Boyd Jones

University Organist &
Price Professor of Organ 

B.M., Stetson University
M.M., M.M.A., D.M.A., Yale University

Professor Boyd Jones might not have the largest office on campus, but it may well have the highest ceiling.  While it’s not apparent from the first floor hallway in Presser—his door looks like any other—the door to his office opens onto stairs that lead down into his studio, a space especially constructed to accommodate an organ just over 13’ high.  It’s not the only instrument in the room:  there is a second organ, a harpsichord, and two clavichords.  Collectively, they fill much of the space; when played, they fill the space even more fully, with sounds that range from the most intimate to the most dynamic.

Like many organists, Boyd came to the organ through the church.  The splendor and magnificence of its sound made a powerful impact upon him.  But it wasn’t until he traveled to Stetson from Louisville, Kentucky, as a young man (to turn pages for organist James Good, his teacher in high school), and had the chance to hear and play the Beckerath Organ housed in Elizabeth Hall, that he came into contact with a truly extraordinary instrument:  “Stetson’s Beckerath Organ was the first world-class instrument I had ever touched; it was the first such organ acquired by a U.S. college or university.  When you touch the real thing, you can hear the difference:  it is what God meant organs to be.”  The experience turned out to be serendipitous indeed:  the trip turned into an unexpected audition for Boyd, as well, and he was accepted as a student in Stetson’s School of Music.  At Stetson, he studied organ with Paul Jenkins; later, at Yale, he studied organ with Charles Krigbaum and harpsichord with Richard Rephann. 

After Paul Jenkins retired, Boyd returned to Stetson as a member of the faculty.  At Stetson, he enjoys the “luxury” of being able to research the history of how the music was composed, to engage in scholarship that complements his work as a teacher and a performer.   Like other faculty in the Music School who work so intensively with students who share their passion for music in lessons and studio, Boyd comes to know his organ students extremely well:  “The relationship that develops over the course of four years with individual students is intense:   there is no doubt when they graduate that we’ll know each other for the rest of our lives.”

Recruiting students for the organ is different from other instruments:  there are no 7-year-old virtuosos of organ as there might be, say, of violin.  As Boyd explains, “You can’t come to the organ until you’re tall enough to reach the pedals, and you have to have access to an instrument, as it’s unlikely you’ll have one to practice on at home.”  Moreover, while recruiting involves assessing many different things, from innate ability to capacity for development to the ability to read music, recruiting for the organ is also about assessing an ability to improvise when faced with the unexpected.  (Organists may find, for instance, in a church service, that they need to fill time.)  Working to develop a student’s capability as a musician involves illustration, imitation, much practice, and developing ways of talking about sound and technique that a student can understand.

In addition to his responsibilities as a teacher and university organist at Stetson, Boyd performs extensively throughout the U.S. on both organ and harpsichord.  He has also performed internationally in such places as Bulgaria and Japan.  (In Japan, the organ is not a church instrument, as it is in this country, but housed in every major concert hall.)  He has won national and international organ competitions; he has recorded for Arkay Records and is represented by WindWerk Artists.  Yet, he cares equally about what he calls the “smaller punctuating moments”— for him, the joy of performing isn’t about the size of the audience or the prestige of the venue.  Indeed, Boyd welcomes every opportunity to share the “pleasure, bliss, and ecstasy” of music with others. 

Like most musicians, Dr. Jones lives and breathes music:  it is, he says, “my whole life,” and then adds with a chuckle, “the instruments I have at home are worth more than the house itself.” 

In November, Stetson celebrated the 50^th anniversary of the Beckerath Organ that so impressed Boyd as a young man.  Stetson’s Beckerath includes 2700 pipes, ranging from 18 feet in length to the size of a pencil. It marked a revolutionary departure from generally accepted norms in American organ building at the time it was built (1961), and it influenced a re-birth of classic organ design in this country.   Originally housed in a Bauhaus style, minimalist case, in 1992 a new case was built to complement the traditional look of the chapel.  The celebration began, appropriately, with the world premiere of “Organmusic,” written by Sydney Hodkinson and performed by Boyd Jones.

Karen Kaivola, December 2011

“Stetson’s Beckerath Organ was the first world-class instrument I had ever touched; it was the first such organ acquired by a U.S. college or university.  When you touch the real thing, you can hear the difference:  it is what God meant organs to be.”