Lipscomb student second in composition contest
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Lipscomb University sophomore Michael Rickelton has produced an award winning composition that will debut in May at the close of Bluffton College’s conference, "Teaching Peace: Nonviolence and the Liberal Arts Curriculum." With no formal education in composition, Rickelton won second place in Bluffton’s Choral Composition Contest. The first place winner, James Lentini, is a professor of composition and the associate chair of the music department at Wayne State University and holds a doctorate from the University of Southern California, where he studied composition. “I am excited to hear my composition actually come alive,” Rickelton said. “It is so different from hearing your work on the computer. Live voices are a hundred times better.” “It is great that Michael had the initiative to do this,” said Jerome Reed, professor of music at Lipscomb University. “It is fascinating that he was able to win without any formal composition lessons.” “This award well represents Michael’s interest and knowledge of music,” said Marcia Hughes, chair of the music department and professor of music at Lipscomb University. “He listens carefully to pieces and studies their scores. “He is a student who is very talented all around. He represents our department well.” The impact of nonviolence on art is one of the seven major areas of discussion for Bluffton College’s May conference. The college is located in Bluffton, Ohio. “Nonviolence can impact every aspect of life,” said J. Denny Weaver, professor of religion at Bluffton College. “It is very important that people understand that the arts are part of that.” “We do not want to only look at the past, but also to look at new, creative works that will communicate nonviolence,” Weaver said. The Choral Competition Contest was based on competitors choosing a sacred text that had a peace/nonviolence theme and creating a composition using that text. Rickelton chose an excerpt by Soren Kierkegaard from The Book of Common Prayer. “Kierkegaard felt religion was becoming too focused on practices and that it needed to just be about God,” Rickelton said. “I chose the text because it is simple yet speaks worlds about us as people succumbing to God’s power, and letting Him in our hearts. “The text emphasizes God’s power to change us, and that only through His changing our hearts can we have peace.” Rickelton is a vocal music education major who plans to study composition with Reed this fall. He participates in A Cappella Singers, The Early Music Consort and a guitar ensemble at Lipscomb University. He also sings with the Nashville Symphony and the Vanderbilt Community Chorus. Composition is one of the studies available through Lipscomb's Department of Music. For more information on music studies at Lipscomb, call 615.279.5929, 1.800.333.4358, or visit music.lipscomb.edu.