The 19th Annual Andrews University Music & Worship Conference on February 19, from 6:00-7:30 pm at the Howard Performing Arts Center, opened with Dr. David Williams’s statement: “As we do our various worship activities, we build community, but we’ve also learned the profound role that arts and music in particular play in healing our minds, healing the wounds of the pandemic–and there is much evidence for this. And so tonight it’s not just the performance, it’s not a concert, but we’ve titled this–our conference theme–“Healing Together.” Perhaps maybe we’ve gathered for a little music therapy tonight, or we’ve gathered to hear some healing ministry.”
A moment later, a string quartet featuring some of the music students of AU entered the stage and performed Tchaikovsky’s “Andante Cantabile” from his first String Quartet Op. 11, launching a program filled with diverse musical styles and ensembles. Appropriately played within the theme of healing, the pastoral strings generated an atmosphere of beautiful calm and restorative tranquility. Tchaikovsky’s depictive-programmatic style here really shone in its ability to soothe souls with its sensitivity to emotion and the human experience.
The quartet was followed by the Seminary Chorus, a group that consisted of Korean singers from the Seminary Choir who sang two calming songs in Korean with piano accompaniment. Shifting gears to a different musical style, members of the Watchmen performed compelling renditions of “Falling in Love with Jesus,” “I’d Rather Have Jesus,” and “Sometimes It Takes a Mountain” with their harmonious vocals and Philip Wekesa’s (junior, music) skills with the ivory keys.
As Dr. Williams returned to the stage, he introduced a gospel choir and the Christian gospel music they would be presenting: “On the Morning Trumpet” and “Precious Lord.” He made sure to note that “if you only hear Christ’s second coming, you’re not listening. It’s also about the pandemic. It’s about healing together.” Similarly, for “Precious Lord,” Williams says “the song isn’t about 1965, is it. Having a dream is also about the pandemic. And the pandemic not of racism and the 1960s but of today. If you’re hearing “I Have a Dream” speech in the 1960s, then you’re not hearing the words of the song.” After the selections, a few members of the gospel choir returned to the stage and sang “There is a Balm in Gilead” continuing in the gospel style of worship. This section of the concert closed with a powerful duet of “Speak the Name.”
Dr. Williams came on stage to introduce the main artist of the event: Josiah Ruff. As a successful singer, songwriter, arranger, composer, and producer of a reputedly “neo-gospel pop” sound, he’s recorded seven albums and is currently working on his eighth. According to Williams, Ruff has sung on many big stages around the US with audiences of thousands and has been included in the “One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism” hymnal. When Josiah Ruff himself arrived on stage, he reiterated the point of the program–to bring healing and worship through music. He launched into a series of his original music with backing tracks or accompanying himself on piano. One of the audience members, Guimel Gonzalez Hernandez (graduate, masters in divinity) says, “my favorite part of the program was at the very end when the special guest played his original song on the piano. Besides the lyrics being really deep, his interpretation of the song was really moving.”
With his unique neo-gospel pop sonic landscape and message of healing through music for the Lord, Josiah Ruff created a healing ministry that sought to draw eyes to God. The lyrics of the songs focused on running to Jesus as a source of comfort, seeing God as the source of all strength, and looking to Him as someone who will never forsake us. Within the context of the passionate musical style, Ruff articulated a message of healing during troubled times, one that heavily focused on one’s faith and reliance on God as the Great Sustainer. Guimel says, “in my personal experience, music is the avenue through which I seek refuge in stressful times. For creators, music serves as a vehicle to let out and express feelings, emotional turmoil, and frustration, and in that process heal from those things.”
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.