Posted by Jack Brymer on 2009-09-16

The sixth annual Samford Hymn Sing, formerly known as the Old Song Sing-Along, will take place Sunday afternoon, Ocober 11, in Reid Chapel, beginning at 2 p.m. It is free and open to the public.

Codirectors of the event this year are Samford’s School of the Arts Dean Joseph Hopkins and his wife, Suzanne. Also returning for the third year is concert pianist Barbara Bamberg of Houston, Texas.

The program consists primarily of congregational singing of the favorite hymns and gospel songs of yesteryear as selected by the audience. It also features special gospel and hymn selections presented by the Hopkins and Pianist Bamberg.

The event began in 2003 as Samford Auxiliary’s opening program of the year. It featured the music of composer Philip Paul Bliss, who had been described as “one of ‘God’s gifts to modern Christian music,” and was directed by legendary gospel musician Dick Baker of Dallas, Texas. The program was so popular that it has become a Samford tradition and the closing event of the annual Family Weekend.

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 6,101 students from 45 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.