SCMW Guitar Ensemble places second in international competition

Members of the Guitar Ensemble of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s School of Church Music and Worship, participated in the international, online Bach Competition, taking home second place in the chamber ensemble portion of the prestigious event hosted in Germany.

The five ensemble members included Elias Gomez, bachelor of music in worship studies student, from Chester, N.Y.; Nathanael Everest, bachelor of music in performance student, from Flower Mound, Texas; Mang Lal, master of arts in church music student, from Myanmar; Scott Stice, master of music in performance student, from Uvalde, Texas; and Matthew Naizer, doctor of musical arts student, from Houston, Texas.

“We are incredibly grateful for this opportunity to represent our school on an international stage,” said Abraham Lopez, a DMA student who also directed the performance, “and we give all glory to God for this success.”

The ensemble performed the song Cuban Landscape with Rain by Leo Brouwer, recording the song in Reynolds Auditorium in September and then sending the piece in for the competition, which this year included 417 participants from around the world. The Southwestern ensemble was in competition with other ensembles featuring violinists, cellists, singers, and pianists.

Naizer said the ensemble had only been practicing the piece for five weeks, but after a few run throughs and a couple recording attempts, they were ready to turn in their recording and “prayed that God would have the judges hear what He’d have them hear. Amazingly, that landed us in second place!”

Stice said the competition provided an opportunity for the classical guitarists to experience working together for a common goal, when much of their work is done independently from others.

“It’s a blessing to play with talented musicians and to have that Christian comradery that’s unique to Southwestern,” Stice said. “I think the competition provided us with a shared goal, whatever the outcome may have been – and it was fun, too! I’m grateful for Abraham’s leadership, and I thank God for allowing all of us to be able to participate in this.”

Lopez said the competition was an opportunity to bring Southwestern and its core values to a new audience.

“Our ensemble is proud to represent the School of Church Music & Worship in Fort Worth, Texas, and to embody our core values of being Grace Filled, Christ Centered, Scripturally Grounded, Confessionally Guided, Student Focused, and Globally Engaged,” Lopez said.

Benjamin Encorrada participated in the audio and visual production of the ensemble’s video, which can be viewed here, while Will Douglas, Southwestern’s artist in residence in guitar, also takes part leading the ensemble.

The Guitar Ensemble will perform a concert tonight, Oct. 31, at 7 p.m. in Reynolds Auditorium.