In preparation for conducting the American Kantorei’s Reformation Concert at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, last October, I listened to the Roland Bainton biography of Martin Luther. Since then I’ve listened to David Teems’ biography of William Tyndale, who was executed for translating the Bible into English, and am now listening to his other book about the King James… Read More »
I wish to thank and congratulate Rachel Keehner for her wonderful organ concert last Friday evening (September 27) on the Trinity Concert Series. As our annual celebration of the Reformation approaches, it is good to know that God is preparing a new generation of musicians to carry forward the proclamation of His Word through music. In a letter… Read More »
Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens! Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness! Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with… Read More »
“So then as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” (Galatians 6:10) In his sermon last Sunday, Pastor Synnott referred to Voice of the Martyrs, an organization that helps, supports, and prays for persecuted Christians worldwide. I thought it would be good to tell you… Read More »
One of our most important tasks as Christians is to disciple others and pass our faith, leadership, and “Kingdom” skills onto a new generation. To that end I would like to invite you to the first concert of the 2013-14 Trinity Concert Series on Friday, September 27 at 7:00 p.m. This concert will feature Rachel Keehner, who at… Read More »
We find from the Bible that ours is a singing faith. The people of God are ALWAYS singing: From the shores of the Red Sea to the shores of the Promised Land; from the Book of Exodus to the last chapter of Revelation. And then there are the many songs in the Book of Psalms and all the… Read More »
In our daily devotions this week, my wife and I have been reading the Book of Daniel. After reading Chapter 3, it occurred to me that for some reason we have a tendency to turn the gifts God gives us into idols. This is what King Nebuchadnezzar did in Daniel 3. In the previous chapter, God gave him… Read More »
Today’s Verse of the Day from the YouVersion Bible really struck me. We tend to think that it is our “job” to rejoice in God and what He has done for us. But, here is a remarkable passage from the prophet Zephaniah that puts a different perspective on things. The Lord your God is in your midst,a mighty… Read More »
Are you looking for a work to challenge your viola section? You might want to consider this Prelude for Divided Viola. It is an arrangement for strings of my chorale prelude on the hymn “Jesus, Priceless Treasure,” a tune made famous by the J. S. Bach motet. The violas are busy from beginning to end and use the… Read More »
I was fiddling around with playback feature in Finale and the Garritan ARIA Player and discovered that my motet on “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” sounds really good with just strings alone, so here it is as a Fantasia on VENI EMMANUEL for Strings. This arrangement would work with either a string orchestra or a string quartet. If… Read More »