School of Music ensembles tour the nation and beyond

Liberty University School of Music groups have wrapped up a busy year of performances and leading worship on campus and around the country. In May, Vessel — the school’s modern worship band that regularly leads worship on campus and in churches — continued its ministry into the summer with a tour through Germany.

After traveling throughout Virginia, Maryland, and North Carolina during the spring semester, the nine-member group flew to Germany to lead worship at Bible Seminary of Bonn and at several churches and schools throughout Cologne, Bornheim, Niedernberg, Lemgo, and Detmold.

School of Music Dean Dr. Stephen Müller had connections with a School of Music alum in Germany who helped provide opportunities for Vessel to lead worship there.

“Trips like this are a great way to connect our alumni with our current students while reaching future students,” Müller said.

Senior worship leadership student Graham Guy, a vocalist and acoustic guitar player who serves as a student leader for Vessel, said the tour was a great opportunity to take the Gospel from Lynchburg and share it abroad. He said the visit to Bible Seminary of Bonn was his favorite event.

“One thing I noticed is how hungry the students were for Jesus, and specifically some of the students were majoring in music at the seminary,” Guy said. “It’s very uncommon over there to be a full-time worship artist or anything like that, so it was really cool to get to talk with those students and see how they grow, how they worship, and how they do it as a job at the same time.”

Crissa Davis, a junior vocalist studying commercial music performance, said the tour was also an opportunity to serve fellow Christians.

“Believers are more scarce there than in the United States, so it was amazing to go and be the hands and feet of Jesus and to encourage them to keep going and keep pursuing Jesus.”

Some people attended multiple services, and she said she could see a shift in the way the audience worshipped as if “a fire lit up inside of them.”

“It was beautiful to see how their worship changed to be so much more free and expressive,” she said. “I got to share with them that our freedom and worship doesn’t come from the people, our freedom doesn’t come from the church or our friends, but it is a response to what Jesus Christ has done for us; He came, and He lived, and He died, and He rose again. And our response to that is worship and praise.”

Davis shared how worship is a lifestyle and people may worship differently.

“Worship is in what we do every day: our decisions and our words reflect the Lord’s glory. It was very, very much a blessing.”

The group had the opportunity to experience the culture and sightsee during the tour, which included stops at Cologne Cathedral and the Beethoven Museum and tasting German cuisine.

Guy said the language barrier was an interesting challenge.

“Internationally, you communicate (the Gospel) differently because we were in a lot of places where they didn’t speak full English. We had to really break it down to just the basics of the Gospel.’”

Graham said the experience will be influential in his career as he learned how to adjust and be flexible in order to communicate the Gospel efficiently. Davis agreed, as many times they had to work with different sound systems, people they didn’t know, and unfamiliar environments. She added it was eye-opening to see how other Christians, even from across cultures and countries, are connected through their Creator.

“We come from different places in the world, but we all have the same God. That is what unites us. We have the Holy Spirit in each and every one of us; we are brothers and sisters in Christ. It doesn’t matter what background you have or I have, we can come together and worship. It was like we were all just one big family.”

Other School of Music students traveled around the nation throughout the school year, including a group of students who had the honor of performing at the White House the Thursday before Easter Weekend for the White House Easter Staff Service. LU Praise, Liberty’s multi-ethnic gospel choir, also performed in the Capitol Building Rayburn Room for the National Day of Prayer, and just a few weeks later, it delivered a powerful worship performance during Liberty’s 52nd Commencement Main Ceremony.

Over Spring Break in March, the Liberty University Symphony Orchestra performed all around the Washington, D.C., area, including Immanuel Christian School in Alexandria, Va., the Museum of the Bible, and McLean (Va.) Bible Church, and attended a National Symphony Orchestra performance in the Kennedy Center.

Many student performers in the School of Music have the chance to work with acclaimed music artists as part of their training. In April, 160 Liberty students led worship alongside Grammy award-winning artist Michael W. Smith, executive director of Liberty’s Michael W. Smith Center for Commercial Music, inside a packed Thomas Road Baptist Church auditorium during the annual School of Music Night of Worship.

Some of the ensemble groups will be releasing albums this year, including LU Praise, E41, and Vessel.

Müller said joining an ensemble group is an exciting way for students to supplement their learning.

“School of Music ensembles are not only a great way to become involved in the music community on and off campus, but they also give students real opportunities to perform and practice their talents while learning how to glorify God in their calling,” Müller said. “Our goal is that every student will graduate with the performance experience they need to excel in their field.”

>> For more information about School of Music ensemble groups, visit the ensembles webpage.