Year: 2015

Can I Get An Awomen: Inclusive Language

Post author By Allyson Murphy
Post date April 13, 2015
2 Comments on Can I Get An Awomen: Inclusive Language

Houghton College’s doctrinal statement asserts, “We believe that there is one God, eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” Many people, including myself, recognize the unfortunate terminology used in this statement and here is why. In our present world many, sadly not all, people recognize the importance of gender-inclusive language. Why does our college not? When referring to God, instead of saying, “Father” our language should be inclusive, perhaps using words such as “Maker” or “Creator.”

Many of you reading this article may strongly disagree with this opinion. Others may agree, but ask, Why is gender inclusive language so important?

First, God is not male. The bearded white man in the clouds is just an image from your picture book bible. Throughout the bible numerous references to God as male and God as female are made.

For example, in a recent workshop at the college, Sarah Derck, professor of Old Testament, mentioned the Hebrew word “Shaddai” which is used 48 times in the Old Testament. Since the 1930s etymological and linguistic research done has found convincing reason to think that “Shaddai” has been falsely translated in the past.

Traditionally, the word has been translated as “Almighty” or “God Almighty” but with further research, scholars have found that “Shaddai” is from a different Akkadian root word signifying the word ‘breast,’ Derck stated, “Theologically, the significance is an astounding reference to the nourishment and nurture of God signified by female anatomy, as part of the range of metaphors used for God.” Metaphorical language and imagery fills Scripture. Biblical language references God with both male and female terminology- neither is literal.

Personally, though I grew up in an egalitarian home, I was still under the misconception of God as male. At church I was always told of God the male shepherd looking for his lost sheep (Luke 15:1-7). However, I never read a children’s book or had a single Sunday school class centered on the very next parable in the gospel of Luke. The first verse of this parable: “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?” (Luke 15: 8 NIV). The shepherd and the woman serve the same purpose: comprehensive metaphorical language representing God’s love for humanity.

Now onto the question: “Why should one care if God is referred to as male?”

The answer seems obvious: using inclusive language includes everyone. In her book, The Second Sex, Simone de Beauvoir discusses the detrimental effects of having men be viewed as the norm in society. De Beauvoir writes, “A man never begins by presenting himself as an individual of a certain sex; it goes without saying that he is a man.” In society, men have historically been seen as the ‘Absolute’ or ‘norm.’ More particularly, in American history, white men have been seen as the Absolute, while minority races and women have been the derivative from the norm: in de Beauvoir’s words “He is the Subject, he is the Absolute- she is the Other.” If female is the Other, she then feels that in order to validate her own capabilities and be part of the ‘norm’ she must conform to the Absolute or ‘male.’

When God is repeatedly referred to as ‘male,’ women feel as if they are the Other and men are the Absolute. In relation to biblical language, Kristina Lacelle-Peterson, professor of religion, stated, “Given that Scripture depicts God sometimes with feminine imagery and God as the one over everything in whose image we are mad, male and female, it is a huge reduction of God to assume God is male.”

Not only are we reducing our view of God when we say ‘male’, we are also ordaining men with inherent God-like qualities, which are denied to women. This type of thinking then encourages the harmful image of men as sole ‘master,’ ‘provider,’ ‘spiritual leader’ the list goes on and on. Women are more than capable of leadership roles and this includes spiritual life leadership. The false view of God as ‘male’ perpetuates the unhealthy view of male as pre-ordained leader.

Through advocacy for gender-inclusive language I am stressing the reality that all people, male and female, are made in God’s image. God is non-gendered and our language and terminology should reflect this fact. Our college’s spiritual life, academic life, and all other facets should support equality and inclusion by adhering to gender-inclusive language.

Campus News

Solar Array Dedication to Take Place

Post author By Alex Fisher
Post date April 9, 2015

The new solar array, which will save the college over four million dollars over 25 years, will be dedicated will be April 17 at 1 p.m. at the Field of Dreams, followed by a tour. The event is open to the public and “is a chance to mark the significance and formally recognize the start of the solar array,” said Brian Webb, Houghton’s Sustainability Coordinator. State Senator Cathy Young, representatives from Groundwater and Environmental Services (GES), and President Shirley Mullen, will be there as well. After the dedication, there will be a guided tour of the array for those interested in seeing the solar panels up close and finding out how renewable energy works.

Over the array’s lifetime of 25 years, it will save the college approximately $4.3 million in energy costs. Not only is this structure a representation of a cost savings for the college, but it will also allow the community to “interact with God’s creation in a responsible way,” said Webb.

According to Webb, the array will take a huge chunk of energy from a renewable source, the sun, turn it into electric energy which will then power about half of the college throughout the year. The funding, provided by GES, will allow for the maintaining and owning of the solar array for the next 25 years. Webb explained in the end, “Houghton wins out because we have lower energy costs with no cost to build the structure in the first place.”

However, the solar array has raised some concerns regarding if Houghton will actually benefit from the array. Houghton senior, Katherine Tomlinson, said when she first heard of the project, she was skeptical, “I was concerned about the habits it would possibly be destroying, specifically honey bees since they are endangered than the benefits it would be bringing to campus.” However, Webb explained Houghton was the perfect spot for the solar array; there was no natural habitat such as streams or trees the college would have needed to clear. “The area was not needed for Houghton or any critical wildlife. The only environmental impact I could see would be what happens to the panels after we are done using them” said Webb.

Solar energy, along with other renewable sources of energy, help promote a healthy global climate. “It has everything to do about how our actions impact the world,” said Webb. In addition, Tomlinson explained it was not until she learned more about climate change this past and found, “the solar array is an important step for our community [Houghton] to purify our energy use and lessen our contribution to the problem [climate change].”

Twenty-five years from now, Houghton will have some different options for the array. The array can be removed from the Field of Dreams or Houghton can buy the array from GES for a low rate. Webb’s prediction for the future of the array is if it is still producing a reliable source of energy after 25 years, the college will buy it.

On April 16, there will be a forum in Java to talk about Faith and Sustainability to tie into the dedication of the solar array. This event will be in partnership with Student Government Association and have a panel of Dean Jordan, Brian Webb, and one other student. Complimentary coffee will be provided for all who attend.

News

Thrift Sale Success for Salvation Army

Post author By Dani Eaton
Post date April 9, 2015

On Tuesday March 24, the Salvation Army Student Fellowship (SASF) held their annual thrift store sale in the basement of the Campus Center.

The thrift sale, which happens once a semester, uses clothes, accessories, and other various items from the Salvation Army Store in Wellsville, New York as a fundraiser for the Salvation Army World Missions program. World Missions, according to Salvation Army Officer David Means, refers to “The Salvation Army’s ministries around the world.”

Present in around 128 countries across the world, the Salvation Army funds a variety of services, each dedicated to serving those who are in need. According to Means, a few of such services include churches, hospitals, orphanages, after school programs, agriculture schools, schools for the blind, and even micro loan programs.

All of the money raised during the thrift sale held on campus each semester, as well as day to day proceeds from the thrift store in Wellsville are put towards ministries and other various programs funded by world missions. Each year, according to Means, the thrift store in Wellsville sets a goal of $4,000 with the thrift sale normally contributing between $1,600 and $1,800.

With the fall sale alone raising the amount normally made with both sales and an additional $800 raised with the current sale, this year’s sales, Means said, “blew past years out of the water.” In total, SASF and the thrift sale, Means said, “raised about $2,400 for Salvation Army World Services.”

In addition to helping fund World Services, SASF President, Heather Hart ‘15, said the sale is usually a lot of fun as well, “It’s always exciting to see what outfit combinations people come up with.

Overall, Hart calls the sale a “win-win situation.” She said, “The thing I love about it is that, not only are we able to provide Houghton students and other people in Houghton with awesome clothes and things, but we’re also able to help raise money to help people around the world.”

National News

Drought in California

Post author By Jared Cram
Post date April 9, 2015

In California, residents are experiencing water regulations and challenges amidst a historic statewide drought. This drought, which began in 2011, has continued to prove a challenge for California’s economy, which comes largely from agriculture. According to a CNN report, it is estimated that California grows more than a third of the nation’s vegetables and more than two thirds of the nations fruits and nuts. With the situation becoming so dire, Governor Jerry Brown issued an executive order to reduce water consumption statewide by twenty-five percent..

Brown issued this sanction while at a press release on top of a snow-barren Phillips Station in the Sierra Nevada mountains. “Today we are standing on dry grass when we should be standing on five feet of snow. This historic drought calls for unprecedented action,” claimed Brown, according to a statement by NBC. Snowpack in mountain ranges across the state provide consistency to the reservoir levels, but also to less obvious places like irrigating farms and ski resorts, both of which rely on snowpack as a source of water for the season. In fact, many ski resorts have been forced to close early this past year, and some are building zip lines, mountain bike trails, and wedding venues to continue the flow of tourists into the area.

This scramble to adapt to dwindling resources is found in creative ways all across the state. Statewide, restaurants are required to only give customers water by request, and hotel chains must ask guests if they are willing to not have their linens laundered each day. In Santa Barbara, city officials are looking into reopening a water desalination plant to quench the city’s shortage, and are paying a hefty price tag, close to $1 billion, to do so.

In Los Angeles, residents are being paid by utilities companies to replace their grass lawns with more drought tolerant alternatives. The city of Palm Springs, where water consumption per capita more than doubles the state average at 201 gallons per day, has begun a campaign to reduce their consumption by as much as fifty percent. The city plans to do this by removing grass medians of the city and instead replacing them with things like cactus and desert bushes. They are also paying their residents to do the same with their own lawns, as well as offering those residents substantial rebates if they choose to install low-flow toilets.

Even with all of these changes however, there will not be nearly as much of a shift in water consumption as even a minor reform by farmers. Currently, farmers consume about eighty percent of all water in the state of California. Many farmers have reported substantial decreases in the number of acres they are able to plot this year, coming in response to the reported twenty percent allocation by the California Dept of Water Resources of the more than 4.2 million acre-feet of water requested.

Despite these reductions in yield, consumers are not expected to see extreme rises in food costs. This is due in part because of food diversity. If, for example, rice production, which requires the rice to be submerged in water to grow, drops in California, rice farmers in the South might shift their production to meet the need. However, this is not to say that the problem is over. With drought covering more than ninety-eight percent of the state, California will continue to adapt to the changes in its environment.

News

Middle States Accreditation Visit Report

Post author By Micah Cronin
Post date April 9, 2015

The reaccreditation visit from the Middle States Commission of Higher Education two weeks ago seems to have gone as expected, according to President Shirley Mullen and Linda Mills Woolsey, vice president of academic affairs and dean of the college.

According to Mills Woolsey, the team which visited Houghton included a chief financial officer (CFO), expert faculty members of other institutions, a college president, and a librarian. The purpose of the CFO on the team was to inspect how well resources are allocated in accordance with Houghton’s strategic plans.

Mills Woolsey added that the main question the commission addressed was, “Does the report [from the self study Houghton undertook last year in preparation for re-accreditation] reflect reality?” The team was presented with supporting documents, as well as meetings with various deans, students, the Academic Effectiveness committee, and those who conduct the tenure process. “The team looks for consistency,” Mills Woolsey stated. “They were positive about our campus and the thoroughness [of the self-study.]”

“There were no surprises,” Mullen stated. “And that’s what you want when your institution is being re-accredited.”

According to Mullen, the commission will send Houghton College a finalized report on the institution in June. In the meantime, Houghton will have an opportunity to address any concerns in the draft report. The visiting team fully expects to support reaccreditation.

In regard to areas the team pointed to for potential improvement, Mullen said, “The team agreed with the self-study team that we need to improve on internal communication, as well as broadcasting successful outcomes of a Houghton education for every major.”

“[Houghton] also needs to be more intentional about helping the whole campus know that admissions is everyone’s job,” said Mullen. “[Finally] as soon as possible Houghton must clarify its new directions in adult and online education.”

Mullen also shared that the team was impressed with the Christian liberal arts tradition at Houghton. One team member stated that this was “a treasure” that Houghton must continue to cultivate. Part of this “treasure” was the way Houghton combines commitment to Christ and openness to strong questions. Mullen considered this to be “a witness to what a Christian liberal arts education can be.”

The strengths pointed out by the commission in the draft report included uniform high quality throughout campus, faculty, and staff. Mullen stated Houghton has also done a good job, in the eyes of the team, of integrating curricular and co-curricular aspects of campus life.The team was impressed with the pervasiveness of the arts on campus, as well as the quality of athletic opportunities for students.

The team was also impressed in their interactions with students. Though the team did meet with a few current students, overall the commission was struck by the friendliness and quality of Houghton undergraduates, according to Mills Woolsey. She added, however, “visitors are always impressed with our students.”

Reviews Stories In Focus

Blast From The Past: Lost in Translation Review

Post author By Jakin Rintleman
Post date April 9, 2015
1 Comment on Blast From The Past: Lost in Translation Review

Hotels are neutralizing. They exist as these in-between purgatorial vacation places, where you can pretend to live without the nagging burdens of modern life. You have a pool now, and a maid, and endless patterned hallways to explore, all filled with people who are only temporarily living in this halfway home for the well-off with you. Anything can happen in a hotel. You are a new person, in a new place where nobody knows you. This is the timeless in-between space that Lost in Translation takes place in and pulls its acerbic wit and quiet energy from, creating a nuanced, contemplative experience that dazzles with its emotional subtleties.

The story of Lost in Translation is fundamentally simple. Bob Harris (Bill Murray) is an American film actor who has lived to see his glory days come and pass, along with the happiness of his marriage. His career is no longer defined by his skill as a performer, but by his marketability as a face that people remember fondly. He now finds himself in Tokyo starring in an ad campaign for a pronounced whiskey brand, away from home, surrounded by a language he doesn’t understand, on the verge of a mid-life crisis. Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson) is a recent college grad and the young wife of an up-and-coming photographer, tagging along on his job trip, caught between imposing existential and marital quandaries. Two wandering souls searching for meaning in a westernized, urban landscape. Their meeting place? A smoke-filled, burgundy-carpeted hotel lounge, overlooking the city with poetic, restrained arrogance. After glances grow into larger interactions, they discover that maybe the best way to find yourself in a culture that is not your own, is to be lost in it with someone else.

It feels typical, soapy, even expected, but despite any attempt to make it sound like the tagline for Nicholas Sparks’ most recent cinematic offering, there should be no detraction from the quiet brilliance of Sophia Coppola’s vision of hopeful melancholy. Coppola has a deft understanding of film; from her drifting cinematography, to the subtle acting cues that shape the atmosphere of the film, everything is near-perfect. Yet the true beauty of the movie is in its narrative execution, in its ability to take the familiar and the occasionally cringe-inducing aspects of life and roll them into intricate character interactions that shine in their small moments and large alike.

Murray and Johansson are both tastefully, even impeccably cast. Murray bounces off of Johansson with a romantic charm that would be considered creepy if the film were in less capable hands. Yet their age difference is never an issue. If anything, it adds significantly to the spirit of what a hotel is: a timeless, ageless crossroads for people searching for fulfillment away from the comforts of home. This theme is crucial to understanding who these people are and why they would be vulnerable enough to approach one another in the first place. There is a youthful zeal to Bob’s antics, a sense of wonderment in Charlotte’s longing for purpose, and together they’re delightful in their tragic meeting. Despite the joy that they experience in their first quiet conversations at the hotel bar or in their escapades through the arcades of downtown Tokyo, there is always a knowing look of loss in their eyes. To each other, they are like beautiful relapses away from normal, and they both know that soon they will return to their homes and spouses again, and re-adjust. These things are never stated, only read. Read in the quaint eyebrow shifts, the mumbled trailing-off of loving sentences, the aching, intimate glances in the midst of open-mic karaoke. These are the moments that make Lost in Translation feel whole.

Lost in Translation speaks to a wistful transience, captured in its brittle, contemplative story of hotel guests transitioning from facelessness to fleeting connection. Just as a brief hotel stay, the experience exists in its own place, separated and distinct from the world, yet still familiar. And in the end, we must go home.

Stories In Focus

Houghtons Only Accounting Professor To Retire

Post author By Hattie Burgher
Post date April 9, 2015

When Lois Ross first joined the Houghton faculty in fall of 2008, she wasn’t anticipating that within two years the accounting major would be cut. Ross, associate professor of accounting, is and has been the only accounting professor at Houghton since her arrival at the college. Once the major was cut, Ross got right to work to bring it back.

Through an immense amount of research and work, Ross helped reframe the justification for having an accounting major. Kenneth Bates, associate professor of business administration, said that because of Ross, “We were able to make a strong, irrefutable case as to why the college needed to bring the accounting major back.”

Ross’s dedication and determination did not go to waste. The following fall, the major was reinstated. “She breathed life into a program that had died,” said Bates, “Since then it has grown leaps and bounds.”

Bates and Ross are longtime acquaintances, both attended Houghton and were only a couple years apart. He was a busboy at the old dining hall that used to be in the basement of Gillette, and she was a waitress, and that’s where the friendship was born. They kept in touch over the years and when a position opened up for an accounting professor at Houghton, Bates notified Ross and suggested that she interview for it. She did, of course, and they went from being classmates to colleagues.

Aside from being known as the person to bring back the accounting major, Ross is also known for her humor. “When I first met Professor Ross, I thought she was unapproachable, but once I got to know her, I found out that she was actually pretty funny,” said senior, Kevin Miranda, and accounting major who came to Houghton the year that the major had it’s revival. “I appreciate her sense of humor,” said Bates “She has brought levity to situations that have been too serious.”

Most people view accounting as tedious. “I had this misconception that accounting was uninteresting and that accountants didn’t have a lot of personality,” said Miranda. However, over the years Ross has proved just the opposite to him. “She makes accounting more interesting, especially once you get past the introductory classes,” said Miranda “She relates some of her own experiences to her teachings, rather than just teaching from the textbook.”

The students at Houghton, in particular the accounting students, are what have made the biggest impact on Ross. “Getting to know the students and prepare them as Christians in the business world has been really neat,” said Ross. Being the only accounting professor and advisor to many, she has developed close relationships with those students. “I’m excited when I think about some of these students graduating because I am thinking what an impact they are going to have and how the Lord is going to use them,” said Ross. “I will miss the interaction with them definitely.”

The students have enjoyed interacting with her as well. “I have heard regularly how much her advisees enjoy getting to know her outside of the classroom,” said Bates. He continued, “She has a cheerful personality and maintains an even keel.” Miranda added that Ross creates a better learning environment because of her willingness to help students understand the material. “You get the sense that she cares,” he said. “She is always available to help and genuinely wants to help. She is very personable and easy to talk to.”

Ross has dabbled in a lot of different things during her career. After receiving her B.A. at Houghton, she went on to get her M.A. at California State at Los Angeles then proceeded to get her M.B.A. from SUNY Buffalo. Ross worked in both public and private accounting firms, taught at the high school level, and received CPA credentials. Her last stop in her career was Houghton, where she said she was “happy to meld my two interests together, teaching and accounting.”

What does Ross plan to do come fall when she doesn’t need to report back to campus? “Decompress,” she said laughingly. After her eight years of teaching at Houghton, she is ready to leave the work behind, but not the people. “I will miss the students and my colleagues, but I wont miss the work,” chuckled Ross.

Ross also plans to spend time with her family, go away to Florida for a month, and tend to her vegetable garden.

Stories In Focus

Mathematics Professor Parts From Lifetime Houghton Connection

Post author By Sophia Ross
Post date April 9, 2015

Camenga Makes the Difficult Decision to Leave Houghton.

Though Kristin Camenga was not a Houghton student, she has always felt connected to the school. Her mother, a high school teacher, visited campus for a conference while pregnant with Camenga, marking the future professor’s first visit to the college. After nine years as a professor in the department of Mathematics, and five years as chair of the department of mathematics and computer science, Camenga will leave her positions at Houghton at the end of this spring semester.

Camenga did not begin her career intending to teach at the post-secondary level. She wanted to follow in her mother’s footsteps, and trained to teach high school math at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. Following her graduation, Camenga taught at the secondary level for two years, during which time she dated her now husband, Andrew Camenga, a ’92 Houghton graduate. Shortly before they were married in 2000, Camenga’s then-fiancé, an ordained Seventh Day Baptist pastor, took a job directing the denomination’s Board of Christian Education in Alfred, NY. Camenga used their cross-country move as an opportunity to continue her education. She was accepted at Cornell University, and graduated in 2006 with both her Ph.D. in Mathematics and M.S. in Education. She then applied for teaching positions in the Alfred area; one of these was at Houghton.

“It was exactly what I wanted,” said Camenga about the Houghton job posting. “It was a math job, and it meant working with people who wanted to be math teachers. That’s what I wanted to do, because I was a math teacher. I’d seen how important it was.”

In 2006, Camenga began her Houghton career as an Assistant Professor of Mathematics, and has taught several math courses, as well as the Math Methods course for the Education department. In 2010, she was appointed Chair of the Mathematics and Computer Science department. Colleagues consider her to be a diligent Chair, noting that Camenga is always on top of her work, ensuring that the department’s projects are always on time. More recently, she has acted as the Faculty Development Coordinator, organizing and leading such events as the new faculty seminar and faculty retreat.

Among students, Camenga is known for her thorough and individualized instruction. Camenga’s courses help them feel prepared for whatever is next, whether it’s student teaching or heading into the workforce. “All of the work feels really purposeful,” said senior, Emily Bradley.

Camenga creates a strong connection with her students. According to senior, Amanda Gokey, the way that Camenga cares for each student in her class makes her an exceptional professor. When students have difficulty with their work, Camenga is available and eager to help them. This relationship is a major part of what Camenga says she will miss about Houghton.

“It’s really hard to leave my students who aren’t graduating yet,” said Camenga. “I’ve known a lot of them since before they walked on campus officially as freshmen. They’re my friends, and I’m going to miss that. I’ll also miss my colleagues. I have trouble imagining a place where I’ll have colleagues that work this well together.”

Camenga’s decision to leave has been almost two years in the making. The couple felt it was time for Andrew to move on from his one-person office in pursuit of a pastorate, leading him to resign. Last fall, he accepted a position in Salemville, PA, but the congregation understood that his wife would want to finish out the year at Houghton first. Camenga was able to officially resign in mid-September, and helped to find her replacement.

“Some people would feel that, even if you know you’re leaving, you don’t actually resign,” said Camenga. “I wanted to know that the things I’ve worked on for the last nine years are going to continue.”

While Camenga is sorry to leave the community she has built at Houghton, she trusts that this is the right decision.

“You’ve got to go where God leads you,” she said. “You trust Him to take care of the pieces where they fall.”

Camenga’s lifetime connection to Houghton, her dedication to teaching and preparing students to teach, and her ability to discern God’s leading in times of change are enduring gifts to this community.

Letter to the Editor Opinions

Letter to the Editor

Dear Editor,

I would like to address LGBQ Inclusion: Community Covenant Amendment. The Houghton Community Covenant is very important as it expresses proper and improper ways to display Christian behavior. The word behave expresses how a person conducts their life. Every aspect of the way Christians live should be based on the Holy Bible.

The Houghton College Doctrinal statement begins with, “We believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are fully inspired of God and inerrant in the original writings and that they are of supreme and final authority for faith and practice.”

The Houghton Community Covenant states, “We believe that Scripture clearly prohibits certain acts, including . . . engaging in sexual relations outside the bonds of a Biblical understanding of marriage, including premarital sex, adultery and homosexual behavior.” The importance of Scripture in the above statements is monumental. It is important for Houghton College to affirm its belief in a Biblical basis for marriage.

The secular view of marriage, extramarital sex and homosexual behavior appear to be shaping the discussion of a covenant amendment more than Scripture. The suggested amendment of removing “engaging in sexual relations outside the bonds of a Biblical understanding of marriage, including premarital sex, adultery and homosexual behavior” and replacing it with “. . . and engaging in sexual relations outside of the bonds of marriage” creates confusion. The problem with this suggested amendment is that it leaves out what Scripture teaches on this topic. It also opens up the possibility of redefining the Biblical definition of marriage which is only between a man and a woman.

The sexual prohibitions in the Community Covenant including premarital sex, adultery and homosexual behavior are clearly listed in the Holy Bible as transgressions against God and others. The consequences of such acts are found throughout Scripture. Sinful behavior has consequences. As Christians who believe in God and His Word, our behavior should be above reproach. Everything we do or say should be influenced by Scripture. We should not submit to secular pressures that encourage us to behave contrary to God’s will and His Holy Word. We cannot expect to receive God’s blessings when we disobey His commandments.

Dr. Jim Szymanski

Houghton, NY

Stories In Focus

Musician of the Week: Jerbrel Bowens

Post author By Houghton STAR
Post date March 30, 2015

Born in February 1994, Jerbrel is an aspiring young composer that offers a wide variety of style and sound at different levels of achievement for young ensembles, all the way up to college & professional level ensembles. He currently studies music education with a focus in music composition & Percussion at Houghton College in Houghton N.Y. He currently studies composition under Dr. Carrie Magin, and has studied with Dr. David H. Davies. Jerbrel studied/studies percussion under Dustin Woodard, and Jim Tiller. He also studies and performs jazz with Dr. Ken Crane. Jerbrel Graduated from Webster Schroeder High School in 2012 in Webster N.Y where he grew as a percussionist and composer. He marched 4 years as a snare drummer and has also served as section leader for the 2011 field season and the winter percussion ensemble and has been involved with the drum corp. world since 2009. Jerbrel was given the opportunity to premier one of his wind ensemble compositions entitled “Flash” where he coached his high school ensemble and conducted it at the concert in March of 2012. He has also had drumline cadences premiered on national television, as well as jazz charts that have been performed at the Rochester international Jazz Fest. Jerbrel is also an internationally premiered composer having compositions premiered in Belgium Europe, and Melbourne Australia.

Jerbrel has been composing since the age of 8 and playing the drums since he was 2. He continues to prosper in this field is growing and making new musical connections. He has written over 90+ pieces for Symphonic wind ensembles, orchestras, choirs, marching bands, drum Corps, Drumlines, and chamber ensembles. He looks to serve ensembles, students, and educators that love to make and perform music just as much as he does.

Check out Jerbrel’s music on youtube, soundcloud, or on his website.

Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/jerbrelbowens?feature=mhee

Souncloud: https://soundcloud.com/jerbrel-bowens

Website: http://jerbrelbowenscomposer.weebly.com/