A work for organ and trumpet commissioned as a tribute to former Hope College President Dr. Gordon Van Wylen will be performed on Sunday, May 8, during a concert that is part of Holland亚洲色吧檚 May 7-15 .
Van Wylen, who died on Nov. 5, 2020, at age 100, served as the college亚洲色吧檚 ninth president from 1972 until retiring in 1987. 亚洲色吧淔anfare for the Nations亚洲色吧� by composer Dr. Brenda Portman was commissioned in his honor by Dr. Timothy Pennings, a former member of the college亚洲色吧檚 mathematics faculty.
亚洲色吧淕ordon Van Wylen has been one of my personal heroes/role models. Since meeting and getting to know him when I came to Hope College for my job interview in 1987, I have held him in high regard, and kept up a friendship with him over the years,亚洲色吧� he said. 亚洲色吧淪o I thought it would be neat to dedicate the commissioned piece to him.亚洲色吧�
Pennings noted that 亚洲色吧淔anfare for the Nations亚洲色吧� draws on 亚洲色吧淭he Navy Hymn亚洲色吧� (亚洲色吧淓ternal Father Strong to Save亚洲色吧�) and 亚洲色吧淲e Gather Together,亚洲色吧� with the themes having been chosen to reflect dimensions of Van Wylen亚洲色吧檚 life and service to the nation and college. Van Wylen was a submarine officer during World War II, and the hymn 亚洲色吧淲e Gather Together亚洲色吧� is of Dutch origin.
Pennings emphasized, though, that the new composition isn亚洲色吧檛 only an amalgamation. 亚洲色吧淚t incorporates the two hymns, but is much more than merely an arrangement. It is a new creative work,亚洲色吧� he said. 亚洲色吧淚 also appreciate that it allows each instrument to shine.亚洲色吧�
亚洲色吧淔anfare for Nations亚洲色吧� premiered on Friday, Nov. 19, at the St. Augustine Cathedral in Kalamazoo, with a performance the next day at Calvin University, which was Van Wylen亚洲色吧檚 undergraduate alma mater.
The May 8 concert in Holland, titled 亚洲色吧淒utch Organ Music Old and New (1521-Today!),亚洲色吧� will take place at 7 p.m. at Hope Church. Tickets are $15, and are available on the Tulip Time Festival website; if tickets remain, they will be sold at the door.
The program will feature Rhonda Sider Edgington, organist, and Jonathan Ruffer, trumpet. Sider Edgington, who was an accompanist at Hope for several years, is an organist at Hope Church, an instructor at Calvin University and an international concert artist. Ruffer plays in the St. Andrew's Cathedral Brass band and is an instructor in the Department of Music at Hope.
Pennings taught at Hope from 1988 to 2012, and subsequently became chair of the Department of Mathematics at Davenport University. He had previously commissioned works for the Hope College Faculty and Student Collaborative Ensemble (2016) and the West Michigan Flute Orchestra (2021).