This essay collection, devoted to exploring the richness of Christian musical traditions in the Americas, reflects the distinctive critical perspectives of the Society for Christian Scholarship in Music, an association of scholars dedicated to exploring the intersections of Christian faith and musical scholarship. Now in our sixteenth year, we seek to celebrate our work in the world and bring it to a larger audience by offering a cross- section of the most outstanding scholarship from an international array of writers. The proposed collection follows a first collection published to celebrate the fifteenth anniversary of the Society (Exploring Christian Song, M. Jennifer Bloxam and AndrewShenton, editors, Lexington Books, 2017). That first volume focused on Christian song in a variety of different contexts. Our proposed collection surveys a broad geographical areaand demonstrates the enormous diversity of music-making and scholarship within that area. While there are some studies that focus on a single country or region and its sacred music (see the literature survey below), this will be the first collection to present a representative cross-section of the range of sacred music in the Americas and the approaches to studying them in context. The essays in this collection are ecumenical, reflecting the breadth of Christian traditions. The essays include several by distinguished senior scholars in the field (including David Music, Baylor University; and Jeff Warren, Quest University, Canada). Several essays are by noted specialists in the field (including Jesse Karlsberg, Emory University; and Cathy Ann Elias, DePaul University), and several by younger scholars (including Hannah Denecke, Florida State University; and Natasha Walsh, York University, Canada). SCSM is particularly keen to promote the work of students. The work of these rising stars thus appears alongside the work of veteran scholars working in the area of Christian sacred music, ensuring a stimulating mix of subjects, viewpoints, and methodologies.
Andrew Shenton is a professor of music at Boston University, where he directs the sacred music program. Shenton is a former President of the Society for Christian Scholarship in Music. Joanna Smolko is an adjunct professor at the University of Georgia as well as working as a private music teacher and academic editor and coach.Her research areas include American popular music from the 19th and 20th centuries, American sacred music, American folk music, and film music.
Admirable in its geographic reach and in its range of historical and ethnographic approaches, this volume offers a stimulating and welcome set of case studies that shed new light on areas of Christian sacred music that have not yet received the attention they deserve.--Stephen E. Crist, professor of music history, Emory University Christian Sacred Music in the Americas is a brilliantly interdisciplinary collection. The chapters coalesce to form a kaleidoscopic view--one that illuminates not only aspects of worship and spirituality but also of resistance, resilience, and reconciliation.--Eftychia Papanikolaou, associate professor of musicology, Bowling Green State University
