The University Singers of Jacksonville University In Concert at St. Mark's on Friday, February 6 at 7:00 P.M.

It was my first day as a college music major at Jacksonville University  The first piece of music I remember working on was Noel Goemanne’s “Cantate Sing to the Lord.”  Dr. Jon Carlson, our director, was teaching us how to do “count singing” – something I had never done before. It was HARD, but within a few minutes I had the process down and was having the time of my life.

JU still has a chamber group, now under the direction of Dr. Timothy Snyder who each year leads a new group of choral students through the journey of mastering the demands of excellent choral literature.

I am excited to announce that the University Singers, with JU voice faculty Prof. Kimberly Beasley and Dr. Jay Ivey, will be performing a FREE concert at St. Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran Church on Friday, February 6, at 7:00 p.m.  This is their “homecoming” concert after their annual Florida tour.

The following is from a press release by Dr. Snyder.

Under the direction of Dr. Timothy Snyder, the 25-voice University Singers perfoms an eclectic and challenging repertoire spanning the centuries and the globe including Renaissance polyphony, Baroque and Classical masterworks, folksongs, music theatre, opera and new music by living composers.

The University Singers has performed for the American Choral Directors Association, Beaches Fine Arts Series, and the Florida Music Educators Association.  Notable appearances include concerts in New York’s Avery Fisher Hall, England’s Canterbury Cathedral and numerous collaborations with the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra.  The University Singers gives over forty concerts each year on campus, in the community and on tour.  Most recently the Singers toured in France where they performed at Chartes, La Madeline, Paris and the Basilica of St. Nicholas, Nantes.  A 2016 concert tour to Italy is in preparation.

The legacy of musical excellence continues at Jacksonville University and is likely to continue for many years.  After all, the young people singing in the choir today weren’t even born when I was a student at JU.  Perhaps many more generations of future JU-educated performers, music teachers, church musicians, accompanists, and choral directors are yet waiting to be born.  I believe this is true.

Photos:
Top - the Jacksonville University Chamber Singers in 1981. I am the second guy in from the right.
Middle - Dr. Timothy Snyder
Bottom: The University Singers in a more recent photo

Epiphany from the Americas: Tuesday, January 6th

Epiphany means “manifestation.”  This festival of the church celebrates the revealing of Christ to the Gentiles.  Light is a big image for this service, recalling the star that the magi followed until they found the house where Jesus was with his mother.  The gifts they offered are heavy with meaning: gold fit for a king, myrrh for anointing, and richly perfumed incense.

This year’s Epiphany service at St. Mark’s has an underlying musical theme: Epiphany from the Americas.

The Americas are the combined land masses of North America and South America, along with the outlying islands – what early explorers named “the new world.”  The Americas are blessed with a rich diversity of cultures, so it’s not surprising that native (or nearly native) music is filled with tantalizing rhythms, poignant texts, and ethnic melodies.

Here are a few of the musical highlights from the service:

Kyrie and Glory to God from setting six of Evangelical Lutheran Worship (African-American inspired)

Santo, Santo, Santo and O Lamb of God from setting seven of ELW (Latin-American inspired)

Halle, Halle, Hallelujah from the Caribbean as the gospel acclamation

Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow, an African-American spiritual

Many and Great, O God, a hymn of the Lakota Native-Americans

‘Twas in the Moon of Wintertime, a hymn from Native-Americans in Canada

Epiphany Carol, sung to the tune Beach Spring which is named for a church in Georgia, USA

. . .and more!

I am sure you will be surprised at how much of this music you already know.

Epiphany is the last day of the Advent-Christmas-Epiphany arc of stories and readings from our Christian tradition.  We have waited through four weeks of Advent. We are still celebrating twelve days of Christmas. For this final festival, the Holy Spirit gathers us to bear witness to the light of Christ and sends us out to carry that light into the world – not just the new world, but the whole world.

                                Tuesday Evening, January 6^th at 7:00 p.m.

top photo: by David Nunley, used with permission

middle photo: Lakota art work via Wikipedia

bottom photo: photo by Andre Cruz, used with permission