ELCA's Wartburg College to honor composer John Ylvisaker

by Frank Imhoff, ELCA News Service

John C. Ylvisaker, a leader in contemporary Christian music, is
set to receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree Dec.
14 from Wartburg College, Waverly, Iowa. Dr. William E. Hamm,
Wartburg's interim president, will confer the degree during the
college's December Commencement in Wartburg Chapel. Wartburg is
one of 28 colleges and universities of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America (ELCA).

Ylvisaker's 45 years of words and music include "Borning Cry,"
"Drawn to the Light" and "We Are Baptized in Christ Jesus," which
appear in "Evangelical Lutheran Worship," the ELCA's primary
worship resource. A Wartburg news release said Ylvisaker holds
copyrights for more than 1,000 songs and his book, "Borning Cry,"
includes 900 songs based on biblical texts. Born in Moorhead,
Minn., Ylvisaker is a graduate of the ELCA's Concordia College,
Moorhead. The artist and composer has taught high school music,
directed church choirs and served as the producer of SCAN, a
former weekly radio program sponsored by the ELCA. Ylvisaker
lives in Waverly and is a member of St. Paul Lutheran Church.

In an interview for the December 2008 issue of The Lutheran, the
magazine of the ELCA, Ylvisaker said a highlight of his career
was a 1967 performance at Carnegie Hall, New York. "One of the
biggest honors for Ylvisaker is playing and recording with his
son, Jeremy, who tours with Chicago musician Andrew Bird," the
article said.