By Emily Felty ’18, staff writer
Lebanon Valley College students, faculty and the surrounding community are joining together in an event to commemorate the beginning of the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation.
To celebrate, the Office of Spiritual Life, the Department of Music and the Department of English are preparing now for the event scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 30, 2016, at 7 p.m. in the newly renovated Miller Chapel.
Rev. Dr. Paul Fullmer, College Chaplain, is the primary coordinator for the event. He was inspired by a former faculty member, Professor Susan Verhoek, who reminded him of the anniversary and the talent at the college.
“The event is a commemoration of the 500 years since the posting of the 95 Theses by Martin Luther,” Chaplain Fullmer said. “It’s significant just to remember the history and the differences as to why we have different faith communities and perhaps it will be a spur to renew conversations about what we have in common, and what we can share more together. The event will be educational, informative and entertaining.”
The evening will feature organ preludes by members of the American Guild of Organists under the direction of Dr. Shelly Moorman-Stahlman and a one-man show with Dr. Kevin Pry portraying Martin Luther. Dr. Matthew Erpelding, the Director of Choral Activities and Assistant Professor of Music, will be directing the festival choir comprised of the Lebanon Valley College Concert Choir as well as local church choirs.
“We are going to be joining forces to provide authentic music from the day and age for the event,” Erpelding said. “The choir will be providing five specific chorale arrangements, some of them rooted in the actual tradition, others of them more modern, retakes on some of the Lutheran hymns. There’s a little bit of old and a little bit of new fused together.”
The massed choir will perform three hymns in English and two in the original German. Members of the Concert Choir and the community choirs will be practicing in an afternoon rehearsal before the performance.
“I’m very excited to engage with the community and to get to have them engage with our Concert Choir members,” Erpelding said. “For me, that’s going to be most exciting to see how our college students interact with members of the community. Hopefully we can build some bridges there.”
The event will be a group effort. As done in the past for services in Martin Luther’s time, the choral pieces will largely be prepared the day of the performance. Members of the massed choir will experience the reality of what it was like to practice together for a short time and then perform.
“It’s celebrating history,” Erpelding said. “You’re going to see drama, you’re going to see choral singing, you’re going to hear organ. It’s going to be a blast from the past with a new twist. It’s good for cultural immersion. It would be a great experience for people to not only see what their peers are doing and how they are contributing to the arts of LVC, but also see how their professors are doing.”
The performance is free and open to the public.
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