Midwest modest--and more | 1, 2, 3

The ego of a diva
Perry's organ playing is not a 8-to-5 kind of job for him. In much the same way that Jyles cared for the church, Perry cares for his music.

Nearly every day, Perry can be seen making the several-block walk across M.U. campus from his house to the church. In the winter, he makes the trek bundled up in his overcoat, sometimes with a student-neighbor at his side.

Perry goes to the church to practice his organ. He will play for about two to three hours each day. Although he waves off the applause of his audiences, he obviously takes pride in his craft.

Sitting in his office in M.U.'s music school, a few doors down from where Perry's was when he instructed organ at the school, Pickard says that organists live in their own world and that they are soloists in their own right.

"I think an organist's ego would rival that of a diva or a conductor," Pickard says.

Perry, despite his outer modesty, also has that ego, Pickard asserts.

"As far as what he expects of himself and what he expects of the performances he is involved in," Perry has that ego, Pickard says.

	Perry plays D'Aquin's "Noel in G" on the organ at Missouri United Methodist Church.

Perry has reason to have that ego. He earned a master's degree studying organ at Indiana University, which has one of the most highly regarded music departments in the country. He is well-respected by other organ players in and around Columbia, many of whom have turned to him for advice on their instruments and on selecting literature to play.

'Like a good book'
One such organist is Peggy Bohnenkamp. Bohnenkamp, who plays for St. Alban's Episcopal Church in Fulton, took lessons from Perry about 15 to 20 years ago for some three years. Within the last five years, she resumed lessons with him, completing another semester-and-a-half of lessons.

Even now she says she will sometimes ask him for advice on how a certain piece should be played and about the technical aspects of unfamiliar selections.

Bohnenkamp says that Perry's dedication to playing the organ has encouraged her in her own experience with the instrument.

"He made organ playing like reading a good book," she says. "I wanted to go on to the next part."

Not all organ players will reach that next level of skill and ability, but Perry nonetheless encouraged other area organists as well, Bohnenkamp says.

"He knows they're not going to become concert pianists or anything, but he encourages them to do what they can do."

Perry has certainly done what he can do. He has taught, he has played, he has cared. Listen to him play while you still can, but just don't make a big deal about it.

Perry wouldn't want that.