Cathedral Choir: A Tradition of Excellence

By Carlson Wakefield
November 30, 2022

Cathedral Choir: A Tradition of Excellence

The Cathedral Choir is one of John Brown University’s longest-standing traditions. The Cathedral Choir has compiled 80 years of history — performing national and international tours, seasonal concerts and the beloved Candlelight Service. Much of the music department’s prolonged success is due to several long-standing faculty members’ hard work and dedication.

Mabel Oiesen arrived in Siloam Springs in the summer of 1942. She had just finished her music degree at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and was recruited by the university to teach music and voice at JBU. Oiesen would be instrumental to the music & theatre department and served as the department chair for 30 years.

“She was so loved,” said Terri Wubbena, professor emeritus. “And she was a force to be reckoned with.”

Oiesen founded the Cathedral Choir in 1942 and performed the first Candlelight Service that year. Since then, the Candlelight Service has ushered in the Christmas season for countless JBU students, faculty and staff, as well as for alumni and the community of Siloam Springs. It is a cherished tradition that attracts visitors from all over Northwest Arkansas.

While Oiesen laid the groundwork, it was Paul Smith who brought the Cathedral Choir and the Candlelight Service to the forefront of the JBU experience.

Smith was hired in 1987 from Anderson University, which had a sizeable musical department that Smith said had more than 100 music majors and another hundred students pursuing a minor.

While JBU’s music department was small, it didn’t bother Smith who saw it as an opportunity. He pushed for better practice facilities, enlisting the help of President John E. Brown III and the board of trustees to buy new pianos, add new practice rooms and rehaul the whole department.

“I was a pest. John [Brown III] almost had to muzzle me,” Smith said.

“If you talk to anybody who is a former student of Paul Smith, they look back on their time with fondness, and often times as a transformative and positive thing in their life,” said Steven Hamilton ’16, now JBU’s instructor of music and director of choirs.

Smith’s transformation of the music department was aided by many students and faculty, specifically Jan Wubbena, Ph.D., and his wife, Terri. During her 42 years at JBU, Terri taught and advised all music majors and held department leadership roles culminating in serving as the chair of the Division of Communications and Fine Arts. She is credited with championing the growth of instrumental music on campus nearly single-handedly. Jan served as faculty for 40 years, joining JBU in 1977 and retiring in 2017. The Wubbenas taught a myriad of music classes, often together; an experience program alumni recount with humor and fondness.

The Wubbenas’ commitment to music on campus directly impacted the growth of the Candlelight Service into the tradition that it is today.

“Every Candlelight that Paul directed, he [Jan] was the organist,” Terri said. “He accompanied the choir on select pieces, played a prelude, a postlude — it became a tradition.”

Terri and Jan contributed to all 30 Candlelight Services conducted by Smith, helping him make the service a Christmas tradition for many. Smith recognized Candlelight as an opportunity to involve Siloam Springs.

“I saw it as kind of a Christmas card to the community,” Smith said. “I didn’t want it to be a sermon but a remembrance of what Christmas means to Christians and a celebration of Jesus’ life.”

Hamilton fondly remembers performing in four Candlelight Services as a student.

“Those were truly special performances,” he said. “You get to experience this sensation of community and this feeling that we’re creating an atmosphere of worship.”

Candlelight became so successful under Smith that more performances had to be added.

“We started with one night, which turned into two nights, and we still had to turn people away,” Smith said. “So, I went to the administration and said, ‘Well, what about three nights?’”

Smith, the Wubbenas and many other faculty, students and staff turned Candlelight into one of the most significant events on campus each year. Over three nights, the Cathedral of the Ozarks hosts about 3,000 people.

“This year, I started receiving calls back in August about it, so I expect it will be very crowded,” said Jan Lauderdale, events and auditions coordinator. “I’ve been the event coordinator for 18 years, and the worst part of my job every year is turning people away.”

Smith was the first choir director to take students on an international tour to Northern Ireland, where JBU had established an Irish Studies Program. In May 2003, Smith directed multiple a cappella concerts over two weeks in Northern Ireland.

“Night after night, the choir received thunderous ovations,” Smith said. “It was hard to come to the end of the concerts.”

The concerts were so successful that the choir returned every three years until he retired in 2017. The Cathedral Choir was due to make its seventh international tour to Northern Ireland in 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic derailed it.

In 2020, JBU hired Hamilton, who graduated from JBU with a degree in music education and then received his master’s degree in choral conducting from the University of British Columbia.

“He [Hamilton] was my assistant for two years when he was at JBU,” Smith said. “I saw a lot of heart for singing and choral music in him. We were so blessed that he was able to take over.”

Hamilton’s first two years were anything but easy with the added COVID-19 regulations that affected classroom vocal instruction and performances.

“It was discouraging to teach music during that time,” Hamilton said. “You looked at all the restrictions and wished they would go away, but you also wanted everybody to stay safe and healthy.”

Hamilton fought to find a way to keep the Candlelight Service tradition alive, despite the roadblocks.

“The first Candlelight I directed was entirely digital,” Hamilton said. “We couldn’t have audiences; we had to have the students come in and record. That was difficult because so much of Candlelight is the communal experience.”

Hamilton’s Cathedral Choir students made the difficult season rewarding, delivering excellent performances despite restrictions.

“Some of my favorite moments as an instructor have been seeing the ways in which students responded to those challenges,” Hamilton said. “Seeing them stay dedicated to singing and dedicated to the choir, even though it was really difficult. They created some really memorable and special performances.”

With the foundation of the Cathedral Choir laid by Oiesen and Smith, Hamilton will continue those long-standing traditions and is building new ones, such as the recently created University Chorus.

The Cathedral Choir requires a high level of commitment, with more rehearsals, music to learn, an expanded role in Candlelight and national tours. Hamilton realized that not all students who wanted to participate in the Cathedral Choir had the time to do so.

“I thought it was really important that they have a place to sing,” Hamilton said. “It’s my goal that everybody interested in singing has a place to sing, regardless of what level that looks like.”

Hamilton and the Cathedral Choir are looking forward to the 80th Annual Candlelight Service on Dec. 8, 9 and 10 in the Cathedral of the Ozarks. Premiering that night is a new original choral work Hamilton commissioned from renowned composer R. Christopher Teichler.

“There are definitely traditions I’m going to keep alive,” Hamilton said. “But every year is a new adventure.”

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