn't for him. Morgan did play a recital at the National Cathedral during that time, which is a great honor for an organ player and something most organists can only dream about.
"I guess being the music director of small growing churches has always been my lot," Morgan said.
Morgan is the music director for Old Durham Church in Nanjemoy.
"I remember Father MacDonald interviewed me for the job at Casey Jones Restaurant in La Plata, and I just liked what I heard from him," Morgan said.
The Rev. David MacDonald, rector at Christ Church in Nanjemoy, better known as Old Durham Church, enjoys working with Morgan.
"Benn is a wonderful, artistic composer and choral director," MacDonald said. "He is home-grown, and right here from Southern Maryland."
Alicia Cordelle, who is the director of the Friendship Landing Center for the Arts, also enjoys and appreciates the contributions Morgan makes to her program.
"Benn has a real gift for working with children and the choir," Cordelle said. "Benn enables everyone to strive for and achieve their personal best."
Morgan lives in a house with 10-foot ceilings and a very large open foyer to accommodate the eight rank pipe organ which used to reside in a church in La Plata.
"The Christ Church in La Plata was getting rid of its old organ, and I had heard nothing good about it," Morgan said. "I heard the people were coming to take it away, because they were bringing the new one in the next day. I played it, and I thought it had great possibilities."
The organ was delivered to his home, and Morgan and the installers spent time putting it back together.
"I did add some ranks of pipes to it," Morgan said, which made the organ even larger. Some of the pipes, of which there are hundreds, are around eight feet tall, and the smallest are the size of a pencil, and Morgan has added a feature through which he can emulate the sound of the electric organ with his pipe organ.
Morgan also has a Steinway grand piano in his living room.
"I always wanted one of those, and I was able to get a really good deal on one," Morgan said.
Another project Morgan was involved in was being in on the start-up of the St. Mary's Boy Choir.
"It was a wonderful thing for the county," Morgan said. "We traveled up and down the Northeast giving concerts. It was interesting just working with ordinary boys from St. Mary's County. Several of those boys came from very poor families, so this opportunity was amazing for them. I run into some of them sometimes, and they tell me they remember it as a wonderful experience for themselves."
Morgan also does weddings and funerals and plays church services as needed for other area churches.
"I heard a friend say that they charge $100 to play at a normal wedding, but $500 to play at a wedding where the mother-in-law is there," Morgan said. "So you know where most of the questions come from. I do play a lot of weddings, and I find it is usually very easy to work with people."
jnazdin@somdnews.com
