MACON – Mercer University’s Townsend School of Music is pleased to announce Dr. Nathan Myrick, Assistant Professor of Church Music, has been awarded a Vital Worship Grant from the Calvin Institute for Christian Worship. Funds for the grant were provided by Lilly Endowment Inc. for Dr. Myrick to study the intersection of Music and Human Flourishing in Christian Communities.
“I’m very excited about this project,” Dr. Myrick said, “because it’s an opportunity to gain critical insight about the activity of music in Christian worship. Many people know that it is beneficial, and we offer educated guesses about why that is so or how it can be most beneficial. But, is it always good to sing? Beyond educational value, is there more that goes on during musical worship? And how might that ‘going on’ affect faith formation? And in what ways is faith formation connected to flourishing? This project offers us the chance to get some answers to those questions.”
Townsend School of Music invites applications for two graduate research assistant positions, who will be paid a stipend from the grant’s funding for the academic year 2020-2021.
These stipends are for work on the Music and Human Flourishing project, and are offered in addition to any assistantships or fellowships awarded by Mercer. Preference will be given to students applying to the Master of Music in Church Music program, but all prospective graduate music students are encouraged to apply.
Research assistants will be credited as authors in publications derived from their work on the project. The Music and Human Flourishing research office is housed in the historic Mercer Music at Capricorn recording studio in downtown Macon. As music students at Mercer, researchers will have access to the studio, and are encouraged to make use of available studio time to hone their creative expressions.
The Townsend School of Music is nationally recognized for its outstanding faculty, award-winning students, performance ensembles and state-of-the-art facilities. With the Music and Human Flourishing project adding cutting edge research to that list, prospective students are invited to explore one of the top music schools in Georgia to discover its many programs, performance opportunities and events.
