Zig’s Musical Chair

Siegwart ‘Zig’ Reichwald was officially installed as Adams chair of music and worship at Westmont in a day that featured chamber musicians, the college choir, orchestra and chapel band performing music from the Psalms, Felix Mendelssohn, and rock band U2. 

As part of the formal installation ceremony, President Gayle D. Beebe urged Reichwald to bring to life those voices from the past who can speak so eloquently to our present through their music. “Sometimes this will be through the presentation of great works of music,” Beebe said. “Other times it will be the scholarship you bring that helps us understand. And still other times you will lift our hearts and minds to eternity. Ultimately, we’re asking you to set a tone that elevates the human spirit and helps bring us into the presence of God.”

Chelle Stearns, an affiliate faculty member of the Seattle School of Theology and Psychology, said she felt gratitude for Westmont’s commitment and support of the arts. “This is so rare today,” she said. “Many universities are cutting the arts and the humanities left and right. And yet today, we are here celebrating music.” 

In her charge, she explored why Christians are not only called to sing, but often encouraged and commanded to sing throughout the Psalms. “We sing for one another, but we also sing to praise God and we spiritually form and care for one another as we sing,” she said. “We become the Body of Christ as we sing. So, I say again with the psalmist, ‘Sing to the Lord, a New Song.’”