I wish I could beam you to Sewanee, Tennessee and show you around the campus of “the University of the South.” Together we might wander through the shady arboretum on campus, stopping to identify trees and wildflowers, following serpentine sand-colored walkways through stone archways and long, cool colonnades. You’d notice right away that it looks like England.
I’d show you my little room in St. Luke’s Hall (dorm beds are less comfortable than I remember), the dining hall with Hogwarts vibes, and a small Scottish castle that serves as the alumni house. Then we’d go for a long ramble to Green’s View on the bluff of the Cumberland Plateau, overlooking miles of forests, farm fields, and soaring hawks. Black bears are rare (believe me, I checked), so we’d double back to campus through a wooded ravine garden called “Abo’s Alley,” listening to the music of water over stone, cicadas, songbirds, and distant bells. The forests smell like pine, and dragonflies hover over jewelweed. It’s beautiful.
I’m just back from a week at the 2024 Sewanee Church Music Conference, an annual, intense camp for musicians and one of the oldest retreats of its kind. There were about one hundred organists, conductors, and singers from around the country (mostly from the South), and we sang, talked, rehearsed, and sang some more. While I did get a chance to explore the trails, most of my time was spent singing and talking about music and its role in people’s spiritual lives.
Two teachers led our sessions; conductor and organist Richard Webster brought decades of experience and many interesting stories. (He recently played the organ for the funeral of Michelle Obama’s mother, for example.) Our other instructor, Monica Berney, is one of America’s leading young concert organists whose recordings have been featured on Pipedreams. I think you’d be fascinated by the conducting class in which my fellow students stood up and were gently critiqued for how effectively they waved their arms. There was even a workshop for keyboardists on how to lead a choir using only your head.
Each rehearsal functioned as a laboratory. We sang rites from the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, and most of our services were held in a spectacular church in the heart of campus, All Saints’ Chapel, a shining example of late Gothic Revival architecture. I think you’d be captivated by the sparkling stained-glass windows containing sacred Bible stories and secular images from the Civil Rights Movement. There’s even a Volkswagen Beetle!
I left with my heart full of gratitude for all the beautiful music in the world and its power to soothe, heal, and inspire.
Sewanee Church Music Conference 7-12-24 from Sewanee Media Services on Vimeo.