Anne Carper received an unpleasant surprise for her 20th birthday last Tuesday: She learned that the organ program, one of the School of Music’s oldest, was being phased out.

“When (Music) Dean (Toni-Marie) Montgomery told me, I started crying,” said Carper, a Music sophomore majoring in organ performance and music education.

The decision to advise discontinuing the program came after an annual review of all programs in the School of Music, Montgomery said. The General Faculty Council now must approve the recommendation, ideally by the end of the quarter, she said.

“My initial reaction was, “Nah, they’re kidding,” said Ruth Lin, a first-year graduate student studying orchestral conducting. “Northwestern started as a church music school.”

The organ program is as old as the School of Music itself. The school’s founder, Peter Christian Lutkin, was a choral director as well as an organist. Lutkin founded the school in 1895.

Some organ classes still will be offered for students “pursuing the organ on a non-degree basis,” Montgomery said, but the organ major will no longer be an option.

A Friday statement released by Montgomery cited several reasons for the decision, including the upcoming departure of the only full-time organ professor, Douglas Cleveland; low demand for the major; and “the need to allocate the school’s resources wisely.”

The school will bring in temporary faculty members so Carper and other current students can complete their requirements, Montgomery said.

“It’s important to note that the School of Music does see its responsibility to all of its students,” Montgomery said Friday.

Organ majors currently represent less than 1 percent of Music students, according to the statement. The total enrollment for all three levels of the program — undergraduate, master’s and doctorate — is 11 students.

Schools across the nation have seen declining interest in their organ programs during the past two decades, Montgomery said, and several have canceled their curricula.

No other Music program at NU is suffering from similar disinterest, Montgomery said. The piano and voice programs especially are thriving, she said, and applications for the school were up 7 percent this year.

Prospective students intending to major in organ performance received a refund for their application fee if they withdrew their application, Montgomery said.

Tracy Figard, a Music freshman, disagreed with the school’s decision to cut the organ curriculum.

“(Disinterest) is not a reason to discontinue the program,” said Figard, a violin performance major who hoped to double major in organ performance. “That should be a reason to do more and try to recruit people.”

Figard took a job as an organist at a local church in August, and she attempted to add an organ major two weeks ago.

When she learned about the program’s cancellation, “I was pretty devastated,” she said. “I had been so excited and hopeful about this double major.”

Organ majors typically work as organists or teachers after graduation, said Carper, an organist since age 12.

The recent push towards contemporary music in churches has made the organ less popular, she said. But she added that organ majors rarely have trouble finding work after graduation.

“Everybody needs organ majors,” Carper said. “There are so many high-paying jobs for organists that are qualified.”

An e-mail sent out to campus listservs last week titled “Save the organ” had received 55 responses by Sunday evening, Carper said.

“I want to make sure that it’s known that we’re not fighting against the administration,” Carper said. “We are fighting for our art form, not against anyone.”

She and other Music students have contacted donors to the university as well as musicians in Europe and Canada.

But Montgomery said no amount of money could bring the organ program back.

“Finances are not going to change the number of applications,” she said.

Figard said she and other music students are determined to “not just wimp out and settle with what they’ve told us.”

“I think this is something important enough not just in terms of the school,” she said, “but in terms of culture.”