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.
This concert series is proudly sponsored by
