21 September 2009

AMN launches music label with song competition

Wahroonga, New South Wales
AMN staff

Adventist Media Network (AMN) has launched Psalter, a new music recording and publishing label.

"The name refers to a book of psalms or hymns," says Tim Burcham, manager of Psalter. "We want to nurture and grow Adventist music. This could mean anything from organising musicians, releasing their products or running song-writing competitions."

The launch of Psalter will mean that for the first time, the South Pacific Division (SPD) has a ministry focused solely on the production of Christian music by Adventists in the region.

To celebrate the creation of Psalter, a competition has been organised in conjunction with the Video Production department of AMN. The competition is open to all Adventists within the SPD and submissions close toward the end of this year.

"We are looking for nine original songs that can be used as part of the new Search DVD series. That will be launched next year," says Mr Burcham. "We are also planning to record and release these songs as an album."

The themes of each episode of Search will be posted on www.psaltermusic.com.

According to Jared Madden, manager of Hope TV for the SPD, the new Search DVD series will follow the model of the old series, using TV advertising to spark interest from viewers and getting church members to deliver the programs.

"But we are starting production of Search version two from scratch. It will feature new scripts and new programs," says Mr Madden. "The songwriting competition is a chance for musicians to use their music for evangelism, reaching out directly to secular people."

Mr Burcham has significant musical experience and says, "My dream is to facilitate people in the Adventist Church to create music for God that is done with the highest standard of integrity. It's my dream for Adventism to find its own voice musically. There's amazing talent in the Adventist Church and we'd love to be able to harness and organise that.

"The Psalter dream also comes from talking with many church members who express the same frustration with there not being a formal, organised system for our musicians to grow and flourish in."

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