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On Saturday, April 18, a collaboration between Moravian Seminary, Faith Moravian Church of the Nation's Capital in Washington DC, and College Hill Moravian Church in Bethlehem came to fruition with the "Celebration of Life in Music" concert.
Planning began for the concert in November, after Rev. Marcia Theadford, Vocation & Enrollment Director at MTS, visited the Faith Moravian Church and heard the wonderful music performed by their music department, Chancel & Men's choirs, Pans of Faith steel drum band, and Handbells of Faith bell choir led by Wilma Lewis, Chair of the Seminary Trustees. Marcia worked with Faith's music director to develop a concert program.
In addition to Faith Moravian's music department, which also includes their All for Christ children's choir, local musicians were also asked to share their talents. The Seminary's own choir, led by Nola Reed Knouse and director Becky Owens, sang a few hymns at the concert. Steve Lozada, a Seminary student and local pastor, performed a trumpet solo and was later accompanied by his church's choir. Lifechurch of Allentown's Kingdom Dancers from their Life Academy also gave a lively performance to round out the evening.
Ultimately, Reverend Theadford's goal was to tell a story about the life of our students, faith of our community and the music we sing to praise God. "It's about our commonality of faith... our students and their life journeys as we all bound together to praise God through music." To further express this, she asked MTS students Russ Williams, Judith Sheriff, Lori Van Keuren, and Penny McPhaul to share their own stories between sets. They each offered a few funny and heartwarming vignettes about their families, friends, and life at MTS.
The concert was very well received; the auditorium was packed with members of the local community as well as supporters from Washington DC. Donations were taken and $1100 was raised for Moravian Seminary student scholarships. Whether or not this will be a recurring event has yet to be decided, but what was quite obvious was the energetic, inspiring atmosphere of that April evening.
 
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