“The Mozart legacy, in brief, is as good an excuse for mankind’s existence as we shall ever encounter, and a small hope for our survival.”- H.C. Robbins-Landon
“It’s a fine thing – a musicians trade! To create things like that... – is there anything more glorious? It is to be God on earth.” (Jean Christophe, by Romain Roland)
Every day when I come to work, I know two things: 1) I am going to learn something today and 2) I am going to try to teach my students something today. Both the learning and the teaching are symbiotic and are informed by my constant immersion into the musical compositions that I study and perform. From King David to the devotional chants of early monks to the brilliance of Morten Lauridsen in the 21st century, music speaks to the spirits of people in ways that mere words are incapable.
As an undergraduate I, as many, felt rather directionless. The influence of one music teacher at King College changed my life and provided me with that direction for which I was searching. Following his advice, I pursued advanced degrees in music and have since performed in Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Avery Fisher Hall, Sterling Castle in Scotland, the Apollo Theater in Greece, etc. How did this happen to a directionless student from Bristol, TN? It happened because of the hard work of many teachers who invested themselves in me. It also happened because I finally listened to God's call for my life.
My goal everyday is to assist other students in finding their strengths, identifying their weaknesses, and to provide them with the necessary tools of evaluation to be successful after they leave King University. My work is focused mostly on music history and choral music and if this process leads them into a life of professional music, that is wonderful. However, if the experiences at King lead them into other callings, that is equally rewarding.
Away from the college, my life is focused upon family. Beyond that, I am a life-long baseball fan (especially St. Louis Cardinals), I'm a vegetable gardener of sorts, and love a good game of cards to relax. People who know me well know that I love good food. I love to cook it, to eat it and to learn about the foods from other cultures.
B.A. in Psychology from King College, 1974
B.M. in Church Music from Westminster Choir College in 1977
M.M. in Choral Conducting from Westminster Choir College in 1978
Ph.D. (with distinction) in Musicology from The Catholic University of America in 1995
Dissertation: A Performing Edition and Study of the Unpublished Concerted Anthems of John Antes, 1740-1811 co-authored & supervised several web pages (www.king.edu/musicresearch/)
Article: Select Examples of Choreinbau in the Cantatas of J.S. Bach, The Choral Journal, December, 2000.
recorded and produced 5 albums with King College Choirs, the latest released in Nov., 2006
Article: Unexpected Messengers, College Faith. Andrews University Press, 2002.
Book Review: The Music of Creation, Christian Scholar’s Review, XXXV: 4, Summer, 2006.
Book Review: A New Song for an Old World, Christian Scholar’s Review, XXXVIII:2, Winter, 2009
I am working on collecting music that has been written specifically about baseball. It is my hope to publish an anthology of such music with socio-historical commentary.
Much of my research on a day-to-day basis deals with the music that I am performing at the time. As an example, I will be teaching Mozart's "Requeim" to the 2014-2015 college choirs. My work on that piece has already begun and, by the time of our performance in March of 2015, I will have 1000+ hours of score study and background study about that one piece of music.
