1855 Knollcrest Circle SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4402 USA
On the campus of Calvin University
© 2025 Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
This event was co-sponsored by the Frederik Meijer Chair in Dutch Language and Culture at Calvin College.
A remarkable combination of gifts come together in Psalms Unplugged. To begin, the texts are fresh and contemporary settings of the ancient biblical psalms. In addition, the tunes are also fresh and contemporary versions of 16th century tunes from the Genevan Psalter of 1562, produced under the leadership of John Calvin. A third combination of gifts comes from members of The Psalm Project, professional musicians under the leadership of Eelco Vos who had a vision to dress historical treasures in 21st century sounds.
When first learning of the work of The Psalm Project, we at the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship were intrigued by their vision and by the excellence of their work. [After all, psalters set to the Genevan melodies are still available in Dutch, English, German, Hungarian, Indonesian, and Japanese. The tune of Psalm 134 is the best known tune in hymnals around the entire world. ] So we eagerly encouraged them to consider a recording with English texts. Psalms Unplugged is the result. We also invited them to participate in the Calvin Symposium on Worship in 2011 to introduce them to a North American audience. We rejoice in their approach to revive singing of the psalms, the prayer book of the church of all times and places.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
