Alum’s work in church music honored by Kennedy Center, Baylor

In 2076, when the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., opens the time capsule it laid during the nation’s bicentennial 100 years earlier, one of the artifacts they will find is evidence of the work of Baylor graduates. The cantata God with Us, written by Hal Hopson, class of 1954, was enclosed in the capsule as a representative piece of American choral composition from the 1900s.

But that one piece is far from Hopson’s only creation; the Baylor music grad is known as one of the country’s most prolific composers of church music. He was honored last month with the 2009 Award for Exemplary Leadership in Church Music, given by Baylor’s Center for Christian Music Studies. Hopson follows in the footsteps of former honorees such as Billy Ray Hearn, Dr. Milburn Price and Buryl Red.

Sic ’em, Baylor graduates who have helped others worship the Lord!