DATE: January 28, 2005

Big Changes in Music Program at Baptist College Mean Big Opportunities for Students

Only two years ago, a big audience for a University of Mobile student concert was 300. That was before the Baptist university created the Center for Performing Arts, named as its director the founder of one of the first contemporary Christian recording groups, and set out to become the preferred provider of Christian musicians for evangelical churches.

University of Mobile graduate student Alicia Morris discusses with Roger Breland her upcoming perfor- mance at the Gaither Homecoming Concert in Mobile.

Now, the university’s students perform before thousands, learn from internationally recognized Christian recording artists, and have unbelievable opportunities – including a chance to sing a solo at a Bill Gaither Homecoming concert, travel and perform with Christian recording artist Alicia Williamson Garcia, and lead worship at an 8,500-member church.

A lot can change in little time.

“It’s awesome to see what is happening here,” said Mark Harris, a member of 4Him which has compiled 24 No. 1 hits and 10 albums with total sales of more than 3.3 million. Harris, who is co-teaching a new course in commercial songwriting with Dr. Wes Tuttle of Integrity Music, said the program “has moved into the modern era, equipping young men and women for the needs of the church. Things are different now because of the change in worship” in the church.

Miller Cunningham, pastor of worship and music at the 8,500-member Germantown Baptist Church near Memphis, Tenn., agrees.

“The need is enormous,” Cunningham said. “What churches are looking for has shifted. Music has changed, needs have changed. The University of Mobile is one of the few places in the country that has its arms around what churches are looking for. In large part, that’s due to Roger Breland’s grasp of churches and ministry and what they require.”

Breland, director of the UM Center for Performing Arts, said the credit belongs to his faculty and especially to President Mark Foley, who wanted the university to expand beyond its traditional music program into preparing graduates for leadership roles in contemporary worship, while retaining the classical traditions. The move is part of an overall emphasis throughout the university to more fully integrate faith and learning with a Christian world view perspective.

“We’re developing the next generation of Christian leaders,” Breland said. It’s a generation built on the combination of contemporary Christian music and a solid foundation of traditional musical training, along with a liberal arts education taught from a Christian world view. The result is a program that is already producing students who are making their mark in evangelical Christian music.

Mark Harris

Breland’s credentials in the world of Christian contemporary music span more than 30 years. He was founder of TRUTH, one of the first award-winning contemporary Christian recording groups, and is a member of the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. Former members of TRUTH have moved on to success, including internationally known recording artists 4Him and Avalon. And, Mark Harris of 4Him said, in the Nashville music scene, “everybody is affiliated with somebody who was in TRUTH.”

With decades of experience touring on the road, and contacts with musicians and at churches throughout the world, Breland knows how to open doors of opportunity for talented college students.

That’s how UM graduate student Alicia Morris earned an opportunity to perform a solo at the upcoming Gaither Homecoming Concert on Feb. 19 at the Mobile Civic Center in Mobile, Ala.

Morris, a UM graduate who serves as assistant director of public relations at the university while pursuing a master’s in business administration, was in the process of making her first self-titled solo debut CD which was produced by Jason Crabb when Breland was named director of the Center for Performing Arts in May 2003.

“I was very aware of her talent,” Breland said. “God has given her a great voice. I believe in Alicia because she’s a dedicated and very hard worker, but more than her talent, what stands out to me is her commitment to what she feels like God has called her to do. We’ve had the opportunity to talk about her career and what she could do to go to the next level.”

That talk quickly turned to action. Breland helped Morris plan her CD release concert in Mobile with the Crabb family. He then sent Morris’s CD to his friend Bill Gaither, whose Homecoming concert tour included a performance in Mobile on Feb. 19.

“I did mention to Bill that she had a single off this CD that had charted at No. 72 on the Singing News gospel chart,” Breland said. “I asked him to consider allowing her to sing with the Homecoming group as a local Mobile artist.”

Gaither’s response overwhelmed Breland and Morris. The gospel legend invited Morris to open the concert with a solo from her CD.

“This is a huge opportunity,” Morris said. “Bill Gaither is THE man when it comes to Southern gospel music. He’s so successful all over the world. His concerts list as some of the top selling concert tours every single year, right up there with major mainstream artists. “ Bill Gaither gets hundreds of submissions every year from people who want to perform at one of his concerts. Having someone like Roger Breland who has that connection with him and is able to bring me to him, well, it automatically gave me instant credibility with Mr. Gaither. Those connections opened a door that might not have been opened otherwise,” Morris said.

Breland has revitalized a music program that already had a reputation for producing graduates with a solid musical foundation. In less than two years the number of music majors has nearly doubled, from 45 to 88, with 136 students participating in performing groups. The program has grown from six full-time professors to 10, including professors who perform professionally with opera companies, symphonies, and Christian touring groups. The 17 part-time instructors include Mark Harris of 4Him, Dr. Wes Tuttle of Integrity Music, Chuck Newman and Alicia Williamson Garcia.

Breland has expanded the course offerings, adding improvisational piano, commercial voice, commercial songwriting and praise band. He has created a variety of new performing groups, including Ram Corps drum and bugle corps, Sounds of Mobile show choir, Voices of Mobile a cappella ensemble, and plans to add a strings ensemble next year.

Performance opportunities have dramatically increased. The “Christmas Spectacular” attracted a capacity audience of 2,300 in 2003 and 2004 at Dauphin Way Baptist Church in Mobile. Thousands attended “StarLight at the University of Mobile,” an outdoor concert on the university campus featuring a name artist and UM students.

Now, students can learn commercial voice from artist-in-residence Alicia Williamson Garcia and travel with her as the student ensemble “Impact.” The “Sounds of Mobile” performed aboard a cruise ship filled with Christians on a tour to follow the footsteps of the Apostle Paul in Greece, and a student and a graduate joined the Glenn Draper Singers and UM’s senior academic fellow Dr. Al Miller for a Christmas concert at the White House. The vocal ensemble “Voices of Mobile” will be featured at the Southern Baptist Church Music Conference in Atlanta June 5-7.

Breland said the emphasis on performance has a spiritual side.

“During these tours and performances, we’re trying to teach them not only musical skills, but the practical and spiritual things they will need to be leaders,” he said.

Lee Worley, a junior from Hayesville, N.C., was a member of “Sounds of Mobile” show choir that performed aboard a cruise ship, and he recently completed a 12-day tour, 17-concert tour with the “Voices of Mobile” and Ram Corps groups, reaching 5,000 people throughout Alabama and into Georgia.

“When you get on the road and you’re on stage, you’re getting the experience of real people and real life,” said Worley, who is majoring in public relations and advertising with a minor in music. “You get to see it firsthand rather than just hear about it from a professor or textbook. It’s the experience that makes it real. You learn the life lessons that you don’t get in the classroom.”

Worley plans to pursue a career performing contemporary Christian music or working in the music industry in public relations.

Being on stage in front of a large group of people had practical applications for Chad Watson, a 2004 graduate of UM with a bachelor of arts in vocal performance. He is associate pastor for worship and music at Germantown Baptist Church near Memphis, Tenn., with a membership of more than 8,500.

Watson said the experience of performing before thousands at Christmas Spectacular and StarLight help prepare him to lead worship in a large church.

“That experience really goes in line with what I’m doing now, being comfortable with a large number of people and learning how to be real in front of a group of people,” Watson said. That’s not all he learned.

“I had many opportunities to sit in Roger Breland’s office, and the advice he gave me, specifically on serving in the church, was very helpful. That was a huge preparation for me, his willingness to let me pick his brain and ask him questions,” Watson said.

Germantown worship and music pastor Miller Cunningham said churches are looking for more than people who are technically trained in a good formal music program.

“Coupled with that technical training, you are looking for someone with a heart for God and a heart for the church. The difficulty is in finding all of those co-existing. You’re looking for a school not only with a good formal liberal arts program and musical program, but also a place where they are cultivating hearts for ministry and worship. That was something Chad was challenged with at Mobile, what it means to express and lead worship, along with formal musical training,” Cunningham said.

Morris, who continues to consult with Breland as she prepares for her upcoming appearance at the Gaither Homecoming concert in Mobile, said she believes that, ultimately, God is responsible for her success.

“Of course I know that ultimately God did every bit of this, but God used Roger Breland and the Center for Performing Arts as a tool for making things happen,” Morris said. “Mr. Breland loves to help young people, to invest his life into someone else and help them get where they want to be.”

Morris said Breland’s support and encouragement is helping make her dream a reality.

“My dream is to be able to do this the rest of my life, to share Christ through song,” she said. “The University of Mobile tells us they want us to be change agents throughout the world. My dream is to use the gift that God has given me to be a change agent in the world, to affect the lives of others around me, by sharing through music what God has done in my life.”

(For more about the University of Mobile Center for Performing Arts, visit www.umobile.edu. For information about Alicia Morris and her upcoming appearance at the Gaither Homecoming concert, visit www.aliciamorris.com)