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Å·ÃÀÊÓƵ’s annual Church Music Workshop will be held Thursday, Feb. 4 through Saturday, Feb. 6. The event features speaker sessions, workshops, master classes and performances to help attendees learn more about church music and enhance their musical performance skills.

While workshop programming requires payment and registration, which is available at www.sbuniv.edu/ChurchMusicWorkshop, the public is invited to two free concerts in Meyer Recital Hall on the Å·ÃÀÊÓƵ campus:

• Dr. Ben Caston, associate professor of voice and associate dean of undergraduate music studies at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SWBTS) and Dr. Nathan Burggraff, assistant professor of music theory at SWBTS, will perform at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 4.
• The Missouri Music Men and Brass Friday will perform at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 5.

The workshop is headlined by Travis Laws (left), who has served the church through worship leadership since 1985 and was the Å·ÃÀÊÓƵ Outstanding Music Graduate in 1990. He traveled as a vocalist with the group Truth in the late ’80s and as a solo artist through 1995. He has served in several churches as the pastor of worship arts, including at Grove City Church of the Nazarene, the largest Nazarene church in America. He has been a guest lecturer for Liberty University’s Worship Ministries intensive program, served as the assistant director for the Columbus (Ohio) Gospel Meets Symphony project, and is a member of Metro 1, an organization for large church worship and music leaders. 

Other featured guests of the Church Music Workshop are:

• Dr. Ben Caston, who in addition to serving at SWBTS has also served as chair of the Music and Fine Arts Division and director of choral activities at Truett-McConnell College in Cleveland, Ga. As an accomplished conductor and vocal soloist, he has performed from Texas to South Carolina and since 1994 has served Baptist churches in Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia and Texas. He directed the Georgia Baptist All-State Youth Choir and is an active member of the Century Men, National Association of Teachers of Singing, American Choral Directors Association and The Baptist Church Music Conference.
• Dr. Nathan Burggraff, who prior to joining SWBTS completed his graduate studies at the Eastman School of Music. While in graduate school, he served as a sacred concert pianist by traveling to more than 70 churches throughout the United States and Canada. His research focuses on the interaction of postmodern themes in music and theology. He has presented at national conferences including the Society for Music Theory and the Society for Christian Scholarship in Music.
• Catherine Burgher McMannis has been director of Higher Ground, Å·ÃÀÊÓƵ’s contemporary Christian worship ensemble, since January 2012. She holds bachelor degrees in vocal performance and electronic arts/audio from Missouri State University. She participated in the internationally touring MSU Concert Chorale for two years, was a featured soloist for several events such as MSU opera workshop, and is an alum of Sigma Alpha Iota, the esteemed music fraternity for women. She leads children’s and adult choirs and participates in the praise and worship team at Jefferson Avenue Baptist Church in Springfield, Mo.

 For more information, contact Dr. Martha Hicks, chair of the department of music at Å·ÃÀÊÓƵ, at (417) 328-1633.