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

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.