Why I’m premiering organ music studies In Nigeria — Lanre Delano

By Ayo Onikoyi

Classical music virtuoso, Lanre Delano, has opened up on his decades-long crusade to rescue liturgical organ music from extinction in Nigeria, revealing how tactical advocacy and infrastructural investment paved the way for the country’s first university organ studies programme

Delano, an alumnus of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, is collaborating with his alma mater to launch a historic certificate and diploma programme in Organ Studies. The project represents a personal triumph for Delano, who recalled the steep resistance he initially faced from conservative institutions when introducing modern digital organs to Nigeria.

“By the time I stepped into this space, the organ was going into extinction. Churches were buying standard keyboards and calling them organs,” Delano remarked. He recounted a pivotal encounter where a church committee seeking a N400,000 keyboard questioned his sanity when he presented a N4 million digital organ proposal. “I had to educate them on the technical capabilities of the instrument. It took months, but they eventually saw the vision.”

Delano likened the technological leap from traditional pipe organs to modern digital organs to traveling by ship versus flying by airplane. “A pipe organ takes years to build, but a high-quality digital organ, played well, delivers the same majestic depth instantly,” he asserted.

The new OAU programme aims to institutionalise this expertise. According to Delano, the Department of Music has designated the ‘Lanre Delano Organ Studies Room’ to house the infrastructure, with plans underway for a dedicated building as the programme scales into a full degree course.

The admission criteria target intermediate musicians. “This is not a beginner’s class for non-musicians. Applicants must already know how to play the piano,” Delano clarified, explaining that piano literacy provides the foundational layout required to navigate the multiple tiers and foot pedals of a digital organ.

Lanre Delano, in a bid to kick-start the programme, donated his personal two manual Allen organ to the department and promised another brand new organ funded by support from friends and his principals, the Allen Organ Company, USA.

On the role of technology, Delano dismissed fears that Artificial Intelligence might make organists obsolete. While praising AI’s ability to instantly interpret complex sheet music and accelerate sight-reading, he maintained that the sacred bond between an organist and a live congregation requires an emotional intelligence that code cannot replicate.

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