are full of music-making, with small ensemble days, listening quizzes, research, and writing. If you take her face-to-face Global Music course, be prepared to do cardio! I think this class should count toward a physical education elective! I wish you could hear Dr. Yang’s beautiful prayers at the beginning of class. The classroom teaching is excellent from all department faculty. The Lord has built a phenomenal, world-class faculty in this department at this school we may affectionately say is in the middle of the cornfields. He works in mysterious ways. THE TRANSFORMATIVE POWER OF MUSIC Private lessons are taught morning, afternoon, and sometimes evenings. The halls are alive with the sound of music. Peek into Dr. Mortensen’s studio and you will most likely see him sitting in the green chair by the window, intently listening to his students. You might find Prof. Connie Anderson ’73 clapping and doing a happy dance with her students! “Prof Troth” is sitting at the piano and playing for her contemporary voice students, whether they are singing Caro Mio Ben or a beloved hymn arrangement. Prof. Chilcote, or “Dr. Chill,” as I call him, sits right next to his contemporary guitar students, guiding them through a myriad of guitar techniques. Prof. Elias stands next to his violin students, listening and playing passages with and for his students. Dr. Jenkins '97 has his saxophone around his neck as he demonstrates note bending or other basics of saxophone pedagogy. Dr. Jaquith and his music composition students sit in front of huge computer screens as they define and refine their original music. You may think we are only teaching music, but we are really teaching life, and Jesus, and life with Jesus. God is the only explanation I have for the transformative power of music. He works in mysterious ways. The afternoons in the DMC are reserved for department ensemble rehearsals. Our beloved Senior Professor Dr. Lyle Anderson '70 directs the Concert Chorale with love and passion. He is a beautiful example of steadfastness and perseverance. The Wind Symphony and the Jazz Band are in the capable hands of Dr. Jenkins. Have you heard Dr. Jenkins’s impersonation of the late Dr. Dave Matson '60? It is spot on! Both Dr. Anderson and Dr. Jenkins are Cedarville University alumni. They are living proof that the department prepares students for lifelong professional careers in music. Prof. Elias and the University Orchestra stay very busy both on and off campus playing the standard orchestral repertoire. Dr. O’Neel directs Jubilate, our worship leading choir. “Jubes” rehearses in DMC 164, across from the Christian Ministries office. They sing the music of today’s church enthusiastically. Our worship bands, Resonance and Rekindle, led by “Dr. Chill,” are on the road as often as our HeartSong Ministries teams. Like HeartSong, they represent the University and the Gospel very well. I direct the Women’s Choir, and they are amazing … in spite of their crazy director! I am confirmation that God works in mysterious ways. ECHOING THE CREATOR’S VOICE I love listening to the cacophony of sounds coming from the studios and rehearsal spaces. The kaleidoscope of music reminds me of the creative genius of God. God used His voice and spoke creation into being. He created our earthly home through His words. His beautifully ordered plan for creation was perfect, without blemish or flaw. He created everything out of nothing — ex nihilo (Gen 1:1–31). How amazing that we, His children, get to participate in creating music that will lift high the name of Jesus and point others to the Gospel. Can you believe what God has done at Cedarville University? Can you believe He allowed a sassy soprano from Texas to be part of His Kingdom work in the fertile farmland of Greene County, Ohio? Oh, the wonder of it all. The only explanation for Cedarville University is God. The only explanation for Beth Cram Porter is God. He works in mysterious ways. This is my Father's world, and to my listening ears all nature sings, and round me rings the music of the spheres. This is my Father's world: I rest me in the thought of rocks and trees, of skies and seas, his hand the wonders wrought* * Maltbie D. Babcock, “This is My Father’s World,” Verse 1, 1901, The Baptist Hymnal (Nashville, TN: Convention Press, 1991), 43. God used His Word, whether spoken or sung, to advance His Kingdom and to transform me. Even as I gave back to God through song, God was recreating me. He works in mysterious ways. Beth Cram Porter is Chair of the Department of Music and Worship. She earned her MA in music from Western Carolina University. 7
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