Larger Image- written by Manny Pereira, Georgetown Ontario

God is matchless in His grace, in His love and in His perfect giving. I love Him with all my heart and all my soul and all my strength. If you haven’t come to the realization that He has a plan for you or if you haven’t come to appreciate what that plan is, keep praying and when it dawns on you, you will be utterly overjoyed and amazed. Your life will open up to you and you will see things and feel things in the light of Christ…and you will wonder in awe and reverence at God’s perfect mind..

I want to share with you a little of my experience at the North American Composer’s Forum which I had the great fortune and pleasure of attending this past January. There is so much that I could tell you about in regards to that extended weekend engagement, however, I mostly want to talk about two things: the people and the music. Never in my life have I felt so out of place and so perfectly in place at the same time. There I was in attendance with a collection of people who were gifted by Almighty God with remarkable artistic talent, musical brilliance, great skill, professional and academic expertise, fun-loving wit, sound logic, a genuine desire to teach and learn…all this further to a group showing humility, Christian love for one another and endearing to fellowship in Christ for the love of God. I must tell you that the experience was a real joy
As the airplane approached Lexington Airport, I looked down at the rolling Kentucky hills dotted with horses and trees and thought it a beautiful setting. Some of the delegates arriving at that time convened and were warmly greeted by Major Mike Himes who graciously drove us to Asbury Theological Seminary. The campus was quaint, the atmosphere abuzz with students ending their first week of classes following their Christmas break. Our accommodations were stellar and I couldn’t have arranged for a better room mate: Kurtis Loveless, singer/songwriter for a group called, “Grounded.”. (For those of you who have not heard of this contemporary Christian rock group, allow me to direct you toward a real treat: www.groundedworship.com and www.myspace.com/groundedworship . It wasn’t until we all gathered for a banquet that introductions to (most) delegates were made. Dinner was exquisite and the company even better. Before the evening of the first day was over, we attended a Composition Recital Demonstration (vocal and instrumental demonstrations!); attended Session 1 (Forum Focus and Schedule Review); and ended the day with a Vespers service lead by James Anderson.

The two days to follow (before the day of departure) were jammed packed beginning with morning devotions after breakfast and ending at 10:00 or 10:30PM with a Vespers service. James Anderson was absolutely wonderful at expositing Scripture and delivering a message, relevant and witty and captivating. May God bless James and I will say this, those times of the day were my most favorite, valuable, special and memorable. It’s true. He grounded us at the start of the day and returned us to the real reason the NACF exists: To worship and glorify the Lord, Jesus Christ. The rest of the day, sandwiched in between these devotions, we focused on exercising the medium which we were gifted to praise the Lord with. Music.

Before I go any further, Dr. Ronald Holz (Professor of Music Literature and Instrumental Music) and his lovely wife, Dr. Beatrice Holz (Professor of Music Education, Choral Music and Voice), the Conference Coordinators (and I venture, the masterminds behind the event,) did an absolutely wonderful job. I cannot commend them enough on how flawlessly the weekend was organized and how smoothly the course of events melted away. Bravo to them both; it deserves noted acknowledgement. Those who work closely with them and especially the students benefiting from their wealth of knowledge are very fortunate. Ron launched Saturday’s agenda with Session 2: “Not for Beginners Only: Revisiting the ‘Fundamentals’ of Composition and Arranging.” This session brilliantly catered to all, everyone at their various levels of technical skill and academic know-how. Coming from a ‘music theory’ and technically depraved background, I probably got the most from this session than anyone else present.

Session 3: ‘Writing for Piano: Emphasis on writing piano parts addressed at realistic technical levels for SA mortals’ was presented by William Himes. The session was entertaining, engaging and practical. Bill drove home a very practical lesson in covering four essential principles to keeping piano writing at a level where even novice musicians can appreciate and perform rather than be put off by complexity in a written piece. Following this session I had my first tutorial with Major Len Ballantine. The personal tutorials provided a serious one-on-one critical evaluation and feedback session on any musical composition of your choosing: I chose to have Len review two songs titled,
“Luke 15:11-24” and “You Did It All For Me” (recorded by Church on Fire) This opportunity was a goldmine and I left that tutorial with some encouraging feedback as well as some excellent practical tools in conveying my musical ideas to other musicians given my limited technical and scoring ability.

Okay, now that I’m into this, I can’t imagine how long this article will be so I promise to be concise. I need to tell you about the Songwriter’s Workshops that were held, presented by Len Ballantine, Neil Smith, Marty Mikles and Bernie Dake (Marty and Bernie also have a truly talented contemporary Christian band called “Transmission.” You must check these guys out if you haven’t done so already; their music is good…powerful, relevant and very cool. www.martymikles.com. The workshops provided an interactive forum whereby original songs could be critiqued in an open, positive light. This was an entirely new concept piloted at this year’s forum and boy, did it ever take off: Everyone who participated benefited and enjoyed the session. How great it was to hear these greatly talented music minds, as well as hearing from other talented participants, address your own personal work with their views and perspective. It was non-threatening, logical and very educational.

I thoroughly enjoyed Session Six: ‘Writing for Large Ensemble Percussion: A Hands-On Lab Experience’ where Bill Himes and Bernie Dake toured us through virtually all the various percussion instruments, demonstrating how they are played and manipulated to produce their wondrous and thunderous effects. From the chime to the tympanic drums, this session was riveting and fun.

Saturday morning I sauntered into Session 8: ‘Classic Brass Lab: Draft Reading and Sharing Session.’ I had no idea that it was to be such an extraordinary, eye-opening experience. This session was for the brass ensemble composition writers what the songwriter’s workshop was to us songwriters. It was utterly amazing to see and hear; not only to listen to the creative works of the participants (and appreciating the complexity and huge amount of work having gone into each of the pieces) but to watch Ronald Holz and Jim Curnow pluck choice musical phrases and movements from these huge music scores and gently addressing them with their expert opinion and professional critical eye. So there I sat, in awe, knowing all of it, always, was to the glory of God.

Before I end this, I need to speak of two more people and the main event. (I am sensing I need to come to a conclusion soon.) Major Mike Himes and Major Cathy Himes are the SASF Directors at Asbury College. You will love these people and when you meet them in Heaven (or sooner if you are fortunate enough to,) you will know why. They are gracious, hospitable, warm and endearing and their work/involvement in ensuring that the needs of everyone else were met was an inspiration to me. I love to see Christ in the body of Christ; we learn from each other…from those that allow the Spirit of Christ to live through them. (So, thank you, Mike and Cathy for also teaching me something exceptionally valuable.)

Sunday morning arrived, the day of departure, and all the delegates met for a Service of Worship and Consecration ministered by Len Ballantine. Len read from Mark 15, Jesus the Real Vine: Verse 5 reads, “I am the vine, and you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will bear much fruit; for you can do nothing without me.” ‘Nothing without Jesus.’ That morning, in fellowship with such an excellent group of believers, collected together from the reaches of North America by a common craft and committed to glorifying the Lord through song and music, we were blessed by the Holy Spirit. I know we were blessed because as I sheepishly wiped tears away, I watched as others did the same, heads bowed in reverence and humility, utterly assured that we were indeed nothing without Jesus. It was powerful and real and joyous. United in prayer and worship, we were anointed and blessed. It was the main event. I will never forget that time.

I hope some of you interested readers get the opportunity to attend the event in the future. There was so much more, I feel like I do no justice to the reality of the weekend’s events, however, you and I need to get back to work. I am so very thankful to Ron and Bea Holz, all of the instructors, facilitators, faculty and staff for all the work they put into the Forum. Len, thank you for inviting me, I am grateful. It really was great and I have a bank of memories and learned material that I will access frequently. And to all the delegates that attended with me… God created all the stars in the heavens and He knows them by name…so He’s still creating some more.

(Mary, Kurtis, Rob, Marty, Bernie…and more…I’m praying for ya.)

Note from Church on Fire: We could use your prayer and support. Please check us out at www.kingdombound.org Please support us by submitting your vote (if you feel another group deserves your vote, please do give it to them) and God willing we'll all work together for the glory of God. Thanks! Praise be to God!

P.S. I would like to personally invite you and your family to a Church on Fire concert April 26 (Saturday) 7pm at The Salvation Army Georgetown Community Church. Come and see how much God has blessed us, I think you’ll be surprised. Please pray for us and if you can support us in any way, we could use it.