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Church Music Institute Summer Intensive 2023
August 4, 2023 @ 8:00 am - August 8, 2023 @ 5:00 pm CDT
Course Overview:
"Equipping Leaders to Serve the Saints", August 4-5, followed by "Music and Worship: Imagine & Explore" for early career worship leaders, August 6-8 in Dallas, TX. Clinicians are Dr. Margaret Evans, Prof. Stefan Engels, Mr. Ethan Haman, Dr. Don Horisberger, Prof Ellen Johnston, Ms. Stephanie Rhoades, Ms. Leanne Seabright, Dr. Marcell Steuernagel, and more.
On site at Church Music Institute, on the Highland Park UMC campus, SMU and Canterbury House (Dallas, TX).
*Unable to attend in person, but don't want to miss this dynamic experience? All sessions will be recorded and available after the conference. Please go ahead and register and the appropriate link(s) will be sent to you sent afterward to view as you are able!
Click here for a detailed schedule.
Click here for event materials (password protected for those registered).
Equipping Leaders to Serve the Saints - August 4-5
A workshop of latest resources, practices and ideas to navigate a post-pandemic environment. Conversations between seasoned and new musicians to build a positive future for worship. Come "build" with colleagues and plan your 2023-24 program year!
Registration Information for Aug 4-5:
Cost: $75 (for members) & $150 (for non-members which includes membership) plus $15 for Saturday lunch (optional)
If you are a member, .
If you are not a member, .
To sign up for the optional lunch on Saturday 8/5, .
Music & Worship: Imagine & Explore - August 4-8
Beginning with the Summer Intensive, join the CMI and early career musicians in a retreat that focuses on church musicians in the beginning stages of their careers. These sessions will inspire and prepare you to lead meaningful worship whether you are serving in a small or large congregation. A project specific to your interests and work setting will result.
Registration Information for Aug 4-8:
Cost: $150 (for AGO, ACDA, NPM, and AFPC Members) & $200 (for non-Members) plus $15 for Saturday lunch (optional)
To register for the Summer Intensive (Aug 4-8) for Early Career Church Musicians for AGO, ACDA, NPM, and AFPC Members, .
To register for the Summer Intensive (Aug 4-8) for Early Career Church Musicians for non-AGO, ACDA, NPM, and AFPC Members, .
To sign up for the optional lunch on Saturday 8/5, .
Housing for August 4-8.
CMI recommends a commercial site such as Travelocity, Trivago, Expedia or calling hotels directly for making housing arrangements. The hotels closest to the event are the Sonesta (10325 N Central Expy, Dallas, TX 75231•(214) 739-2500) and the Beeman (6070 N US 75, N
Central Expy #1000, Dallas, TX 75206 (214) 750-6060.
Scholarship for August event:
Anyone seeking a scholarship for August 4-8 may apply to the Paul Lindsley Thomas Society. Read ASPIRING TO THE IDEALS OF PAUL LINDSLEY THOMAS (live link) and Click Here for the application.
DEADLINE TO REGISTER: July 31st at noon CST to reserve lunch and to assure materials/links will be ready for you. Note: Sessions will be recorded, so all sessions will be available to anyone registering for the event.
Faculty Information:
Dr. Margaret R. Evans, Professor Emerita of Music at Southern Oregon University in Ashland, OR, is creator of the Sacred Organ Online Library database. She was a church musician for 45 years. She earned her D.M.A. degree at the Eastman School and served 4 years as AGO Vice President. Since she started buying organ music she has kept an index of pieces by hymn tune, and used this index every week throughout her church ministries.
Prof. Stefan Engels was appointed professor of organ and Leah Young Fullinwider Centennial Chair in Music Performance at SMU in 2014, where he is also head of the Organ Department at the Meadows School of the Arts. This appointment was preceded by his positions as professor of organ at the University of Music and Performing Arts “Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy” in Leipzig, Germany (2005-2015), and as associate professor of organ at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey (1999-2005).
At SMU, Engels teaches students in the Master of Music, Performer’s Diploma, Artist Diploma, and Master of Sacred Music programs. In addition, he teaches classes in organ pedagogy, literature, improvisation and registration, prepares students for participation in competitions, and travels to different churches in the area in order to teach the students at their respective church positions. Many of Engels’ students have won prizes at international competitions and also hold positions as organists at prestigious churches in Dallas. Engels promotes a constructive, collaborative, challenging, positive and inspiring educational environment, where the students greatly support one another. Prof. Engels is currently in the process of recording all the organ works of J.S. Bach.
Mr. Ethan Haman from Fremont, CA, is the organist and assistant conductor at Noroton Presbyterian Church in Darien, CT, and organist at Yale University’s Marquand Chapel. He completed a Master of Music degree in Organ Performance in 2021 at the Yale School of Music and Institute of Sacred Music studying with Jon Laukvik and Craig Cramer, and a Master of Musical Arts degree in Organ Performance in 2022, studying with Martin Jean. In 2019 he graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Southern California, where he double majored in Organ Performance studying with Cherry Rhodes and in Composition with Morten Lauridsen, Andrew Norman, Donald Crockett, Sean Friar, and Daniel Temkin. In 2022 he was recipient of the Audience Prize and finalist in the AGO National Competition in Organ Improvisation.
Dr. Don Horisberger holds degrees from Capital University (B.M.) and Northwestern University (M.Mus. and D.Mus.) where he studied with Karel Paukert, Wolfgang Rübsam, and Margaret Hillis. He also studied organ and church music as a Fulbright-Hayes scholar to Germany.
His career spans service to churches in multiple denominations, with 30 years at The Church of the Holy Spirit in Lake Forest, IL where he led adult, children’s, and handbell choirs, taking the adult choir to five week-long residencies at major English Cathedrals. In addition, he was Associate Conductor of the Chicago Symphony Chorus as part of his 40 year association with the CSC as singer, bass section leader, German coach.
Now semi-retired in the Madison, WI area, Don continues as guest conductor, recital organist, clinician, and lecturer. A member of the Association of Church Musicians in Madison, he recently conducted a choral festival and played on member benefit recitals, and he continues with occasional church work, especially at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, Madison.
Professor Ellen Johnston is recently retired as the Director of the Music, Liturgy, and the Arts at Virginia Theological Seminary, a program which offers continuing education by means of conferences and symposia, provides a consultancy service for parishes and dioceses, and offers distance learning opportunities. She is Vice-Chair of the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music for the Episcopal Church, and former Director of Music at the Church of the Holy Comforter in Richmond, Virginia. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Centenary College and M.M. from Southern Methodist University.
Ms. Stephanie Rhoades is Director of Worship and Music at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Dallas, TX. She is also Conductor and Artistic Director of Concert Bells of Fort Worth and recently served as Minister of Music and the Arts at Northaven UMC in Dallas. With a reputation as an effective and engaging teacher, she has been a clinician and guest conductor for numerous workshops and festivals across the country, including the Presbyterian Worship and Music conferences at Mo-Ranch and Montreat, Music & Worship Arts Week at Lake Junaluska, Distinctly Bronze East 2020, Handbell Musicians of America National Seminar, and the Greater Dallas Handbell Association Spring Festival. She has a long history of serving on local and area boards including serving as an At-Large Member to the National Board of the Handbell Musicians of America and President of GDHA. An accomplished ringer, she was a member of the acclaimed Dallas Handbell Ensemble, directed by David R. Davidson, and has participated in Distinctly Bronze (East and West) and several Advanced Seminar Choirs. A graduate of Perkins School of Theology at SMU, Ms. Rhoades earned her Master of Sacred Music degree in choral conducting shortly after earning her undergraduate degree in music from Yale University. Her parents, both music teachers (retired), encouraged her to play the violin and trumpet in addition to singing, ringing, and dancing. A Certified Personal Trainer, she recently began working in the health and fitness industry. Her non-musical interests include training for sprint triathlons and cycling.
Ms. Leanne Seabright received her Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education from the College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati, and a Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting from Southern Methodist University. She grew up in the Lutheran Church, her father being a retired Lutheran minister, and has served as a Director of Music for various Methodist churches. Leanne’s experience also includes conducting Community Choirs; an Opera Chorus; a Festival Chorus, and teaching PreK-5th grade music. She and her family lived in Leipzig, Germany for almost 5 years, where her two youngest daughters were born. Leanne moved to Dallas in 2014 with her husband and three daughters, current ages 17, 11 and 10.
Marcell Silva Steuernagel, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor of Church Music and Director of the Master of Sacred Music and Doctor of Pastoral Music Programs at Southern Methodist University’s Perkins School of Theology. Marcell writes at the intersection of church music, theology, musicology, and performance theory. He served as Minister of Worship, Arts and Communication at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Curitiba, Brazil, for more than a decade, and is an internationally active composer and performer. His most recent monograph is Church Music Through the Lens of Performance, published on Routledge’s Congregational Music Studies series.