Young Organist Performs At Ridgewood Church Destroyed By Fire

Isaac Drewes is a junior organ performance and music major at St. Olaf College in Minnesota. He is the resident Organ Scholar at St. Louis, King of France Catholic Church in St. Paul.

For 25 years, the competition was sponsored by the New Jersey Chapter of the American Guild of Organists in honor of the late Rev. Jack Rodland, of West Side Presbyterian Church in Ridgewood.

The administration of the scholarship was recently transferred to St. Olaf College, and Drewes is the first winner under its watch.

David Macfarlene, who serves as the sub-dean and program chair as well as the music director for the First Presbyterian Church of Englewood, noted that the church shares an unfortunate commonality with that of Ridgewood's.

"Fire destroyed both churches and their organs — an audio and visual focal point for the worship life of the church," Macfarlane said.

The West Side church building was destroyed by fire in 2002 but has been rebuilt as an award-winning modern edifice with a state-of-the-art pipe organ. Englewood's historic facility was destroyed last month.

The performance will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 14 at Ridgewood's West Side Presbyterian Church, located at 6 South Monroe Street.

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