LYNCHBURG, Va., June 18, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Liberty
President Jerry Falwell, with the
help of one of Christian music's most famous artists, Michael W. Smith, made a special announcement
during Commencement. From backstage at a show with the Newsboys in
Wisconsin, Smith appeared on the
videoboard congratulating the graduates and telling them: "You
might want to stick around for another couple years, because next
year, I'm going to be hanging out on campus; Liberty and I have some big news on taking music to
a whole other level, and it's going to be awesome."
Now, the news is out: The Michael W. Smith Center for Commercial
Music will launch this fall at Liberty's School of Music, with Smith as the
director. Along with the new center will come a major recording
label that will attract new and already successful artists from
across the country. Artists will also come to Liberty to help train the next generation of music
professionals.
Falwell announced that Kevin
Jonas, father and original manager of the Jonas Brothers who
launched their music careers in 2005, will also play a pivotal role
in working with Liberty students to
publish records and introduce their talent to the world.
Former Christian recording artist and music industry executive
Al Denson has been a key player in
securing Smith, Jonas, and others in this unique partnership. As
Liberty's commercial music industry
liaison, Denson will bring in artists who have the passion to work
with budding musicians who were once in their place.
"These artists remember how hard it was starting out, working
years and years to have the opportunity to record on a major
label," Denson said. "So when they have a chance to give back to
those who are really wanting to seek what they did, and walk down
the same path, they are more than willing and excited to invest in
them. It's magnetizing to get around students who are hungry when
you know how it feels yourself. The artists just need a place that
has integrity and supportive staff who care, and that's why the
match with Liberty makes it so
good."
He said Smith is the perfect choice to direct the center: "He's
had such a good legacy and reputation, and that all lines up with
the legacy and reputation of Liberty."
Jonas will bring another level to the program, Denson added,
connecting with artists who want to sign with the new mainstream
label out of Liberty.
"Kevin has the most integrity of anyone I know on the pop side
of music," Denson said, noting that Jonas will also be making trips
to campus. "He's going to give us depth into a market where we've
never been; he has relationships with people who can be a Christian
but still be on the pop side; he's a liaison to the other side of
the coin."
Denson credits the new initiatives to Dean Vernon Whaley: "When you have a leader who
gets it, that's pretty cool; when you continue to change and seek
better alternatives like he has, that's what really makes it
good."
Denson has been serving with the School of Music's advisory
council for 14 years, and a songwriting lab is named for him.
Whaley said the School of Music has already established itself
as the top training center for worship leaders, and now the goal is
to also establish Liberty nationally as
the "focal point for the training and equipping of commercial
musicians for the industry."
"We want to give all of our students — music majors or not — a
conduit to the world stage," he said. "Now, we're moving toward
commercial music so we can train Christian marketplace musicians
ready to enter the industry when they graduate."
Liberty is among the top 10 largest
schools of music in the country. With the expansion into commercial
music, Whaley said the school is expecting 27-percent growth in
enrollment next year and up to 47 percent in the next two
years.
SOURCE Liberty University