news at welch college   Welch College in Gallatin, Tennessee, has been the official college of the Free Will Baptist Denomination since 1942. To find out more information about the school, visit www.Welch.edu.

Carlisle Hanna Inducted Into the TICUA Hall of Fame

Gallatin, TN—Veteran Free Will Baptist missionary to India and humanitiarian Carlisle Hanna (Welch College Class of 1952) was recently inducted into the TICUA Hall of Fame, according to President Matt Pinson.

“TICUA stands for the ‘Tennessee Independent Colleges and Universities Association’ and represents the private accredited colleges and universities in the state,” Pinson said. “We’re so honored they have selected Welch alumnus Carlisle Hanna for their Hall of Fame.”

TICUA Executive Director Claude Presnell said, “Tennessee’s Independent Colleges and Universities are home to some of our state’s most distinguished and impressive residents—from Nobel laureates and Pulitzer Prize winners to faith leaders, entrepreneurs, and elected officials.”

“The Tennessee Independent Colleges and Universities Association (TICUA) created the TICUA Hall of Fame to honor the distinguished alumni of its 35 member institutions while highlighting their contributions to our state, nation, and world. The honorees exemplify the value of the liberal arts education and how it can be used in a variety of career fields.”

The 2020 inductees can be viewed at cdn.ymaws.com/ticua.org/resource/resmgr/news/ticua-hall-of-fame-v4-spread.pdf.

Welch Music Department Chairman “Making Music” During Pandemic

Gallatin, TN—Welch College Music Department Chairman James Stevens stayed busy composing during the pandemic, with over a thousand publications released with various outlets in the past year, according to Provost Matthew McAffee. The publishing outlets include Sheet Music Plus, Shawnee Press/Hal Leonard, Spotify, Pandora Radio, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and others that include music for choral, piano, organ, and various instrumental solo/piano combinations.

Several of Stevens’s choral anthems over the past year have been released by Shawnee Press of Hal Leonard. These include “Song of Grace and Hope” with Gaye C. Bruce and “Jesus Is the Way” with Karen Crane. These and Stevens’ other recent choral music with Hal Leonard consist of practical compositions and arrangements for the local church choir.

“One publication, ‘Italian Preludes, Nos. 1-8,’ is a piano album and book released in the heart of the pandemic at a time when Italy was suffering great losses, with the songs representing various moods of the time,” McAffee said. In July, “Italian Preludes” was listed as
number 10 of The Top 100 Radio Airplay Chart at Music Zone Reporter.

In July 2020, Stevens was named as a Whisperings Piano Solo Artist, which consists of many of the world’s leading pianists/composers and founded by famed pianist David Nevue. This site carries Stevens’ music from his albums, “Minimal Piano,” “Italian Preludes, Nos. 1-8,” “Quiet Christmas Piano,” and his most recent album and book, “Autumn Moods,” released October 9, 2020.

Since the beginning of 2020, Stevens has also released four new collections of original organ music, much of which has been recorded by Harvard University organist and composer in residence, Carson Cooman, including all the compositions from Stevens’ October 2020 book, “Swan Serenades for Organ, Nos. 1-5.”

Dr. Stevens has served as chairman of Welch College’s Department of Music since 2004. For more information on the music department at Welch College and the various programs of study offered by the department, email Mark Lancaster at mlancaster@welch.edu.

Rejoice! Ministry Team Announced

Gallatin, TN—The 2020-2021 Rejoice! Ministry Team has been selected, according to Daniel Webster, director. “After extensive tryouts and interviews, I’m pleased to announce final selections for this year’s team. We had a great number of quality musicians to choose from, but we finally selected these students to be our representatives for this year.”

Female members of the group are Meredith Baer, Erin Goucher, Krista Lindsay, Sarah Lovett, Abby Myers, Raygan Sellers, and Elizabeth Yerby. Male members are Ben Barcroft, Sam Lane, Mason McClure, and Samuel Rodriguez. Jesse Viers will be the sound technician.

The group likely will be unable to travel as extensively in the spring semester as groups have in the past due to COVID-19, but it is hopeful some limited travel will be possible, and the group will be able to enjoy a full summer tour. Plans are being made for the group to use a video recording that will be made available to churches. According to Mr. Webster, “We see this as a way to have a presence in our churches even in the midst of the pandemic. A video produced by Rejoice! in the spring broke the record for number of views by any Welch College video. We think the songs we produce will be received equally well.”

Congratulations to this group of young people. Pray for them as they rehearse and prepare to serve.