UNC senior Eric Surber performs in prestigious sacred organ program

Senior Eric Surber wakes up every morning to a full schedule.

The UNC student, who also writes for The Daily Tar Heel, drives to Duke University every Monday through Saturday, arriving at 8:30 a.m. to practice organ — his instrument of choice — until 10:30 a.m. After practice, he drives back to UNC to attend his classes, a mix of journalism courses for his major and music and Italian courses for his minors. When he walks to classes, he’s listening to the music he’s currently working on. Right now, he has Charles Stanford’s “Magnificat in C” on his playlist, in preparation for his first show at Duke on Sunday.

Surber is a Duke Chapel Organ Scholar, one of two students in the inaugural year of the program, led by noted Duke Chapel organist Christopher Jacobson. His first performance as part of the program — one of many — is Sunday at 4 p.m.

While he’s walking to classes, he’s thinking about the mistakes he made that morning during practice. He’s also carrying the shoes he needs to play the organ, specially designed to accommodate the pedal keyboard.

“I kind of carry these around in my backpack pretty much every day,” he said. The shoes are accompanied by a black binder full of five weeks of accompaniment, about half an inch thick with pages — his life for the next few weeks.

After classes, he heads to The Chapel of the Cross to practice more on one of the church’s two organs, raising his weekly playing time to about 28 hours.

The Chapel of the Cross is more than just a practice space for Surber. It’s where he learned that he was truly passionate about organ music after playing an evening service one night. It’s where he takes lessons from UNC music professor Susan Moeser.

“They’ve just opened up the world of sacred music to me, which before, I didn’t know really existed,” Surber said.

It’s also where he was inspired to pursue organ further, applying to the scholarship after Moeser encouraged him.

“I think he’s dedicated to doing this and doing it well, and he’s eager to learn on a lot of different aspects,” Moeser said. “He loves to play for other people, and this is just one way that he can do that and share his talents.”

Surber and another student were chosen from a competitive pool, Jacobson said, given the UNC organ program averages about four students a year.

Jacobson has been working with Surber since the beginning of August, teaching him the learned skills needed to become a church organist — skills not taught in traditional academia.

“He’s the kind of guy who you just see that right away, within talking to him for a few minutes, and that’s the kind of person that I want to work with,” Jacobson said. “That’s the kind of person who will be a good ambassador to church music.”

And while Surber does want to pursue two career paths — one in journalism and one in church organ music — right now, he’s focused on the program, and on Sunday.

“I’m hoping to be a better church organist and church musician, which I know I will be without a doubt,” he said. “In just a few months, my organ playing has improved so much.”

@sarahvassello

arts@dailytarheel.com