Composer Jessica French on Music and the Church with Sarah Bereza Ep. 52
On today’s episode, Jessica French shares her compositions, how her compositional process is influenced by synesthesia, as well as her work as a soprano and music educator.
Music and the Church
How I’m Planning for the Fall, on Music and the Church with Sarah Bereza Ep. 51
You know the old joke: if you want to make God laugh, tell God your plans. Be that as it may, here’s how I’m planning for the fall. Not the usual hymns + anthems + a few handbell pieces, but plans nonetheless. Yes, the plans will change, but sometimes it’s good to imagine the possibilities. (Plus, …
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Music Ministry with Brian Hehn, on Music and the Church with Sarah Bereza Ep. 50
What does music ministry look like – sound like – right now? Whatever your answer, it’s certainly different from what it would have been earlier this year. On this episode, Brian Hehn and I discuss leaning into our identities as music ministers, and why that focus is an important aspect of our work as church …
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Taking Church Music Online, on Music and the Church with Sarah Bereza Ep. 49
We’re putting church music online – whether we want to or not. Fortunately, we’re finding lots of grace and permission to fail as we figure out what on earth we’re doing! Craig Harmann and I talk about our mindsets as we live in this new season of life as church music directors.
Bringing People Together with Sacred Music – An Interview with Deus Ex Musica’s Founder Delvyn Case, on Music and the Church Ep. 48
Delvyn Case is bringing people together by creating conversations around sacred music. And he’s creating these conversations not just with other musicians, but with folks who haven’t trained to talk about music by coupling live musical performances with guided dialogue. Today, we talk about the values around Scripture and community that motivated his founding of …
Choral Music by Women Composers with Sarah MacDonald and David Schaap, on Music and the Church with Sarah Bereza Ep. 47
Want to program more music by women composers? Selah Publishing has just released a fantastic new choral series edited by Sarah MacDonald, and all the composers are women: Sarah Cattley, Elizabeth Coxhead, Eleanor Daley, Elizabeth Kimble, Stephanie Martin, Ceclie McDowall, Annabell Rooney, and Sarah MacDonald. In this conversation with Sarah MacDonald and Selah’s founder and …
Our Favorite Hymnals, on Music and the Church with Sarah Bereza Ep. 46
What are your favorite hymnals? Crawford Wiley and I talk about our top five favorites. Since none are hymnals that our congregations sing from, we use them in our service planning and sometimes devotionally.
Singing, Hospitality and the Sacred Stranger, with Helen Phelan, on Music and the Church with Sarah Bereza, Ep. 45 [with transcript]
How can singing foster our relationships with strangers? And how can singing not just foster relationships, but be a powerful means of hospitality? Dr. Helen Phelan draws on her ethnographic work with a Congolese-Irish choir to show the potential of “sonic hospitality” through singing together.
The Language of God with Jean Kidula, on Music and the Church with Sarah Bereza Ep. 44 [transcript]
What language does God speak, and how can the metaphor of language help us better understand our relationship to God? Dr. Jean Kidula, Professor of Music at the University of Georgia, shows how thinking about dialect expands our ways of thinking about the music we use to worship God.
Strengthening Congregational Song with John Witvliet, on Music and the Church, Ep. 43 [with transcript]
In this conversation with Dr. John Witvliet, director of the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, we talk about making change in our churches in a week-by-week process, the importance of resources to validate aspects of ministry that aren’t currently supported, and – the big one – how important teachability and curiosity is to leadership.