Orchestra plans music trip
Posted by The Skyliner on April 7th, 2010Taylor Edwards
Staff Writer
In March of 2011, the North Greenville University orchestra will travel overseas to Israel. This is the first time that the NGU orchestra has done anything of this nature, and excitement for the trip is building quickly.
The orchestra has participated in small church tours and frequently plays at local churches during the semester, but this overseas mission trip marks the beginning of many new things for the music program at NGU.
The mission trip is part of Global Missions Project, an organization which has the goal is to use Christian musicians to share the good news of Jesus Christ to the world with their musical talents. For this particular trip, the Global Missions Project objective is the following: “Our desire for this project is to have musicians perform in public settings to be a witness of the Christian faith and support our work in Israel.”
Members of the group NGU is sending will not only be able to share their faith and play music for others, but they will also have amazing opportunities to visit places that are mentioned in the Bible and that Jesus himself traveled to. Nazareth, the Sea of Galilee, the Jordan River, Jerusalem, the Mount of Olives and the Garden of Gethsemane are just a few places the orchestra will be able to visit during their time in Israel.
The orchestra has NGU orchestra director Michael Weaver to thank for this amazing journey overseas. Weaver proposed a general orchestra trip to the School of Music on Sept. 22, 2009. He got the idea from his friend Camp Kirkland while at a Christian instrumental conference, Instrumental Encore, in May 2009. Kirkland brought up instrumental trips, and Weaver latched onto the idea, deciding to make the trip overseas.
“When I discovered we could do an orchestra music trip, it seemed more in line with the goals and objectives of our university and with the School of Music’s Christ-centered approach to music performance,” said Weaver.
The orchestra will be raising money through yard sales, personal support letters, proceeds from businesses and offerings from churches. The orchestra at NGU has been given a great opportunity to share the Gospel with many people through music. Hopefully this will lead the way for many mission trips in the future for NGU’s music program.
Tags: Spring 2010, Vol. 110 - Issue 10