"Her Song Goes On" Hymn Festival hailed as...

...Memorable, Uplifting, Inspiring

A Hymn Festival celebrating the music of Borghild Jacobson was held in Oshkosh, WI, January 30, 2005. The ecumenical event, drawing broad participation and an enthusiastic response, attracted a capacity crowd of 350 people at First Congregational Church. "Many people told us it was a touching experience, a memorable day," said Mark E. Bloedow, Executive Director of Maestro Productions, Inc. Bloedow and Joanne Peterson, organist and choir director at First Congregational Church, were co-chairs of the event.

Titled "Her Song Goes On," the festival honored composer Borghild Jacobson and her music. The event concluded a Commemoration Year of special programs in Wisconsin and around the nation marking the 10th Anniversary of Borghild's death and the 10th Anniversary of the 1994 Reformation Festival at Washington National Cathedral, which featured her signature hymn, "This My Church Shall Be." Her hymns have grown steadily in use during the past two decades and are now an integral part of congregational worship in many churches in the United States.

Fifteen of Borghild's compositions were presented in the program featuring a massed choir, a children's choir, small groups, soloists and congregational singing. A few days after the event the local newspaper published a letter from a festival attendee who
applauded the high quality of the concert and observed, "There is little doubt that everyone left uplifted and inspired." Borghild's body of work includes more than 200 hymns and songs. Noting how "the quiet beauty of her work grew into something larger-than-life," a newspaper feature writer said that the festival served to "memorialize a legend."

The festival attracted participants from churches and other organizations in several Wisconsin communities as well as friends and relatives from Michigan and Minnesota. "It was heartwarming to see in the audience a remarkably complete cross section of people from many walks of life with whom my wife had worked during her years of service as a teacher, choir director, church worker and community volunteer," said Harvey Jacobson, Borghild's husband. The concert reached many additional people through coverage and rebroadcasts by Oshkosh Community Access Television.

Festival speakers included the Rev. Ralph DiBiasio-Snyder and the Rev. Carol DiBiasio-Snyder, co-pastors of First Congregational Church; Mark Bloedow, and Harvey Jacobson (pictured).

Among the highlights of the festival was the premiere of the concertato setting of the Easter hymn, "When Mary Came With Rich Perfume," commissioned for the festival from Dr. Kenneth T. Kosche. Dr. Kosche, music professor from Concordia University Wisconsin, Mequon, WI, was present for the concert and the reception which followed in the Fellowship Hall at the church.

Mark Bloedow and Joanne Peterson, co-directors of the festival, served as the massed choir directors and organists. Special guest musicians participating in the festival included Jared Stellmacher, Madison, organist; Cara Davis, Oshkosh, soprano; Pam Kaskin, Oshkosh, alto; and Paul Beutow, Winneconne, trumpeter; the children's choir of Trinity Lutheran School, Menasha, directed by Camala Bedroske; and Grace Notes, an ensemble from Evergreen Retirement Community, Oshkosh (pictured at left).

Choir members included singers from the choirs of First Congregational Church, First Presbyterian Church, First United Methodist Church, and Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, all of Oshkosh. Other Fox Cities churches were represented by individuals singing in the massed choir (pictured below).

The fifteen works of Borghild Jacobson presented in the hymn festival included: Invocation (massed & children's choir), Let Ev'ry Valley Be Lifted High (soprano/alto duet), Gloria (ensemble), Our Lord, the Night He Was Betrayed (ensemble), Jesus, at Your Paschal Table (hymn), When Mary Came With Rich Perfume (hymn), This My Church Shall Be (hymn), With Him (solo), The Kingdom (solo), I Will Bear You on Wings of Angels (hymn), My Gift (children's choir), Children of Promise (massed & children's choir), Behold I Send You (hymn), Stars and Wonders (massed choir), and Evening Hymn (hymn).

Please also visit:

Borghild Schoberg Jacobson
researched and written by
Mark E. Bloedow
in consultation with
Harvey K. Jacobson

The Hymnody of Borghild Schoberg Jacobson
researched and written by
Mark E. Bloedow

For copyright permission, please submit your request via e-mail to: research@maestromeb.com

 

.