Liberty doctoral student merges her loves for music, history, and children

Recent Liberty University graduate Dr. Veronica Allison saw her passions intersect when she defended her doctoral dissertation in June from an unusual place — inside the 18th-century home of Mary Washington, President George Washington’s mother.

While many students earning their degrees through Liberty University Online Programs must meet virtually with their dissertation committee, Allison defended her dissertation from the historic house and museum near her home in Fredericksburg, Va., where she works as a costumed interpreter. In period costume, she defended her dissertation on the importance of children’s choirs in the modern-day church as a candidate for the Doctor of Worship Studies – Ethnomusicology (the study of music within its social and cultural contexts).

When the time came for Allison to schedule her oral defense, it conflicted with her museum job. She received permission from her manager to take a longer lunch break and warned her advisor, Dr. James Siddons, that she would be in colonial costume.

“When the thesis defense started, Veronica popped up on the committee’s laptop screens dressed in 18th-century costume, sitting at a desk in Mary Washington’s living room, with the fireplace and period furniture visible in the background,” Siddons said. “It made the discussion of children’s choirs in early America, as related in Veronica’s (dissertation), seem so real, both in history and in our own time.”

Allison grew up singing in children’s choir, an experience that eventually became her life’s calling. After receiving her bachelor’s in music education from Westminster Choir College and master’s in choral conducting from George Mason University, she dedicated her life to music education ministry. She has been teaching children’s choirs at New Life in Christ Church in Fredericksburg for 36 years.

Though she has focused much of her life on music education within churches, Allison has a deep passion for history. Her family has connections to 18^th-century American history; an ancestor fought in the 1778 Battle of Monmouth, and she has lived in many places important to our nation’s history, like Princeton, N.J., the site of the decisive Battle of Princeton during the Revolutionary War.

To explore her love for history while pursuing her degree with Liberty, Allison became a gardening volunteer at the Mary Washington House. When an interpreter position came open, she jumped at the opportunity and even made her own costume.

“To be a part of a museum like that (as an interpreter), you can’t just memorize their script. You’re required to continue your learning. I’m always reading about something, learning about something new, or going to another 18th-century home,” she said.

Allison was already acquainted with Liberty when she started considering a doctorate; her son had attended as a residential student. But she was knee-deep in her career and wanted to stay in Fredericksburg near her grandchildren and family, so the convenient, flexible online format of Liberty’s program was especially appealing.

“I loved all the classes I took,” she said. “They all flushed out some of the other ideas that I needed to accomplish (in my research).”

Allison said she appreciates the way Liberty prioritizes worship on campus; she often watches online videos of worship nights and Convocations and finds it encouraging to see so many young people engaged in the act of worship.

“I love watching the videos of the Liberty students coming back to campus and the praise songs and the kids all being very engaged. I love that. There’s a lot of emotionalism in their singing,” she said.

Allison’s dissertation was a biblical and historical defense on why church should make children’s choirs a priority. She surveyed six churches and noted that there are churches continuing to provide a children’s choir ministry, a practice available to churches of all denominations, sizes, and worship styles.

“Music education was actually meant for the church in America. It started out as such, and then it was encouraged that the schools start music so the kids could sing better in church,” she said. “We’re outsourcing our music (education). But if we’re singing in our Sunday schools, our junior churches, and if we have a formalized program … they can sit in church and sing with more understanding in the mechanics of singing, reading music, and discovering the meaning of the words in which they sing.”

“When these kids grow up and get the foundation of how to sing properly and are exposed to music from other cultures and other ages, it just deepens their sense of what God has given to us,” she added. “The gift of music is so much more than what we feel. There’s so much more.”

Siddons said Allison’s background and love for her work greatly contributed to her successful defense.

“Veronica Allison has been leading children’s choirs in worship for many years. She has a lifetime of direct experience in creating music with this age group. At the same time, she has read or studied with almost all the authorities in the field of children’s choirs. This combination of practical experience with children and deep familiarity with what the authorities are saying is a rare combination in any field of study. … The result is a (dissertation) with an important message for anyone involved in pastoral ministry or worship leadership.”

Allison found out just a few hours after her defense, while giving a tour, that her dissertation was approved. She plans to continue her research by writing a book on the same topic as well as articles and a curriculum to help churches integrate music education into their programming. Additionally, she is planning to serve as a mentor and consultant to churches looking to develop a children’s music program. She is looking forward to attending Commencement in May.