A quick and beautiful spring in Dallas

Springtime in Dallas is wonderful--perfect temperatures, warm sunshine in a clear blue sky, and birds singing as we wake up in the morning. This spring we have been busy with work and school, but we've also taken time to relax together and enjoy what the city of Dallas has to offer. Here are some highlights from the past few months:

Symposium on Music and Worship, Duke University (March 24-25)

I was invited to be one of six speakers at a very special weekend symposium hosted at Duke University. The theme of the symposium was "What is the right kind of music for worship if . . . " and each of the speakers focused on a different part of that question. My topic was "What is the right kind of music if you want vibrant indigenous worship?" It was a real challenge to think about what I'd like to share in just one hour on such an enormous topic! In the end, I focused on ways that different cultures have different theological questions that are most urgent for them. As a community expresses those theological questions through music, different musical genres may be more helpful for them. For instance, a culture that values community togetherness may have more questions about who God is for them as a whole community, rather than simply for each individual in the community. And so a musical style in which everyone can be involved together might be more meaningful and appropriate than a kind of music that highlights a "star" solo singer.

I was very nervous about this conference leading up to it (the other speakers there are all brilliant), but I had a great time while there. It was nice to see some old friends who made the trip especially to attend the conference, and also to make new friends.

 

Music transcription at GIAL

This semester I've taught three classes. Two of them were independent studies, where I had weekly meetings one-on-one with students to help them prepare for writing a master's thesis and their master's comprehensive exams.

The other class is called Song Transcription and Analysis. We meet three times each week, and the students are assigned audio examples of musical styles from around the world, which they have to listen to and figure out how to write down. After notating the music, then we look at the transcriptions and consider how to analyze what's happening in the music. It's a challenge, and the students are doing great! We have one more month of the class, during which the students will be preparing final research projects on a musical genre from Brazil.

Office retreat

In April, the staff at the Center for Excellence in World Arts took a couple days to leave the office and enjoy a retreat together. We spent time in Dallas, and then went to a beautiful house in the woods for times of prayer, reflection, and fun together. One of the places we visited in Dallas was the amazing Thanksgiving Chapel. It's a multi-faith prayer room, and when you look up, you see an astounding spiral stained glass ceiling. I've wanted to see this building for a long time, and it was as wonderful as I'd hoped.

 

A visit to the Perot Museum

Dallas boasts a huge number of excellent museums, and we used a day off during Easter weekend to visit the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, right in downtown Dallas. The Perot has four floors full of fascinating exhibits. Our favorite was the top floor, which features dinosaurs, and also astronomy. We'd been so busy with school and work that we were ready for a fun day in the city, and the Perot Museum was the perfect spot.

 

James and Cameron on stage

The kids' school (where Joyce teaches, too), UME Preparatory Academy, has a wonderful theater teacher, and James and Cameron have both enjoyed being part of the theater program. This semester we got to see each of them in great roles on stage. First, Cameron's class performed Antigone, with Cameron in the main role as Creon. He did a fantastic job and loved every minute of it!

Then James acted in a one-act play called The Curious Savage. His group took their performance to a competition and was selected to move on to the State competition (this Saturday!). In between those two competitions, they performed the play at the school for two nights. My parents came down to visit so they could watch the play with us, and we all loved it.

End of the semester, and looking ahead to the summer

As the semester finishes in the next month, Joyce has many final details and grading for her middle school History classes, and the kids have testing and final projects in their classes. We are beginning to look ahead to the summer, which will include hosting some good friends at our house, and a road trip out West--which this year will include one of James's best friends from Ukarumpa. Thank you for your prayers and support of us as we continue to train the next generation of music and arts workers for the field!

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