2007 Award Winners

NEWS RELEASE

National Religious Music Week Alliance awards

FOUR $2,500 RELIGIOUS MUSIC SCHOLARSHIPS FOR 2008

Amanda Mole, of Holden, MA, won her third NRMWA scholarship this year.  She is studying organ at the Eastman School of Music, Rochester, NY.  She also serves as substitute pianist and organist for various churches in the area.             araraWorcester, MA, area.	Monica Harper, Bloomington, IN, Minister of Music at Emmanuel Baptist Church, Bloomington, and associate instructor in organ at Indiana U.,  won a scholarship to the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana U. to study for a doctorate degree.	Ronald Vanasdlen of Ypsilanti, MI, Director of Music & Worship at  St. Cyprian Roman Catholic Church, Riverview, MI, won a scholarship to St. Joseph’s College, Rensselaer, IN.  He   is studying church  music & choral conducting.	Joshua Fishbein, of San Francisco, CA, won a scholarship to the San Francisco Conservatory of Music to study music composition for an M. A. degree.  Joshua is interim Director of Music for the Church of the Advent of Christ the King in San Francisco.

[Hamilton, Ohio, June 2, 2008]   The National Religious Music Week Alliance has awarded four $2,500 scholarships to college students studying for the ministry of music, Pat Everhart, chair of the Scholarship Committee, announced today.

Winners of the awards for the 2008-2009 school year are Ronal D. Vanasdlen, Ypsilanti, MI; Monica A. Harper,  Bloomington, IN; Amanda R. Mole, Holden, MA; and Joshua H. Fishbein, San Francisco, CA.

Amanda Mole is an NRMWA scholarship winner for the third consecutive year, having also won in 2006 and 2007.  Ms. Mole is a member of the First Baptist Church in Holden, MA.   She studied at the University of Massachusetts, where she won the Chancellor’s Talent Award and the Hitchcock Scholarship.  A college senior, she has earned an American Baptist Churches scholarship and three other Eastman scholarships as well as placing first in Eastman’s M. Louise Miller Competition.

Her educational goal is to gain a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the School of Sacred Music at Yale University.  Amanda has taught piano and has served as organist at the Old First Church in Springfield,  and now serves as a volunteer pianist and organist.  “For me, music sets the tone of the worship service,” Amanda says.  “Being able to involve the congregation with rousing hymns, cherub, youth and adult choirs, or tone chime and bell choirs is a sharing of faith.  Inspiration can come from the Word spoken in service or from strong hymn singing and heartfelt choral work.”

Monica Harper, of Bloomington, IN, is pursuing  a doctorate degree in church music and organ at the Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University, where she now serves as an associate instructor.  While attending college she gives private lessons in both piano and organ and is music director for the Emmanuel Baptist Church.  She has achieved national scholastic honors in the National Young Artists competition for organ, the John R. Rodland Scholarships, the Albert Schweitzer competition for organ and the Arthur Poister national competition for organ.

Monica says,  “Energizing and motivating people to worship God through music and thus drawing ever more others to the worship of the Lord has undoubtedly become the center of my objectives in life….God has been a faithful God to me, and it is my greatest desire to bring glory to Him by serving Him in a full-time position as a church minister of music.”

Ron Vanasdlen, of Ypsilanti, MI, is a first-year graduate student in church music and choral conducting at St. Joseph’s College, Rensselaer, IN, and he hopes to complete his doctorate degree in this discipline.  His work experience includes serving as full-time minister of music for St. Cyprian Catholic Church, Riverview, MI, where in 2007 he was granted a Ministry of Music Award of Distinction from the National Religious Music Week Alliance.  His other honors include the Larry Heiman scholarship award for 2007.

“I thoroughly enjoy the ministry of graded music in the parish setting,” Ron says.  “This ranges from the delight of preschool children learning new songs to the prayerfulness in song of our veteran music directors who gather to assist in the funeral liturgy of dear friends.  Music ministry is a wonderful blessing to me as a director, and it is always rewarding to see how the parish and the music ministers themselves respond to a well constructed program.”

Joshua Fishbein is studying for his Master’s degree in music composition at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.  While a student, he is serving as interim director of  the Church of the Advent of Christ the King in San Francisco.  His academic honors include a Teaching Excellence Award from the University of Maryland, the Henry G. Archer Award for undergraduate orchestral composition and the Shalshelet International Festival award for new Jewish liturgical music.

Of his future, Joshua says, “I want to specialize in composing liturgical music for churches and synagogues.  I hope to use my experience with both of these faiths to promote solidarity between the Jewish and Christian communities.  Currently, I am working on a composition that sets and intermingles words in Hebrew, Latin and English.  It is a composition that will be performed by the Schola Adventus this year.  I believe that music can truly make a difference in the spirituality of Jews and Christians throughout the world.”

The Alliance began its scholarship program in 2004 and to date has granted $45,000 in awards to religious music students throughout the country.

“We’re extremely proud of this year’s group of scholarship winners,”  Mrs. Everhart said.  “They’re indicative of the high quality of men and women who are going into the ministry of music today, and we are glad to be able to provide this kind of support for the future of religious music.”

Information about scholarships for 2009 will be announced on this website in January, 2009.

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