A! Magazine for the Arts

Amy Oblinger

Amy Oblinger

VI Faculty Member Presents at National Symposium

February 1, 2011

BRISTOL, VA - Amy Oblinger, music instructor, choir director and chaplain at Virginia Intermont College, was accepted to present at the National Symposium of Multicultural Music.

A biennial event held in the fall at the University of Tennessee, the symposium brings together international and national leaders who are specialists in multicultural music with research sessions emphasizing the role of music in culture within its historical context.

Oblinger presented her master's dissertation work on communicative and responsive behaviors, comparing styles and behaviors in worship based on the music of Scotland's Iona community and the Taize community of France.

"One of the things that drew me to the Iona and Taize communities was that they bring a fresh, new element to the world of modern Christian worship," said Oblinger, who received her master's in music from the University of Edinburgh. "This study is based on the idea of experiencing a unique worship music at a place of pilgrimage, bringing its elements back home and applying the principles of this unique experience to the weekly worship experience."

Oblinger is involved with A! Magazine for the Arts and King College's theatre department. She sings with Voices of the Mountains and the First Presbyterian Church Sanctuary Choir. A native of Bluefield, Va., she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in performing arts from King College.

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