Campus Currents

Future Pastor Awarded National Fellowship

If you ask recent Walla Walla College graduate Lindsey Henriksen how she became interested in studying the organ, she can’t help but chuckle. “That was not at all what I was planning to do,” she says. “I was pre-med!”

Although she had never played the organ before going to college, Henriksen is now studying music at Yale University, thanks to a full-tuition scholarship she was awarded from the university.

When Henriksen was young, taking piano lessons was not considered optional. She remembers she had to get up early each morning to practice before catching the bus to school. As she got older, pursuing music became more and more her own choice, and she found she missed music if she didn’t practice. When she enrolled at Milo Adventist Academy she joined both band and choir and continued with her piano lessons.

Ultimately though, Henriksen knew that once she reached college she would study something very academic—something that would force her to work hard and require a lot of studying, perhaps history or medicine. Arriving at college, she realized that many different fields interested her and all held the possibility of rigorous study, intellectual challenge, and preparation for a successful career.

After visiting wwc during College Days, she spoke with some of the music professors and decided that she would continue to study piano in addition to her general classes. Kraig Scott, professor of music and noted organist, suggested on several occasions that Lindsey consider the organ, and she decided to take lessons in both piano and organ.
“At one point,” says Henriksen, “I was at Dr. Scott’s house and he introduced me to someone and said, ‘She doesn’t know it yet, but she will be an organ major.’”

She laughed at the time, but by her junior year, Henriksen had declared herself to be an organ major.

“There are a lot of factors that helped me make the decision,” says Henriksen. “The way one approaches an organ, just physically, is totally different from the piano. On the organ, force is completely unnecessary and inefficient, so it requires the player to have a very humble attitude. Also, most organs are in churches, so much of its literature is sacred. I know that daily practice in a sacred space has affected my spiritual walk in a very positive way. I look forward to the quiet moments when the church is still and I can listen to God speak through the music.”

Last spring Henriksen applied to five graduate schools around the country. The most rigorous audition process was at Yale University, where she played several pieces for the professors, answered organ trivia questions, and identified several random organ pipes and a facsimile of an original organ score.

After being accepted at each of the schools she applied to and offered various levels of scholarships, Henriksen decided to attend Yale University’s Institute of Sacred Music, where she will pursue a master of music degree, focusing on organ performance and literature.
“Lindsey has come a long way in the last four years,” says Scott. “She is very smart and very musical.”

Eventually Henriksen hopes to get a doctorate in musicology and teach at the college level.

“I really admire the way that the professors I’ve had at Walla Walla College relate to students, and I see the impact they can have on students,” says Henriksen. “Now that’s what I want to do.” W

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