Sounds of Faith

For more than ninety years, the walls of Duke Chapel have echoed with the Gospel proclamations, testimonies, and wisdom of a parade of preachers. Duke Divinity School student Spence Herrington has been examining that rich tradition through the Duke Chapel Recordings archive with guidance from Chapel Dean Luke Powery. In this episode of "Sounds of Faith," Herrington discusses what she has learned s...

Music from Duke Chapel’s Aeolian Organ has lifted countless hearts and voices since it was installed in 1932 as part of the original construction of the building. The history of the instrument—nicknamed “Bertha” and later dedicated as the Kathleen Upton Byrns McClendon Organ—intersects with music trends, colorful personalities, and engineering challenges. That is what intrigued Bradley Bowen, a Du...

The music of Mary Lou Williams is a fascinating and dynamic combination of jazz, gospel, blues, and choral. A recent concert at Duke Chapel paid tribute to Williams—dubbed the First Lady of Jazz. Williams established ties with Duke near the end of her life when she was an artist-in-residence at the university from 1977 to 1981, and today Duke’s Mary Lou Williams for Black Culture bears her name. I...

Each weekday at 5:00 pm the bells of Duke Chapel’s carillon ring out across campus with tunes from hymns, classical works, or popular songs. The instrument is both very prominent and also shrouded in a kind of mystery that hides the musician and mechanics that produce its sound. In this episode, we get to peak into this towering instrument and meet the musicians who give it voice—Mitchell Eithun,...

College is a time when many students are developing their identities as young adults, finding communities in which they belong, and asking questions about meaning in life—all while navigating the pressures and opportunities of class, health, and relationships. In this episode, we hear from three Duke chaplains— Rabbi Elana Friedman, Rev. Kathryn Lester-Bacon, and Brother Joshua Salaam—about how th...

William Byrd is a sixteenth-century musician whom the New York Times has called “an essential English composer for four centuries.” Duke Chapel marked the 400th anniversary of Byrd’s death with special services featuring Byrd’s music. In this episode of Sounds of Faith, we hear excerpts of those pieces sung by the Chapel’s Evensong Singers and learn from Dr. Philip Cave, the Chapel’s conductor-in-...

The Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray has become an important figure at the intersection of cultural identity and Christian faith. She has been named a saint in the Episcopal Church and is the subject of renewed academic and journalist interest. In this episode, we listen to excerpts of Murray's preaching and poetry and hear from the Rev. Racquel Gill, Duke Chapel's minister for intercultural engagement, abou...

The theologian Howard Thurman was influential in the thinking and spirituality of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other civil rights leaders. More recently, his preaching, poetry, and scholarship has gained renewed attention from academics and church leaders for how it can speak to the divisions and challenges of today. In this episode, we listen to excerpts from Rev. Dr. Thurman's sermon...

Sounds of Faith is a new podcast from Duke University Chapel that explores traditions of faith, sacred music, and spoken word. Tune in to hear voices and sounds from across place and time that have pointed to God, goodness, truth, and beauty—as part of current conversations at the intersection of faith and learning.