Once again I’m making my annual “plug” for the summer Organist Workshops at Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, IN. I can’t recommend these enough to parish organists of all skill levels. For three of the last four summers I’ve had the joy of studying improvisation with Kantor Hildebrand, organ playing with Kantor Resch, and handbells with Kantor Muth, in addition to studying theology, meeting fellow musicians, and being fed with the daily rhythm of prayer services.
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Church Music Workshops
Don’t forget to take a look at the Church Music Workshops being offered at Concordia Theological Seminary this summer. They are well worth your consideration.
Church Music Workshops @ CTSFW
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! As the music of Holy Week and Easter Sunday continues to ring in our ears, I’d like you to think about summer.
What’s happening this summer? The Church Music Workshops at Concordia Theological Seminary – Ft. Wayne, IN. This year there are opportunities for organists, AND choir directors, AND handbell directors/ringers. In other words, bring the whole crew.
These workshops are an excellent opportunity for fellowship, refreshment, and growth. I’ve attended twice over the last few summers and they were great experiences. See my previous reviews here and here.
- If you’re a musician, consider attending.
- If you’re a pastor, ask your musician(s) if they would like to attend.
- If you’re a lay person, offer to send your musician.
The following information is provided by Kantor Kevin Hildebrand:
2008 Organist Workshops
Are you a Lutheran organist wanting to become a better musician AND learn some Lutheran theology AND meet some other organists? If so, take a look at attending one of the 2008 Organist Workshops at Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, IN. They have recently posted their 2008 schedule on their website. This summer they are offering Organist Primer and Level 1. You don’t have to be an organ savant to attend – Kantor Resch and Kantor Hildebrand work with you at your current skill level.
If you’re wondering what it’s like, read my review here. If you’re a pastor or leader in your church, why not suggest that your organist attend? Why not offer to pay their way?
Kantor Resch put it this way in a paper he wrote for the 2001 Good Shepherd Institute’s conference on Christ’s Gifts in Liturgy: The Theology and Music of the Divine Service.
Parishes should encourage their church musicians to take full advantage of these opportunities for growth and offer significant financial support. Such an educational benefit for a valued member of the staff is not an extra, not a fluff benefit. I have seen the results of such continuing education every summer for twenty years on this campus. Annually about forty-five organists come, see, hear, learn, and are immersed in something that for most of them is new. After five days of being immersed in theology and practice, students leave with insights that make them different church musicians, able to understand more fully–and put into practice more effectively–their responsibilities in proclamation and teaching. (The Music of the Divine Service: Propers and Proclamation pg 49 in the 2001 Journal of the Good Shepherd Institute)
Walter E. Buszin – Wise Counsel for Today
I was unfamiliar with the name Walter Buszin until the summer of 2007 when I discovered that one of the most enduring choral collections of the 20th century – 101 Chorales Harmonized by Johann Sebastian Bach – was edited by Buszin. Prior to this, I had a dear friend from church who had told me on a number of occasions about a treasured book from her younger choral years – a book of Bach chorales. She evidently was talking of the Buszin edition.
Over the last two weeks I have been reading “Music for the Church: The Life and Work of Walter E. Buszin” by Kirby L. Koriath with 10 essays by Walter E. Buszin. As a brief summary, Buszin (1899-1973) was a Lutheran theologian, church musician, music editor, hymnologist, teacher, and liturgical scholar whose scholarly output is quite amazing. In some respects his work was more widely known outside of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS) despite being a professor at Concordia Seminary, music editor at Concordia Publishing House, and being on the Synod’s Commission on Worship, Liturgics, and Hymnology for 26 years.
This book presents today’s generation of pastors and church musicians with wise counsel on church music and liturgy. Buszin’s life shows a “mission of restoration and renewal in Lutheran church music and worship” (pg 27). He was deeply concerned that his church, the Lutheran church, had abandoned its fine heritage and replaced it with an unworthy and substandard successor. His life and words are still timely because he dealt with many of the same issues we encounter today – quality of hymnody, liturgy, choral and instrumental music.
As I read the book, I realized how I, as a church musician, have been shaped by Buszin without really knowing it. Buszin promoted the use of the chorale in hymnody, choral music, and organ music and seemed to be instrumental in bringing the sacred works of the “Golden Age of Lutheran Music” (16th – 18th centuries) to light. Besides relying extensively on this era of music for my weekly service playing, I have been shaped by my favorite modern Lutheran composers who write music on the chorales — Benjamin Culli, Kevin Hildebrand, Jeffrey Blersch, Kenneth Kosche, John Behnke, Michael Burkhardt, and Paul Manz. And finally, the Organist Workshops and Good Shepherd Institute at Concordia Theological Seminary introduced me to the thoughts of Buszin and helped me better understand and live my vocation as a church musician.
I hope that I might reflect, if only a glimmer, the passion that Buszin had for Lutheran church music and worship.