1855 Knollcrest Circle SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4402 USA
On the campus of Calvin University
© 2025 Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
The Aeolians of Oakwood University, established in 1946, performs choral music repertoire from the Baroque era to;the 21st century, under the direction of Jason Max Ferdinand. In 2017, they won the Choir of the World award at the LLangollen International Musical Festival. In 2018, they won three gold medals at the 10th World Choir Games and the championship in both the University Choirs and the Spirituals categories. In 2019, they became the first HBCU;choir to be selected from blind auditions to perform at the National ACDA Conference.
Jason Max Ferdinand is a professor, the director of choral activities, and the chair of the music department at Oakwood University, Huntsville, Alabama. He is in his twelfth season conducting the world-renowned The Aeolians of Oakwood University. He maintains an active schedule as a composer, presenter, adjudicator, and guest conductor for high school, collegiate, and church choirs throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and the Caribbean. His choral series bearing his name is in circulation by Walton Music, a division of GIA Publications, Inc. His greatest passion is watching those who he has mentored become conductors and composers in their own right.
PRONE TO WONDER
Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty (Reginald Heber; arr. Adrian T. Westney)
We Shall Overcome (arr. Robert T. Gibson)
Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing (Robert Robinson; arr. Mack Wilberg)
THE JOURNEY OF OUR LIFE
Pilgrims’ Chorus from “Tannhäuser” (Richard Wagner; arr. William Dawson)
Examine Me (Cedric Dent)
The Chariot Jubilee (R. Nathaniel Dett; instrumentation arr. Jason Max Ferdinand) Roderick George, Tenor
The Gospel Train (arr. Ken Burton)
Away and in Danger (Shawn Kirchner)
Shout For Joy (Adolphus Hailstork)
When I Lay Me Down to Sleep (James Mulholland)
WHOM SHALL I FEAR?
Jehovah Sabaoth (Donald Lawrence)
Someday (arr. Nathan Carter)
Why and how did psalm singing become such a hallmark of Reformed worship? Join Dr. Karin Maag for a fascinating journey through time, from Reformation Geneva to Scotland and from the Netherlands to New England, exploring the roots and impact of metrical psalm singing. Along the way, we will hear the voices of early modern Christians as they learned how to sing the psalms, both in unison and in harmony.
John Goldingay, an Anglican priest and the senior professor of Old Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary, posits the psalms are the densest material in the entire Old Testament. They expound the nature of God as the compassionate, faithful, and committed one, but also as the one who makes demands upon us. The psalms help us talk to God, even about difficult things—and when we do, we are talking to someone who is in a position to do something about it.
Sister Kathleen Harmon of the community of the Ohio province of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur in Dayton, invites us to be transformed by the psalms and experience them as the whole story God is revealing to us. As we keep praying and singing them, the psalms interpret us, and that’s when the transformation comes.
Why and how did psalm singing become such a hallmark of Reformed worship? Join Dr. Karin Maag for a fascinating journey through time, from Reformation Geneva to Scotland and from the Netherlands to New England, exploring the roots and impact of metrical psalm singing. Along the way, we will hear the voices of early modern Christians as they learned how to sing the psalms, both in unison and in harmony.
John Goldingay, an Anglican priest and the senior professor of Old Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary, posits the psalms are the densest material in the entire Old Testament. They expound the nature of God as the compassionate, faithful, and committed one, but also as the one who makes demands upon us. The psalms help us talk to God, even about difficult things—and when we do, we are talking to someone who is in a position to do something about it.
Sister Kathleen Harmon of the community of the Ohio province of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur in Dayton, invites us to be transformed by the psalms and experience them as the whole story God is revealing to us. As we keep praying and singing them, the psalms interpret us, and that’s when the transformation comes.
Vinroy D. Brown Jr.—conductor, musicologist, educator, and minister of creative worship and music at the historic Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York City—explores the vibrant intersection of Black sacred music and the psalms. He talks about Black composers and how they have reimagined the psalms through choral music, spirituals, and the gospel tradition for the benefit of everyone.
