Embark on a Soulful Journey: Discover America’s Rich History and Culture through Music and Lecture at Seigakuin University’s 2024 Western Culture Department Special Event

On Saturday, October 5th, Seigakuin University will hold the 2024 Western Culture Department Special Lecture Gospel Concert “The Gospel Journey – From America to the World”. Experience American history and culture through lectures and concerts by Lanny Rucker and others. This concert will be attended by students from the Faculty of Humanities’ Western Culture Department, which is the organizer, as well as international students from all over the world studying at the university, people of various ages from the surrounding area, and children from Seigakuin Midori Kindergarten, making it an opportunity to learn international culture through music, which is a global common language. Through this wide-ranging education that transcends nationality and age, the Western Culture Department aims to develop borderless “communicative skills”.

◆ Experience American history and culture through a gospel concert
Gospel music, which became widely known in Japan through movies such as Sister Act (1992), was originally Christian Protestant religious music, but the more commonly known form is black gospel, which incorporates elements of black music. This black gospel has its origins in black spirituals and was nurtured in black churches. Therefore, it can be said that gospel music was born out of the complex intertwining of black culture, the history of the United States, and Christian Protestant faith. This will be an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of American culture through listening to gospel music.

◆Instructor profile
Lanny Rucker
Born in Albany, New York, she grew up surrounded by church praise music and participated in the church choir from an early age. She first came to Japan in 1977 and began her musical career. In 1986, her song “Friendship” won the Best Song Award at the 31st Yamaha Popcon. From 1991 to 1993, she composed and appeared in the English corner of Fuji TV’s “Hirake! Ponkikki.” In 1992, she started a vocal class and was given the vision of “spreading God’s gospel to the Japanese archipelago through gospel,” and held the first gospel workshop in Japan for Japanese people. She has taught gospel choirs formed as a result of workshops in various places, and has published gospel sheet music and piano textbooks that she has written and composed herself.

Jean Rucker
He grew up surrounded by music from an early age and currently mainly plays the piano and cajon. He is a pianist in the “Joyful Noise Kids Choir” and also teaches gospel and English conversation at many nursery schools, kindergartens and children’s centers. In 2022, he launched the basketball club “CHOFU SPREADERS” and teaches children from infants to junior high school students with the philosophy of “love”. The children he plays with on a daily basis range in age from 0 to 15 years old. He is also the father of two children.

[Event Summary]
Date and time: October 5, 2024 (Saturday) 13:00～14:40 ※Opening at 12:30
Venue: Seigakuin University Chapel
Target audience: Students, faculty, staff, and the general public
Admission fee: Free
Reservations: Not required

▼Contact for this matter
Admissions and Public Relations Division
Matsuzaki, Kankichi, Hirata
Address: 1-1 Tosaki, Ageo City, Saitama Prefecture
TEL：048-780-1707
FAX：048-725-6891
Email: pr@seigakuin-univ.ac.jp

[Release source]University Press Center