In selecting someone to play its massive organ, the First Presbyterian Church of Skaneateles looked only a small distance away.

Karen A. Hindenlang, of Aurora, was chosen from 10 worldwide applicants as the church's new organist. The national search included advertisements in the American Guild of Organists' magazine, where the opening was noticed by Hindenlang's husband, Wells College professor Crawford Thoburn.

Given the rarity of local churches advertising in the magazine, Hindenlang said, her interest in the position was piqued. She was also familiar with the church's pipe organ, which Casavant of Canada built in 2003 with three manual keyboards, a full pedal board and 40 ranks of pipes.

“The display pipes on the facade are gold things that look like trees going to the ceiling,” Hindenlang said. “But behind that are thousands more pipes, some as small as my pinky.”

The Sunday after last Christmas, Hindenlang journeyed to the Skaneateles church to attend its service. Liking what she found, she submitted her application after some thought and prayer, she said. Along with four finalists in the search, Hindenlang auditioned before the Rev. Craig Lindsey, pastor of First Presbyterian Church.

“She is a very talented, very accomplished musician - and also local, which made it much easier for her and us,” Lindsey said. “Her experience and her ability to play for an entire congregation was critical.”

After her hiring, Hindenlang immediately seated herself behind the church's organ and spent several hours mastering its musical possibilities. Using both hands and both feet, she can perform five-part counterpoint compositions. Outside of an organ, this melodic depth is attainable only with a full symphony orchestra, Hindenlang said.

“With 40 ranks, there are infinite mathematical multiples of what can be done on this instrument,” she said.

Behind the organ, Hindenlang sees her purpose as encouraging and supporting the congregation's singing. At Easter - when the pews overflowed with people and folding chairs seated many worshipers in the rear of the church - she increased the volume of her playing in response to the loudness of the choral voices. As a result, she said, they “blew the roof off.”

But Hindenlang has taken care not to play the organ in too overwhelming a fashion since starting her new position about two months ago.

“It can be overpowering,” Lindsey said. “But she's been very attentive to the number of people in the sanctuary at the time and to the age of the listeners.”

Hindenlang started playing the pipe organ at the age of 12, when the East Moriches Methodist Church offered her its organist position. She had previously played only piano for eight years. At the age of 4, she played by ear the lines her older brothers were learning in lessons. By her early teens, she was accompanying the school choir in performances.

It was at one of these performances that the church staff heard Hindenlang and made their offer. A baptized Presbyterian, Hindenlang merely crossed the street in her small Long Island town to play at the Methodist church.

Hindenlang's education on her new instrument was an important part of the package. A pipe organ is played very differently from a piano, Hindenlang said, particularly when it comes to the role of the feet. Because the footwork is so significant, the pipe organ can rarely be learned by anyone younger than 11 or 12 years old - when their feet can reach the pedals. From there, linking the feet to the fingers can consume years of practice.

“It takes a good year to play with your hands and feet together,” she said. “Then to get to the part where you can sight-read music with your feet takes several years.”

This lengthy learning process often discourages impatient students of the pipe organ, Hindenlang said, who has taken on several pupils while continuing to master the instrument herself.

After high school, her music scholarship took her to Wells College, Cornell University and the Eastman School of Music, where she received her graduate degree.

On the organ, Hindenlang has played alongside choirs in New York City and the Leipzig International Choral Festival. Such performances have placed at her fingertips more sophisticated organs than the instruments she has played regularly at Trinity Episcopal Church in Geneva and United Ministry of Aurora.

At First Presbyterian Church in Skaneateles, she enjoys both the sophistication and the regularity.

“This is by far the finest instrument I've ever had - and would ever hope to have - on a weekly basis,” she said. “This one works really well for me.”

On the Net

For more information: Visit www.skaneatelespresbyterian.org