This past Sunday, October 27, the Rollins Choir participated in performing a Moravian Love Feast at First Congregational Church United Church of Christ. The choir and orchestra were gathered early that morning to yet again astound ears with performances of archaic Moravian music that have not yet been performed in over some 200 years. This time around though, they were first modern performances of composer Johann Friedrich Peter’s Moravian pieces. These pieces having been edited by 15 Rollins College students when they took a musical pilgrimage to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania over the summer to spend some time highering their education in Moravian music history, editing and brushing dust off of archived pieces, and shedding light ashed forgotten songs reviving in remembrance with thanks to the Moravian Music Foundation and Rev. Dr. Nola Reed Knouse. These same students not only worked relentlessly on the pieces in applying their musically theoretical knowledge but utilized their artistry in conducting to lead the choir and orchestra during the service.
Aside from having performed some of the songs at their Fall Concert the previous Thursday, singing the whole program in its aesthetic entirety permeated the Love Feast with an iconic and lush doctrine authenticity. Those in the pews beamed with the resonance of combined strings, brass, organ, and voices as they exclaimed the reminiscence of a history strong and lavish. The appreciation for the effort put in by the students of the Rollins College Music Department, Dr. John Sinclair, and Moravian Music Foundation and Rev. Dr. Nola Reed Knouse is mutual and expressed as each play an astounding part in keeping alive and fueling this fire until it breaches the brim. The Love Buns and juice were excellent, but the music was twice as sweet and service just as overflowing a bountiful of great things. Congratulations and thank you to all and continuously involved!
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