Aaron Strumpel joins George Fox University as artist in residence
June 7th, 2012
Nationally renowned songwriter will mentor student musicians during 2012-13 school year
NEWBERG, Ore. – Based on a long-standing relationship with George Fox University, Aaron Strumpel will join the university community as artist practitioner in residence for the fall semester 2012. Strumpel’s work at the Newberg, Ore., school will center on mentoring various student music ensembles, culminating in the development of a performance with students at the end of the semester.
Strumpel is a nationally renowned songwriter, artist missionary and worship leader. Born and raised in southeast Iowa, he is a graduate of Wartburg College, where he studied music education, religion and jazz. From 2002 to 2006, he performed with The Restoration Project, and in 2006, launched a solo career with Chair & Microphone: Vol. 2, a collaboration with the creative worship collective, Enter the Worship Circle. Since then, his prolific and creative energy has been at the center of seven full-length albums and four EP’s.
In 2009, Strumpel released a series of albums marking a bold departure from his earlier, stripped-down approach. The first of this defining series, Elephants (2009), won Calvin College’s Festival of Faith and Arts. The second, Birds (2011), earned him a feature in the first Relevant Magazine issue of 2012. Both have received high praise from Christianity Today, Paste Magazine and Relevant Magazine. Strumpel will complete the series with his November 2012 release, Buffaloes.
Strumpel’s imaginative, artistic and missional projects include partnerships with Todd Fadel of Agents of Future, Enter the Worship Circle, Word Made Flesh, Restoration Village, Brian McLaren, and together with Karla Adolphe as The Emporiums.
At George Fox, he will work with student music ensembles including the chapel band and Shalom worship team. His tenure at the university is being hosted by the school’s Center for Peace and Justice, which annually offers an in-residence program to practitioners in career fields intersecting with issues of peacemaking and social justice.
George Fox University is ranked by Forbes and Kiplinger’s among the top Christian colleges in the country and is a Christian university classified by U.S. News & World Report as a first tier regional university and a “Best Value” school. More than 3,500 students attend classes on the university’s campus in Newberg, Ore., and at teaching centers in Portland, Salem, and Redmond, Ore., and Boise, Idaho. George Fox offers bachelor’s degrees in more than 40 majors, degree-completion programs for working adults, five seminary degrees, and 11 master’s and doctoral degrees.
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Contact:
Clint Baldwin
Director, Center for Peace and Justice, George Fox University
503-554-2685