A deep desire to write and share music brought together students, teachers and liturgical musicians to the Sacred Music Workshop hosted by St. Michael’s College and Emmanuel College on November 30.
Bringing a range musical experience and songwriting styles more than 40 participants gathered in Charbonnel Lounge for a glimpse into the hymn writing process. The workshop was facilitated by Kate Williams of GIA Publications and included a hymn writing session followed by a choral reading. “GIA Publications publishes sacred music with a number of new titles every year. We offer these sessions to introduce our new music. By offering these workshops, the music comes off the page so participants can have an experiential encounter rather than just seeing it on a piece of paper,” said Kate.
As a part of the workshop, participants were invited to submit a text and tune in advance. Each of the submitted works was sung with accompaniment and participants were invited to offer their constructive feedback. The composers introduced their pieces and spoke about their inspirations that ranged from creation and personal experiences to people and Biblical texts.
Aisinn Nowelle graduated from Emmanuel College and has had a piece published previously by GIA Publications. She submitted a new piece titled ‘God is my Shepherd’, dedicated to her pastor in celebration of his retirement, to be workshopped at the session.
“Hymns formed the base of songs that I grew up with and now I feel that with more contemporary songs being written, there’s fewer hymns being written for today’s context. I think it’s nice to have songs that sound like hymns but are fresh and accessible,” she says.
Jim Kuhn is a self-taught songwriter and has been writing songs for his congregation since the 1970s. He came to the workshop to get an outside perspective on his work.
“It’s a bit of a challenge presenting in front of people who have way more music theory knowledge than I do. I wanted to come to figure out if what I’m writing has any relevance. I decided to take the opportunity to get some feedback and see if I’m at least going in the right direction,” he says.
For Jenna Smith, who submitted her piece titled ‘Gently Lead Us’, it was her first time sharing a piece widely.
“It’s the first time I’ve heard this piece live and it was exciting. I’ve learned some things and I’m going to tweak some things for the future, but the experience was very educational and fun,” she says.
Rob Cretney submitted his hymn titled ‘I Am’. Having grown up in a Christian family, he was familiar with hymns, but this was his first time writing one. He is in his final year studying music at Wilfred Laurier University and interested in learning more about the programs at St. Michael’s.
“I’m at the stage where I’m just taking as much feedback as I can and it was super helpful,” he says.
Kate enjoys leading the workshops at St. Michael’s and thanks Christina Labriola, Sonal Castelino and the Campus Ministry team for the hospitality they show GIA Publications each year. “Charbonnel Lounge is the perfect space for this gathering, and I jump at the chance to make some really good music together and get to know everyone in a warm and comfortable setting,” she says.