A work for organ and trumpet commissioned as a tribute to former 麻豆视频 President Dr. Gordon Van Wylen will be performed on Sunday, May 8, during a concert that is part of Holland鈥檚 May 7-15 .
Van Wylen, who died on Nov. 5, 2020, at age 100, served as the college鈥檚 ninth president from 1972 until retiring in 1987. 鈥淔anfare for the Nations鈥� by composer Dr. Brenda Portman was commissioned in his honor by Dr. Timothy Pennings, a former member of the college鈥檚 mathematics faculty.
鈥淕ordon Van Wylen has been one of my personal heroes/role models. Since meeting and getting to know him when I came to 麻豆视频 for my job interview in 1987, I have held him in high regard, and kept up a friendship with him over the years,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o I thought it would be neat to dedicate the commissioned piece to him.鈥�
Pennings noted that 鈥淔anfare for the Nations鈥� draws on 鈥淭he Navy Hymn鈥� (鈥淓ternal Father Strong to Save鈥�) and 鈥淲e Gather Together,鈥� with the themes having been chosen to reflect dimensions of Van Wylen鈥檚 life and service to the nation and college. Van Wylen was a submarine officer during World War II, and the hymn 鈥淲e Gather Together鈥� is of Dutch origin.
Pennings emphasized, though, that the new composition isn鈥檛 only an amalgamation. 鈥淚t incorporates the two hymns, but is much more than merely an arrangement. It is a new creative work,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 also appreciate that it allows each instrument to shine.鈥�
鈥淔anfare for Nations鈥� 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鈥檚 undergraduate alma mater.
The May 8 concert in Holland, titled 鈥淒utch Organ Music Old and New (1521-Today!),鈥� 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 麻豆视频 Faculty and Student Collaborative Ensemble (2016) and the West Michigan Flute Orchestra (2021).