In 2015 I was honored to be the first Composer-in-Residence for the historic Washington Elementary School in Raleigh, North Carolina. Washington was founded in 1923 as the first public African American Graded and High School in Raleigh. The school is now a diverse "gifted and talented" elementary magnet school in the Wake County Public School System. In 2023 and 2025, Washington was named top magnet elementary school in the country by the Magnet Schools of America. My friend, Bo Reece, was the school's long-time and beloved music teacher. ​

​I was commissioned to compose a flexibly-voiced school song with piano accompaniment and accessible parts for student orchestra and band. I began by getting to know the school through conversation with the students and faculty, asking them what makes their school special. I received hundreds of index cards on which they provided their responses. After reading them all, three things were clear: Washington Elementary, (and "school" in general) could be thought of as a place to be honored, a people who make a difference, and a time that's meaningful. These ideas gave form to the lyrics and inspired the music for the resulting piece: Sing of Our School. 

Because the song offers alternative lyrics and a creative opportunity to include any school's name in the piece, it may be effectively expressed by any school. ​​

Following our first publication, Paul sent me other texts to set musically. One day I received a call from him asking me to write music for a piece to be included in the Houston Children's Choir Series published by Fred Bock Music. Paul was writing all of the texts for this series, asking a variety of composers to collaborate. I was thrilled to be a part, and I understood completely why Paul thought of me when he sent his text: ​​Santa Claus Is Busy! With the success of "Busy Bethlehem," Paul decided to replicate the experience with his new lyrics about Santa Claus. We decided the new piece could also contain a choral chant/rap in the middle of the vocal sections. I included various percussion instruments to mimic the sounds of Santa's workshop as the children simultaneously chant two ostinato lines: 

​"Busy, busy, Santa Claus is
busy, busy, Santa Claus..."
​
"Santa Claus is busy!
Tell me, just how busy is he?"

Above the ostinati, soloists exclaim: 
"He's got to feed the reindeer
and hitch them to his sleigh.
He's got to get the map out
so he will know the way. 
He's got to file a flight plan
with the F.A.A.! 
Santa Claus is busy!
Busy night and day!"
​
 -Words by J. Paul Williams
© 1997 Fred Bock Music Company

Inspired by Paul's humor, my comical contribution to the piece was the suggestion that an audience member interrupts the seemingly endless cacophony by standing, raising their hand, clearing their throat, and asking: "Excuse me, just how busy is he?" -- to which the entire puzzled choir shouts back loudly: "He's BUSY!" 

Paul's fun lyrics and my music for two-part (or unison) voices with sleigh bells, misc. percussion, choral chant/rap, and audience member part, is published by Fred Bock Music. Santa Claus Is Busy! was recorded by the Houston Children's Chorus on it's live album: ​Christmas Is Here. I treasure a letter from Fred Bock himself who wrote: "I really like the piece!" ​

School or community children's choirs who wish to sing Santa Claus is Busy! this Christmas may find it through the Fred Bock Music Company or other music distributor. 

Though Paul passed in 2010, his inspirational and joyful life continues through  school, community, and church choirs that sing his words.​

A choral piece for churches 
​by J. Paul Williams & Larry E. Schultz:
The Sea of Galilee
(available on this site)

This church choir anthem for SATB voices and piano is a choral narrative of Mark 4:35-41. The introductory “soundscape” heard in the piano and voices aurally sets the scene for the dramatic story of Jesus and his disciples on the sea. ​

On a late evening in 2022 when my cellphone’s caller ID displayed: “New Zealand,” I decided to answer, wondering if it could possibly be my new Facebook friend, William Livingstone Wallace. “’Hello, Larry?’  this is Bill Wallace" (It was!). I had recently written Bill a note expressing my appreciation for his prolific and progressive hymn writing, and he was calling to ask a favor.

After discovering my similar creative work, he asked if I would be interested in harmonizing “a hymn tune or two” for some of his texts. Bill quickly revealed: “I have Stage 4 Cancer, and along with finishing a book, I am trying to complete my body of hymns.” He was a gifted poet and tune writer but needed a composer to harmonize and typeset his work. With gratitude for what his thought-provoking words offered the world, I was honored to assist. When his first hymn arrived by email, the time constraint of our project was evident as I emotionally read his hymn text: “As Life Approaches Ending.”  In the months that followed, other late-night phone calls arrived from “New Zealand,” with the familiar “Hello, Larry?,” and my initial assistance with “one or two” hymns turned into ten.

The hymns poems of William Livingstone Wallace are cutting-edge, exploring themes of justice and peace, science and the cosmos, art and spirituality, the ecosystem, human society and more. A Methodist Pastor, charged with the responsibility of weekly sermons, Bill felt that hymns were the best way to present his radical thoughts as they allowed new ideas to “slide into the mind on the back of music!”

Bill joins other hymn writers who embrace the wonders and reality of science. At a time when science is revealing the significance of dark matter/energy, Bill’s hymn below expresses darkness as the place where truth, wisdom and the oneness of all reside. In a society whose metaphors harmfully inform our psyche that darkness is “bad” and light is “good,” Bill’s words instruct otherwise:

In the darkness lies the whole
For the parts all disappear.
In the darkness dwells the truth
Of the wisdom all can share.
 
All the lines merge into one,
All the colours quickly fade,
All the sounds to silence change,
All the dreams can be remade.
 
When the light and darkness join
We find all the parts belong
In the fullness myst’ry holds
Till our hearts are filled with song.
 
If in darkness we abide
With a heart devoid of fear
Each of us discovers then
God is present everywhere.
 
-Words © 2022 William Livingstone Wallace. Used by permission. Permission is granted by the author to freely reproduce and use (citing copyright information).

The calls from Bill eventually ended and, exploring the internet, I read of his death on February 26, 2024. His lifetime of work will continue to inspire, engage, and expand the minds of worshipers for years to come.

​​Though retired by the time I arrived at his namesake, “Warren M. Angell College of Fine Arts" at OBU, I was overjoyed during those years to develop a relationship with "Dean" Angell (as he was called even past retirement). In college I sang in the university's Bison Glee Club he founded, and was selected by him to sing in the Club's "Fallen Angells" Quartet which rehearsed in his home. I gleaned from his work by attending local choral workshops he led, and reveled in his storytelling during several dinner opportunities together. During a Bison Glee Club alumni tour to Hawaii, I was fortunate to be his roommate, providing an extended opportunity to pick his brain on all things church music. He attended my senior composition recital, and while in seminary, I was delighted to attend the university's celebration of his 50th year since arriving at OBU. When serving as a Minister of Music in South Carolina, I was thrilled to host him in concert and worship at two churches and visit him in his Black Mountain, North Carolina, home. Through the years we corresponded through postal mail where he continued to offer his advice and encouragement.

As a music theory and composition major I was keenly interested in Dean Angell's compositions, and we had discussions on the compositional process. He was a prolific composer and arranger of choral, congregational and keyboard music, and was known to dedicate some of his works to friends and students. In 1999, preparing to depart Greenwood, South Carolina, after visiting my family for what would be the last time, he said to me: "If there's anything I can ever do for you...." and, leaving his statement open-ended, I responded: "Just 16 bars!” Though the conversation went no further, he knew exactly what I meant, and several days later I received in the mail a composition for piano! The title was also the dedication:"16 Bars for Larry, Cindy, Kelly & Ryan." In addition to all I had learned and received from him since I was eleven, I was filled with gratitude that the 92-year-old composer had granted my wish!

​The piano piece (exactly 16 bars) is "classic Angell" in its melodic and harmonic expression. Knowing a bit about his creative process, it seems he conceived the rhythmic motion of the melody by mimicking the two-syllable names of each person in my family. Ever the educator, the final chord of the composition is indicated on the score by him as a "chime,” calling attention to the keyboard properties and harmonic structure he used to produce that particular effect. At the end of the hand-written manuscript dated 9-11-99, is a personal message, revealing the Dean’s characteristic sense of humor. The composition’s tempo marking includes the added instruction: “with feeling” - indicative of how Warren Angell approached music and life.

​Many individuals, including myself, consider Warren Angell a mentor. His legacy continues in ministers of music, church musicians, educators, choral conductors, composers, and in persons in professions other than music. I'm thankful for his long and productive life (1907-2006) that brought instruction and inspiration to many!
​
In 2012, a text by my collaborator, Jann Aldredge-Clanton, seemed especially appropriate for me to compose as a choral anthem in memory of Dean Angell.​ Gathered Here to Share Our Music celebrates diverse humanity and the power of music that Warren Angell knew could transform the world.

Years after being influenced and inspired by the work of hymn poet, Brian Wren (see previous blog post), I met Jann Aldredge-Clanton with whom I enjoyed a 23-year collaboration. Jann was a minister, author, English professor, lyricist, hymn poet, hospital chaplain and feminist theologian (quite qualified to write effective and prophetic words for the church!). In the spring of 2001, I heard Jann offer the Covenant Address for the Alliance of Baptists Convocation. She powerfully encouraged congregations to discover and reclaim images of the Divine Feminine – and to sing them in worship. She underscored the biblical foundations and the many reasons to sing of God as “She” and “Her” – not the least of which was to liberate all from oppressive patriarchy and to exclaim the truth that females are in the Divine Image.

Several months after hearing Jann’s address, I became Minister of Music for Pullen Memorial Baptist Church, Raleigh, NC. With her words still ringing in my ears and a congregation eager to sing of the Divine Feminine, I reached out to introduce myself to Jann. Revealing I was a composer, I asked if she had any texts I could set to music. On September 11, 2001 (a morning that was met with unspeakable tragedy), I discovered an email from Jann that included a hymn text for me to set. The text she sent, “Are You Good and Are You Strong?” was a theodicy (questioning the presence of goodness in midst of evil). The words were unbelievably timely and cathartic for the particular day on which I received them.

Our 23-year creative partnership resulted in a musical, curriculum, anthems, 6 song collections, and 450 hymns. Though I have provided new tunes and arrangements for many of Jann’s hymns, I have typeset all of them for our collections, and in doing so, have been a student of her ministry.  

On September 20, 2024, days after completing our sixth song collection, Jann died of ovarian cancer. Healing Streams: Inclusive Songs, Prayers, and Readings for All Ages, is now published and available to the world. Because Jann's prolific work has left a treasury of lyrics yet to be musically set, our creative work will continue. Jann will continue to speak through the vibrant voices of congregations and choirs.

In 1989, renown hymn poet, Brian Wren, led a conference at Southern Seminary. The weekend event turned out to be an educational and experiential milestone for me that included an unexpected celebration. At the conference’s opening event we sang from Wren’s brand-new collection, Bring Many Names,[1] .and my experience with the metaphorical language of worship was forever changed. For the first time I joined my voice with a gathered congregation to sing of the Divine Feminine. I was deeply moved when singing Wren’s hymn texts that imaged God as “Mother” and “Sister.” This was most likely due to my being the only son in my family raised by a strong mother and three older sisters, along with my caring father. Until that time, the hymns of my church experience were dominated by patriarchal language. That evening I realized with conviction that the words we sing either oppress or uplift humanity. With eagerness to learn more, at a reception that followed the hymn-sing I excitedly purchased Wren’s new book, What Language Shall I Borrow? God-Talk in Worship: A Male Response to Feminist Theology.[2] The understanding and inspiration gained from this book would prove to be incalculable in my life and work.

Dr. Wren inscribed the book’s flyleaf for me and my wife: “Signed on a night of good news! Cindy & Larry Schultz, Shalom! Brian Wren 22/9/89.” His inscription details memorable things about that night. The date commemorates that my wife and I had been married for just over 3 months, and this was the first professional event we eagerly attended as a married couple. An added joy for us was that the conference was held in the school’s music building connected to the seminary chapel where we had met three years earlier and where our wedding service had recently taken place. Wren’s “night of good news” inscription refers to the fact that when walking into the reception, my hymnology professor, Dr. Hugh McElrath, came to me to shake my hand and say: “Congratulations on your hymn making it into The Baptist Hymnal (1991)!” "What!" I joyfully exclaimed. (Dr. McElrath, who was on the hymnal’s committee, did not realize I had not yet heard that a hymn text I had written for his class[3] was going to be included.) Still on an emotional high from singing the hymns of Brian Wren, I was overjoyed to hear that my first hymn would be published. As news of this surprise spread around the room, the congratulations of many friends grew to become a large group hug that moved around the room reminding us of the last scene of The Mary Tyler Moore Show! With his congratulations, Dr. Wren also asked me to send him a copy of the hymn for review. As he traveled home following the conference, he kindly composed a letter of suggestions and encouragement regarding the hymn and my writing.

Everything about that evening was exciting and memorable. It was indeed a “night of good news” in many respects, including my awakening to the good news of feminist and intersecting theologies in my own ministry. This experience was foundational to my creative work that would follow, including my connection and collaboration with feminist theologian, Dr. Jann Aldredge-Clanton, which I celebrate in the next blog post.

Epilogue:
After my initial introduction to Brian Wren at the Southern Seminary conference, I was fortunate to learn from him at two other conferences during my early years in church music ministry.

In 2003 it was a dream-come-true to have the opportunity to compose music for one of Brian Wren's hymn poems, "The Name We Have Begun to Know." My congregation, Pullen Memorial Baptist Church, Raleigh, NC, hosted Dr. Wren for a weekend conference and commissioned from him this interfaith text for which I provided the tune, LOVE-SONG. It is published by Hope Publishing in Wren's hymnal, Christ Our Hope, and was included in a recording of selected hymns from the collection.[4]