Lecture

2022 Benjamin Eby Lecture

Timothy Saari — Wed, 09 Nov 2022 15:17:29 +0000

2022 Benjamin Eby Lecture Timothy Saari Wed, 11/09/2022 - 10:17

Music, Liturgy, and the Making of Medieval Scotland

Today, Scotland’s patron saint, Andrew the Apostle, anchors Scottish national identity in an annual holiday on his feast day. But in the century leading up to the Scottish declaration of independence, the 1320 Declaration of Arbroath, Saint Andrew’s significance expanded from that of a local saint to become the central figure in the foundation of Christianized Scotland. This lecture will feature the performance of medieval liturgical music made at the Cathedral of St Andrews to celebrate Saint Andrew’s relics, showing how liturgical music shaped history." src="/grebel/profiles/uw_base_profile/modules/contrib/wysiwyg/plugins/break/images/spacer.gif" />Reception to follow.

Please register to attend.

Kate Kennedy Steiner
Assistant Professor of Music & Director of Church Music and Worship

Kate Kennedy Steiner combines her interests in music, ritual practice, narrative history, and communal identity in her research on medieval music. She received an M.A.R. in liturgical studies at Yale Divinity School and a PhD at Princeton University with a dissertation on music and liturgy in medieval St Andrews, offering new insight into an important collection of medieval polyphony. Her published work includes an article on music for a Scottish saint in Plainsong and Medieval Music, and an edited volume of meditations on Scriptural songs, Come, Let us Sing to the Lord. She has held postdoctoral fellowships as a teaching scholar at Valparaiso University and as a Mellon Fellow at the Pontifical Institute for Mediaeval Studies. As a professor of music at Conrad Grebel University College, University of ��ݮ��Ƶ, she teaches courses on music history, focusing on music making in social contexts. She also directs the Church Music and Worship program, teaching courses on Christian worship and music, directing the Chapel Choir at Conrad Grebel University College, and leading the Worship Apprenticeship Program.

Hymnal Celebration with Sarah Johnson

Angelica Allen — Wed, 06 Jan 2021 20:37:41 +0000

Hymnal Celebration with Sarah Johnson Angelica Allen Wed, 01/06/2021 - 15:37

Register now to receive further event information closer to the date.

Celebrate the release of the new Hymnal, Voices Together, virtually, complete with hymns and a presentation by Sarah Kathleen Johnson.

Grebel’s alumni committee selected Sarah Kathleen Johnson (BA 2007, MTS 2008) as the recipient of the 2020 Distinguished Alumni Service Award. The award will be given to Sarah during this celebratory evening.

Sarah’s research and expertise has been employed by MennoMedia in the development of Voices Together, the new Mennonite hymnal. In a nomination letter to Grebel’s alumni committee, Executive Director of MennoMedia, Amy Gingrich, commented on Sarah’s diligence. “In addition to curating an expansive set of written worship resources, Sarah crafted a vision for worship resources that included the introduction of visual art in the hymnal as a way to broaden the experience of worship resources in our collection.”

“In her leadership role for Voices Together, Sarah has been at the centre of a very careful process of listening to the diversity of expressions across our churches, examining a dizzying array of potential hymns and worship resources for inclusion, and charting a way forward that is deeply rooted in the Christian tradition and sensitive to present context.” explained Jeremy Bergen, director of Theological Studies at Grebel. “This hymnal will shape not only the worship, but also the theology, mission, and the very identity of Mennonite churches for decades to come.”

“It has been profoundly rewarding,” said Sarah, “to facilitate a collaborative process that brings people together from across the church for important conversations about who we are, where we come from, and who we are called to be in the years ahead, and especially to consider how these questions about identity and purpose intersect in concrete and embodied ways with what we sing and pray and do when we gather for worship.”

Read more about Sarah and her involvement with Voices Together.

Noon Hour Concert: Still Singing - Women Composers and the "Voices Together" Hymnal

Angelica Allen — Thu, 17 Dec 2020 15:43:16 +0000

Noon Hour Concert: Still Singing - Women Composers and the "Voices Together" Hymnal Angelica Allen Thu, 12/17/2020 - 10:43

As a member of the Mennonite Song and Worship Committee, Anneli Loepp Thiessen has spent the past four years helping to choose hymns for the new "Voices Together" Hymnal. Sifting through over 10,000 pieces of music, the committee chose 775 finalists.

The Voices Together hymnal includes roughly twice as many female composers as the previous Mennonite collection. Who’s voices have been added? How did the committee discover new hymns by female composers? This lecture recital will introduce listeners to hymns that bring in the voices of women through history, including Kassia (8th cent.), Hildegard von Bingen (12th cent.), and Annalein von Freiburg (16th cent.).

More information about how the "Voices Together" hymnal was chosen is available from this Canadian Mennonite article. “In a lot of Mennonite congregations, especially in Canada and the United States, hymnals are our primary theological document. . . . It’s the theology that we memorize, that we internalize, that comes back to us when we need it,” says Sarah Kathleen Johnson, who served on the Mennonite Worship and Song Committee, the 13-member binational group responsible for curating the hymnal. “In addition to forming individuals, it’s also shaping the larger Mennonite sense of community and identity.”

This concert will be of interest to anyone who is drawn to religious music, not just Mennonites. The video will be released on our Youtube Channel on Wednesday, January 27th at 12:30pm.

Musicians: Anneli Loepp Thiessen, piano; Joanna Loepp Thiessen, soprano

Furthermore, there will be an Voices Together Hymnal Celebration with Sarah Johnson the evening of January 27 at 7pm. event website

BIOGRAPHIES
Anneli Loepp Thiessen is a PhD student in the Interdisciplinary Music Research program at the University of Ottawa where she studies gender in the contemporary worship music industry. She holds her Master of Music in Piano Performance from the University of Ottawa, a Graduate Diploma in Arts Management from Queens University, and her ARCT diploma in Piano Performance from the Royal Conservatory of Music. Anneli has served on the Voices Together hymnal committee for the past four years and has several hymns and piano accompaniments published in the collection. She is the co-director of the Anabaptist Worship Network and enjoys teaching courses and speaking on topics related to Anabaptist worship and the new hymnal. The highlight of her summer every year is directing Ontario Mennonite Music Camp, a 12 day music camp hosted at Conrad Grebel University College.

Joanna Loepp Thiessen is a vocal performance major at Canadian Mennonite University, where she studies with Dawn Bruch Wiens. This year’s recipient of the Abner Martin Music Scholarship, she enjoys leading worship on campus and is the co-chair of the Faith In Life committee for student council. When she’s not singing, Joanna is enthusiastic about care for those experiencing homelessness, a passion she picked up during her time as a volunteer with Mennonite Voluntary Service in San Antonio, Texas.

View "Concert 1: Still Singing - Women Composers and the Voices Together Hymnal" on YouTube

This concert series is proudly sponsored by

Witnessing Passion: The 2019 Eby Lecture

Angelica Allen Assistant — Mon, 07 Oct 2019 18:51:04 +0000

Witnessing Passion: The 2019 Eby Lecture Angelica Allen… Mon, 10/07/2019 - 14:51

The 2019 Benjamin Eby Lecture will be presented by Mark Vuorinen.

Witnessing Passion: Musical depiction of minor characters in Passion music by Bach, Ešenvalds, MacMillan and Pärt

The Passion accounts in the four canonical gospels are full of witnesses to the arrest, trial and crucifixion of Christ. Often, their presence is distilled into a single line of text. In musical settings of the Passion, that single line of text might result in just a single measure of music, yet their presence as eye-witnesses is absolutely essential. They are the reminder that this divine story is also deeply human.

This lecture-demonstration explores the ways through which J.S. Bach, Ēriks Ešenvalds, James MacMillan and Arvo Pärt note, musically, the presence of these biblical by-standers.

Reception to follow. Registration Required.

The Power of Music to Create Inclusive Communities

Angelica Allen Assistant — Thu, 28 Feb 2019 15:19:41 +0000

The Power of Music to Create Inclusive Communities Angelica Allen… Thu, 02/28/2019 - 10:19

On Friday, March 8, 2019, Dr. Ysaÿe Barnwell, appointed as the College’s Rodney and Lorna Sawatsky Visiting Scholar, will offer the Sawatsky Lecture on “The Power of Music to Create Inclusive Communities.”

This is a free public event, but registration is required.

Register for The Power of Music to Create Inclusive Communities now.

Read about the history of the Rodney and Lorna Sawatsky Visiting Scholar Lecture.

Ysaye M. Barnwell, Ph.D. MSPH, is a commissioned composer, arranger, author, actress and former member of the African American female a cappella ensemble Sweet Honey In The Rock. She is a vocalist with a range of over three octaves and appears on more than twenty-five recordings with Sweet Honey as well as other artists. Trained as a violinist for 15 years beginning at the age of 2 1/2, she holds degrees in speech pathology (BS, MSEd), cranio-facial studies (Ph.D.) and public health (MSPH). She was a professor at Howard University College of Dentistry for over a decade, and over the following 8 years developed training programs in Child Protection at Children’s Hospital National Medical Center, and administered community-based health programs at Gallaudet University, all in Washington DC. For almost thirty years, and on three continents, Barnwell has led the workshop Building a Vocal Community - Singing In the African American Tradition, which utilizes oral tradition, an African world view and African American history, values, cultural and vocal traditions to build communities of song among singers and non-singers alike. Her pedagogy is highly respected among musicians, educators, health workers, activists, organizers, and members of the corporate and non-profit sectors.

www.ymbarnwell.com/

Bechtel Lectures in Anabaptist-Mennonite Studies: Hymn Sing with Dr. Kenneth Nafziger

Grebel Writing Assistant — Fri, 27 Jan 2017 16:14:52 +0000

Bechtel Lectures in Anabaptist-Mennonite Studies: Hymn Sing with Dr. Kenneth Nafziger Grebel Writing… Fri, 01/27/2017 - 11:14

On that beloved song book, the Book of Psalms, Martin Luther wrote, “No books of moral tales and no legends of saints which have been written, or ever will be, are to my mind as noble as the Book of Psalms… The human heart is like a ship on a stormy sea driven about by winds blowing from all four corners of heaven. The Book of Psalms is full of heartfelt utterances made during storms of this kind.”

Our hymnals do the same: they traverse the seas and withstand the winds that encompass the present moment and the age that has passed, memory and prophecy, your history and culture and mine.

Let’s join voices together for a Hymn Sing under the direction of Dr. Kenneth Nafziger. As part of the Bechtel Lectures in Anabaptist-Mennonite Studies, Nafziger will lead the sing, titled, “Hymn Singing in Fair Weather and in Ill… and for pleasure.”

As part of the lecture series, on February 3 Nafziger will lecture on “Melting the Boundaries of Our Being: Explorations in Singing Together.”

Kenneth Nafziger is a graduate of Goshen College (B.A. in music) and of the University of Oregon (D.M.A. in music history and literature). He also was a post-doctoral conducting student with Helmuth Rilling in Stuttgart, Germany.

The current academic year ends a 39-year teaching career in Eastern Mennonite University’s music department. His teaching responsibilities have included Chamber Singers, conducting, church music, world music, and interdisciplinary and honors courses.

Nafziger was music editor of Hymnal: A Worship Book (1992), editor of its accompaniment handbook, and assistant to the editor of Sing the Journey (2005) and Sing the Story (2007). He was also responsible for the four acclaimed CDs of hymns found in the hymnal supplements. He co-authored with Marlene Kropf Singing, a Mennonite Voice, released in 2001. He originated and co-led the January Music and Worship Leaders Weekend at Laurelville Mennonite Church Center, which this past January met for the 30^th year.

Since June 1993, Nafziger has been artistic director and conductor of the annual Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival (Harrisonburg, Va.). The festival is a ten-day feast of music, with a professional orchestra, a choir, and soloists of national and international renown. This summer’s festival will be a festive 25^th anniversary observance.

In June 2015, Nafziger was awarded the 2015 Circle of Excellence in the Arts Award, “for outstanding accomplishments and sustained contributions in the arts, improving the cultural vitality of the Shenandoah Valley.” The award is given by the Forbes Center for the Performing Arts, the Valley Arts Council, and the College of Visual and Performing Arts at James Madison University. In other community involvements, Nafziger is also the artistic director and conductor of Winchester Musica Viva (in Winchester, Va.), a chamber choir of about 20 singers.

He is active throughout the United States and across Canada as a church music workshop leader, guest conductor and clinician. Nafziger has also made many trips to Cuba, where he worked as a guest orchestral and choral conductor, taught courses and workshops, and led EMU Chamber Singers.

Bechtel Lectures in Anabaptist-Mennonite Studies: “Melting the Boundaries of Our Being: Explorations in Singing Together”

Grebel Writing Assistant — Fri, 27 Jan 2017 15:59:45 +0000

Bechtel Lectures in Anabaptist-Mennonite Studies: “Melting the Boundaries of Our Being: Explorations in Singing Together” Grebel Writing… Fri, 01/27/2017 - 10:59

If the only thing that a musician was responsible for would be to insure correct notes and rhythms, there would be scant justification to have any of us around. Music has no particularly visible traces, but it certainly has significant effects on those who make music. It can mirror the soul, or it can urge the soul to a different place. It can comfort, or it can discomfort. Music can be here, and elsewhere. Answers to questions about the nature and meaning of music are complex: answers can be yes, or no, or both, and all at the same time. There is no better laboratory for exploring this phenomena that by using a hymnal.

Join us for the 2017 Bechtel Lectures in Anabaptist-Mennonite Studies with special guest Dr. Kenneth Nafziger. Nafziger will lecture on “Melting the Boundaries of Our Being: Explorations in Singing Together.”

Nafziger will return to lead a Hymn Sing on February 5th.

In June 2015, Nafziger was awarded the 2015 Circle of Excellence in the Arts Award, “for outstanding accomplishments and sustained contributions in the arts, improving the cultural vitality of the Shenandoah Valley.” The award is given by the Forbes Center for the Performing Arts, the Valley Arts Council, and the College of Visual and Performing Arts at James Madison University. In other community involvement, Nafziger is also the artistic director and conductor of Winchester Musica Viva (in Winchester, Va.), a chamber choir of about 20 singers.

Guest Lecture: Music & Science in the Middle Ages

Claudia Van Decker — Thu, 20 Oct 2016 19:05:42 +0000

Guest Lecture: Music & Science in the Middle Ages Claudia Van Decker Thu, 10/20/2016 - 15:05

Public Lecture: The Spiritual in Music with Sir James MacMillan

Grebel Communication — Thu, 07 Jan 2016 14:14:41 +0000

Public Lecture: The Spiritual in Music with Sir James MacMillan Grebel Communication Thu, 01/07/2016 - 09:14

Scotland's most celebrated composer, Sir James MacMillan will be the 2016 Rod and Lorna Sawatsky Visiting Scholar. His musical language is flooded with influences from his Scottish heritage, Catholic faith, social conscience and close connection with Celtic folk music, blended with influences from Far Eastern, Scandinavian and Eastern European music.

Public Lecture: The Spiritual in Music

Sir James MacMillan
March 1, 2016 at 7:30 pm
Great Hall, Conrad Grebel University College (overflow to Rm 1302)

This event will be livestreamed tonight starting at 7:30pm.

Concert details for March 6, 2016 performance

About Sir James MacMillan

View "James MacMillan on faith and music" on YouTube

Sawatsky Visiting Lecture with Sir James MacMillan

Claudia Van Decker — Thu, 17 Dec 2015 19:30:00 +0000

Sawatsky Visiting Lecture with Sir James MacMillan Claudia Van Decker Thu, 12/17/2015 - 14:30

Sawatsky Lecture

Sir James MacMillan
March 1, 2016 at 7:30pm
Room 2202, Conrad Grebel University College

Scotland's most celebrated composer, Sir James MacMillan will be the 2016 Rod and Lorna Visiting Scholar. His musical language is flooded with influences from his Scottish heritage, Catholic faith, social conscience and close connection with Celtic folk music, blended with influences from Far Eastern, Scandinavian and Eastern European music.

Other activites during this visit include:

Concert of The Music of James MacMillan

Sunday March 6, 2016 3pm
St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, Kitchener
Choir 21, University of ��ݮ��Ƶ Chamber Choir, Grand Philharmonic Choir
Sir James MacMillan, conductor