Lynn man comes in second place at national organist competition

LYNN – Washington Street Baptist Church organist Samuel Nelson brought home second place in the prestigious Albert Schweitzer Organ Festival National Competition for Young Organists, which he said was better than last time.”I didn’t even place,” he said.However, he also said, without a hint of ego, that he thought he deserved first. Nelson said he heard his competitors when they were each invited to play a piece in church the day after the competition in Wethersfield, Conn. last month.”Honestly, I thought I was better,” he said.Nelson said he believes he lost because he has a problem with note accuracy. But while the winner played 100 percent correct notes, Nelson said he felt he played with more passion.”But I understand,” he added. “How can you measure excitement?”But that excitement is a tribute to his talent.Nelson, 24, has been playing the organ in the church where he grew up since he was 14. His father, the Rev. Eric Nelson, has served as pastor at the same church for nearly 30 years.”When the organist left I was in the eighth grade and I’d been taking piano lessons since I was 7,” he said. “My dad thought maybe he’d just get me a few organ lessons and just slide me in.”The biggest adjustment he faced in switching from piano to organ, Nelson said, is that there is a bit of lag time between when he plays the notes and the time it takes for the choir to hear the music. He found that if he listened to the choir, his tempo would drag.”So when I first started out my mom would sit next to me on the bench and she would sing in my ear to keep me on tempo,” he said.Now he plays on his own.At 6 feet 5 inches tall, Nelson folded himself behind a bank of three keyboards housed in a console the size of small upright piano but not as tall. But the Moller organ, circa 1930, is also connected to a bank of pipes that stretch the entire breadth of the altar.In preparation to play, Nelson slipped off his Nike sneakers and into a pair of black shoes with suede soles. He said they allow his feet to slide over the pedals. For the competition, Nelson said he played three pieces, “Trio Sonata No. 6 in G major” by Johann Sebastian Bach, “Prelude for Fugue in G minor by Marcel Dupre and “Chorale No. 3 in A minor” by Cesar Franck and two hymns.Watch a vide of Sam playing”I did it all from memory except for the hymns, which is a first for me,” Nelson said. “It was nervewracking, because I have trouble keeping focus while I play and this forced me to keep focus.”Focus doesn’t seem to be a problem for the Gordon College graduate. Aside from playing the organ at Washington Street Baptist, he also teaches piano to about a dozen students on the North Shore and accompanies the choirs at Lexington Christian Academy, where he attended high school.Nelson considers himself very fortunate. He said he fell into the job of organist but it turned out to be fun and he gets to play music everyday.In his spare time he plays in the rock cover band Somerset.”It makes it hard to get up for church on Sunday when I’ve been gigging until 2 a.m. the night before,” he joked.Of course, if you want to judge for yourself, Sunday worship is at 10:45 a.m.Chris Stevens can be reached at [email protected].