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The 2010 Dove Award-winning band Big Daddy Weave performed at Trinity on March 25, with Luminate and American Idol Season 6 finalist Chris Sligh helping to create an evening of Christian worship for hundreds.
“Having Big Daddy Weave, Luminate, and Chris Sligh on Trinity’s campus was such a memorable event,” said Emily Smith ’04, campaign gifts manager at Trinity. “The whole night was filled with worship, fellowship, and another story to tell of God’s working through people at Trinity.”
The concert was hosted by Trinity’s Development department with proceeds from the ticket sales benefiting the Trinity Fund. The Trinity Fund supplements funding for academic enrichment, scholarships, and facilities maintenance.
“I saw nothing but smiles on the faces of those who came to the show, as well as the band members who were able to talk about their music ministry with their fans,” said Nate Laning ’06, Trinity Fund coordinator. “I’m extremely excited to do a concert again next year to benefit the students of Trinity.”
The College wishes to thank the following event sponsors: Schepel Auto Group; Amber Mechanical Contractors, Inc.; Dutch Farms, Inc.; Oak Worth Plumbing, Providence Life Services; ProviNET Solutions; and Total Automation Concepts, Inc.
The band’s Love Come to Life Tour is presented by World Vision.
Photographs courtesy of Marketing and Communications Student Photographer Jesse VanMaanen ’12
This fall, Trinity’s new Black Studies minor will give students the opportunity to explore the global experience of people of African descent through history, literature, music, politics, psychology, and sociology.
By adding this minor to the academic program, Trinity is helping to lead the effort toward diversity in Christian higher education and in the Chicago area. The College is one of five members of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) and one of 18 local colleges to offer such a program.
The idea for the program came to Dr. David Brodnax, associate professor of history, while driving to campus. “Being a person of faith, I would say it was divine inspiration,” said Brodnax.
That moment of inspiration led to discussions with colleagues and a proposal for an interdisciplinary minor that combines classes from five other departments, including one new course, Jazz History.
The Black Studies program will benefit the College by increasing students’ knowledge of black culture, helping them develop their ability to view the world from multiple perspectives, and further enabling Trinity to carry out its commitment to diversity.
Over the last few years, the enrollment in courses such as African American history, African history, and black cinema has included students from various racial backgrounds and academic programs. Brodnax anticipates that the Black Studies minor will see the same level of diversity in its participants.
For more information, contact Dr. Brodnax at david.brodnax@trnty.edu or 708.239.4748.
Earlier this month, Trinity’s Concert Choir performed for the first time with the Southwest Symphony Orchestra for an “Afternoon of Lerner & Loewe.”
The Southwest Symphony Orchestra (SSO), headquartered in Oak Lawn, Illinois, is a group of approximately 60 active members and is directed by David Crane.
The SSO, with guest soloists Molly Clodius and Robert Heitzinger, and the choir, directed by Dr. Helen Van Wyck, associate professor of music, serenaded an audience of approximately 700 during the 90-minute show. The performance consisted of melodies from the famous musicals of Camelot, Paint Your Wagon, Gigi, and My Fair Lady, compiled into a single score by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe.
“This is unlike anything we’ve ever done before,” said Van Wyck during one of the choir’s practices. “Working with David Crane, a gifted musical genius, is a very unique opportunity, especially for a small-college choir of 50.”
Entering a new genre of music was initially a challenge for the choir, especially in performing alongside a larger instrumental ensemble. Despite this, the choir and orchestra delivered a “simply splendid performance,” said Crane.
“It has been a sincere pleasure to work with such talented students and Dr. Van Wyck,” he said.
For more information about Trinity’s music department, visit https://tcc.trnty.edu/depts/music/.
On a chilly Saturday afternoon on February 26, Melissa Conrad ’12 of Lake Zurich, Illinois, took an icy dip into Lake Andrea near Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, for a fundraiser benefitting the Special Olympics Wisconsin program.
Special Olympics provides year-round sports training and athletic competition for children and adults with cognitive disabilities, according to the organization’s website.
Conrad and approximately 500 others made the freezing jump as participants in the “Polar Plunge,” an annual event for Special Olympics Wisconsin that happens at various locations throughout the state. She learned of the event through a friend and took the opportunity to fundraise and ‘plunge’ with 17 other college students in her group.
“Being involved with the program has really taught me to be very conscious when it comes to taking life for granted,” said Conrad. “It’s reinforced that every day and every gift I have is precious and has shown me that there are so many ways to get involved with helping others in need.”
Conrad was able to raise $95, adding to her team’s total of $1,165.
“From this experience, I’ve learned two things – one being that jumping into a freezing-cold lake in the middle of winter is in fact as crazy as it sounds,” she said. “The second lesson is this: doing that crazy thing to raise money and awareness and give those who may not otherwise have an opportunity to participate in the Special Olympics was worth every second of not being able to feel my toes.”
Nearly 800 people filled the Ozinga Chapel on March 1 to experience the joyful and heart-warming talent of the Watoto Children’s Choir.
The choir is made up of more than 20 Ugandan orphans who are among the 2 million children left parentless because of war and disease. The choir has traveled all over the world since its beginning in 1994 to raise awareness and funds for the Watoto organization.
The enthusiastic 90-minute performance included singing, dancing, and testimonies of the children, who shared their stories of tragedy turned to hope through Christ. The audience of students, faculty, staff, and families from surrounding communities were on their feet during one song, clapping and dancing as they worshipped along with the choir.
“It was incredible to hear their testimonies of hope and see the pure joy in their faces and in their performance,” said Becky Vanderzee ’12 of Dyer, Indiana. “It was a powerful reminder to me to find hope in my relationship with God on a daily basis.”
Christine Carter ’12 of Wheaton, Illinois, led the audience in prayer before a free-will offering was taken by the campus organization Acting on Aids. The event was hosted by Student Activities.
The children and their caregivers were welcomed into the homes of professors, staff members, community members, and other friends of the College after the concert to rest for the night. Their Midwest tour began in September and ends this month.
For more information about Watoto, visit www.watoto.com.
Dr. Mark Peters, associate professor of music, has received a grant from the American Bach Society for travel to Germany to research the Magnificat cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach and his contemporaries.
The American Bach Society, founded in 1972, is designed to “support the study, performance, and appreciation” of Bach’s music in the United States and Canada, according to the Society’s website. Peters currently serves as the secretary-treasurer for the Society.
The William H. Scheide Research Grant is awarded once every two years to a Society member wanting to research Bach or others in his circle. Peters, and Markus Rathey, an associate professor of music history at Yale University’s School of Music, are the 2011 grant recipients.
Peters will spend three weeks in Berlin, where he plans to focus his current research on the settings of the Magnificat text in German. His submitted abstract states he will be “exploring the textual, liturgical, theological, and musical aspects of the ‘Meine Seele’ from Luther’s liturgical reforms to the cantatas of J.S. Bach and his contemporaries.”
The final goal of this research is a monograph titled “The German Magnificat from Martin Luther to J.S. Bach.”
Learn more about Dr. Peters.