Lecture

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.

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

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 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

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.

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.”

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.

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Scotland's most celebrated composer, Sir James MacMillan will be the 2016 Rod and Lorna Sawatsky Visiting Scholar.