In a few minutes, she and 19 other MSU students will participate
in a centuries-old religious practice of contemplating the close
of one day and spiritually preparing for the next.
Eggemeyer and the other students are choral scholars at St. James
Episcopal Church in Bozeman. Each Sunday, the group sings a 5:30
p.m. Evensong service that fills the 125-year-old church with
worshippers of all denominations.
From the opening hymn to the closing prayer, the entire service
is sung following an Anglican choral tradition dating back to
16th-century England.
"I really, really love this service," said Eggemeyer, a senior in
music. "It's a musician's dream as far as a church service goes
because it's got a meditative quality to the whole service."
"I think it's the most beautiful service there is," agreed St.
James parishioner Doris Salsbury.
It was Salsbury and her husband, John, who agreed four years ago
to fund the program in memory of the Rev. John McGrory, who was
the rector at St. James for 17 years. He died in 1997 shortly
before the choir was formed.
Each student receives an $800 scholarship per semester. They
practice each Friday afternoon and again on Sunday before the
service, which is held throughout the school year.
Many of the scholars are music or music education majors,
although that isn't required, and most aren't Episcopalian, said
the Rev. Jane Shipp. Shipp directs the choir and oversees the St.
James campus ministry.
Shipp had long been interested in having a student choir to do
Evensong, a service held almost daily at large cathedrals in the
U.S. and in England but almost unheard of in a town the size of
Bozeman.
Choir member Jessica Counts, a senior in music education from
Bozeman, heard about the scholarship through St. James and said
the money will help finance a trip to Italy this summer.
Senior Luke Preston of Great Falls heard about the choir from
friends in the music department and likes the strong feeling of
community he has with the group.
"I got stopped once and asked if I was in Evensong," Preston
recalled. "Then they asked if I would sing something for them."
The scholarship means he can work fewer hours at his Fieldhouse
job and concentrate more on school.
"It's nice to get paid for something you love to do anyway," said
Preston.
MSU music professor Lowell Hickman said the students benefit from
the additional singing experience and from performing music as it
appears in its environment.
"So often we take choral music out of its original context and
place it in a performance hall," he said.
"I'm not sure they understand yet how important this experience
is for them," he added. "But they will."
The only drawback the students mentioned was the Sunday evening
commitment, which can cut into travel time to their hometowns or
time they might spend studying.
The students praised the Salsburys for providing the scholarships
and for showing such interest in them and their activities.
Eggemeyer said Doris Salsbury attends her voice and flute
recitals and has invited her nine-year-old daughter to tea
parties. Twice the Salsburys have invited the choir to their
house for meals.
"She's so completely generous as a person and is genuinely
interested in what the students are doing," Eggemeyer said.
"She's just a dear person."
Salsbury answers that she and her husband were motivated in part
by self interest. She admits to being "just plain starved" for
something like Choral Evensong. She's glad it benefits the
community and the students.
"I just sit and watch their faces and know that it's something
special in their lives, and it happens at such a good time in
their lives, don't you think?" she said.
Annette Trinity-Stevens
