Anchored in the Past, Yet Forward Thinking

As the semester comes to a close, we celebrate alongside our students the academic achievements of our graduates and church musicians. During last week’s Honors Convocation, four Church Music students were honored for exceptional academic achievement and scholarly excellence.

On April 18, the Dunn Center hosted a Worship Lab Workshop at Trinity Baptist Church in San Antonio, TX, bringing together students and youth leaders from across the region for a day of learning, mentorship, and hands-on worship leadership training. Designed to explore both the how and the why of leading worship in the local church, the workshop combined practical skill-building, exemplary leadership models, and meaningful conversations about calling and ministry, offering students a formative experience that connected musical excellence with servant-hearted leadership.

Over the past several weeks, our students have taken their research well beyond the classroom, participating in academic conferences across the United States and around the world. Alongside faculty and alumni, they have contributed to important scholarly conversations about worship, music, and global Christian practice, sharing original research, lecture‑recitals, and performances with diverse academic communities. These gatherings highlight not only the depth of our students’ work, but also the collaborative ethos that connects generations of scholars as they carry our green and gold into the wider world.

The Black Worship Festival, held February 23–28, brought together artists, scholars, students, and community members for a week-long celebration of Black sacred music, creativity, and cultural exchange. Anchored by the Hearn Innovator Series in Christian Music, the festival welcomed 10-time Grammy Award–winning producer and composer Kevin Bond, the week then featured the internationally acclaimed Nathaniel Dett Chorale in a landmark performance of The Hosea Oratorio: A Gospel Jazz Hip Hop Spoken Word Fusion by Dr. Stephen Newby.