Save the Voices of the Past!

Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025

As the result of a year long national search, the Moravian Music Foundation Board of Trustees is excited and enthusiastic to announce the hiring of two leadership positions!

Dr. Bruce Earnest, Jr.

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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

PH: 605-670-8180

Christopher Ogburn, Ph.D.

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DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMMING
RESIDENT MUSICOLOGIST

PH: 336-725-0651

Dr. Bruce Earnest, Jr. comes to the Moravian Music Foundation from the University of Mobile where he was Vice President of Advancement and a member of the graduate faculty. He has also served as Assistant Vice President of Academic Affairs, Dean of Graduate Programs, and Associate Dean of the Alabama School of the Arts.

Bruce Earnest

Doctor of Musical Arts
Master of Music in Vocal Performance
Bachelor of Arts in Music/Arts Administration

Get to know Bruce

Bruce Earnest is co-founder of the International Performing Arts Institute in Kiefersfelden, Germany and Fairhope, AL, and founder of the International Performing Arts Scholarship Guild. As a specialist in resource development, community engagement, international education, and donor cultivation, Bruce has been involved in building non-profit and educational arts organizations for more than 30 years.

He has served in music and worship ministry in the United States and Germany for 22 years.

Earnest earned his Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Southern Mississippi. He holds a Master of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of Miami, a Bachelor of Arts in Music Administration from Westfield State University, and has studied planned giving and philanthropic communication at the Heyman Center for Philanthropy at New York University.

Bruce and his wife Darla are the parents of Lukas, 15, and Rosalie, 10, and look forward to being a part of the Winston-Salem community and the North American and worldwide Moravian communities.

Christopher Ogburn, Ph.D. is originally from Tobaccoville, NC, and was raised in the Moravian Church. As a former intern at MMF, while in college, he completed several projects related to the Foundation’s music collections. 

Christopher G. Ogburn

Ph.D. in Historical Musicology
Master of Philosophy in Music
Master of Arts in Music
Bachelor of Music in Bassoon Performance and Minor in English Literature

Get to know Chris

Ogburn earned his Master of Philosophy in Music and Master of Arts in Music from The Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, NY. He went on to study and complete his Ph.D. in Historical Musicology, September 2018, at The Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, NY. His dissertation was Strauss and the City: The Reception of Richard Strauss’s Salome, Elektra, and Der Rosenkavalier within New York City, 1907–1934. Ogburn earned a Bachelor of Music in Bassoon Performance and Minor in English Literature from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC.

Chris Ogburn taught and lectured at Manhattan College and LaGuardia Community College, 
before joining the faculty of Central Piedmont Community College, Charlotte, NC as Instructor of Music. Chris has deep ties to the area.

He and his wife, Erin, are excited to be moving to Winston-Salem and to raise their daughter, June, in this community

“Each of the leaders coming to the Moravian Music Foundation brings a depth of knowledge and experience, primed to lead the Foundation to exciting new ventures, while staying closely connected to our home in the Moravian Church. With the staff team already in place, and the dedicated members of the Board of Trustees, Bruce and Chris are well set up to succeed! I look forward to cheering them and the Foundation on to deeper service, both within and beyond the Moravian Church.” 
–  Nola R. Knouse, Director

Erik Salzwedel, David Blum, and Sarah Wright will continue in their positions in the Winston-Salem office. Barbara Strauss continues to lead a sub-team of catalogers in Winston-Salem, Raleigh, and Bethlehem, nearing completion of the GemeinKat Project, which allows us to share the MMF catalog of archival holdings on Worldcat.org, the online searchable database.

INTERIM ASSISTANT
in the Bethlehem office

In the Northern Province, Jan Harke has accepted the position of Assistant in the Bethlehem office through the end of 2022. She will oversee MMF’s archival holdings and sustain and manage the Foundation’s partnerships, client relationships, and services for the Northern Province.
The MMF office in Bethlehem oversees two-thirds of the total archival music collections in MMF custody, and it continues to be an important hub of research, service, and program activity for the Foundation. Upon Gwyneth Michel’s retirement at the end of August, Jan will be in the office two days each week, and may be reached at 610-866-3340.

The Moravian Music Foundation was founded in 1956 upon a musical heritage spanning the globe and dating to the early reformation. After 66 years, much has been accomplished, but there is more to discover and share. The future years will bring introductions of new ways of sharing Moravian music and expansion of the Foundation’s role in education.

Notes from Nola … The Moravian Music Foundation celebrates …

Continuing my series on the Moravian Music Foundation’s mission statement, what do we mean by “celebrating”?

The Moravian Music Foundation preserves, shares, and celebrates Moravian musical culture.

What do we celebrate in our world? Anniversaries … birthdays … all sorts of special occasions … maybe a new job, or a promotion, or a retirement … all sorts of transitions. Accomplishments of many kinds merit acknowledgment and celebration. And a lot of these include music – from a family singing “happy birthday” to bringing in a dance band.

Celebrating is certainly part of Moravian history and culture. Think of the annual remembrances that are common to all Christian churches – the birth of Christ; the passion, death, and resurrection of Christ; ascension; congregational anniversaries. All of these are in our Moravian world, as well as several others. Think of the special Moravian commemorations – the martyrdom of John Hus (July 6); the renewal of the Moravian Church (August 13); the acknowledgment of Jesus Christ as the Chief Elder of the Moravian Church (November 13). Special services have been held for these Moravian festivals for many generations, and there is a wealth of hymns and anthems written especially for these days. And many Moravian congregations have special celebrations for groups within the church. Some have a “workers’ lovefeast”, acknowledging the many contributions of members to the life and work of the church throughout the year. The Southern Province has an annual Children’s Festival in August, and music is certainly a part of that every year. Some still celebrate the “choir festivals” – single brothers, single sisters, married people, and so on.

But what, especially, does the Moravian Music Foundation do to “celebrate Moravian musical culture?” Our “celebration” work covers a lot of activites. Some of these are …

• holding Moravian Music Festivals every four years. (Note: Due to the Covid 19 pandemic, the 2021 Festival was held online with a Part II set for July 26, 2022 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania). Watch for updates, and plan to come …
• holding Moravian Music Weekends. We’ve now hosted 8 of these at Laurel Ridge Camp, Conference, and Retreat Center in the mountains of North Carolina, and we’d love to hold these at other locations as well. Interested in one in your area? Let’s talk about how to make it happen.
• sponsoring the Unitas Chorale in Pennsylvania and the Moramus Chorale in North Carolina. These two groups of singers rehearse and perform Moravian music and other music complementary to it – perhaps music by composers the Moravians knew and loved, or music written on Moravian tunes or texts. Both groups welcome new singers at any time, and our office can put you in touch with the directors (Gwyn Michel with the Unitas Chorale and Drake Flynt with the Moramus Chorale).
• providing music and programming assistance for other groups wanting to perform music from our collections. Many professional and amateur musical groups (and individual performers) contact our office each year asking about music, and we help by suggesting music to fit their programming wishes, their available musicians, and so on. We make the Lending Libraries available to all who contact us (a future post will say more!), or we sell our own publications. We’re happy to provide background information and program notes.
• helping Moravian congregations celebrate special occasions – providing music and liturgy suggestions for the services of dedication (or re-dedication) of or a building; for a special anniversary; for a vacation Bible school; for a children’s hand chimes group; for almost anything a congregation wants to celebrate with music!
• helping congregations, Moravian and many other denominations, who want to hold a Moravian lovefeast or candle service. We can send music suggestions, practical ideas for how to hold it, information about obtaining candles or lovefeast buns, suggested orders of worship, and so on.

When you think of celebrating, then, you may already think of music. And we hope that as your congregation or organization thinks of future celebrations, you’ll remember that the Moravian Music Foundation is here to help with music suggestions for almost any occasion!

Next time? The Music Lending Libraries managed by the Moravian Music Foundation – What’s in them, who uses them, and how can you use them?

Musically yours,

– Nola

PLEASE NOTE:
For your convenience and our preparation…
…for research projects or consultations, please call ahead to schedule a meeting.
MMF continues to conduct most business online and by email – ALL products and resources and services are available. While we now have staff physically present at MMF offices, please call or email ahead to discern the latest protocols and make an appointment or plan a visit.

Is your congregation planning to re-gather in person?

PAST and EXPIRED NOTICES, Below

guidance for churches and agencies and individual members:

From David Guthrie and the Provincial Elders’ Conference (Southern):

Monday, Aug 3 – UPDATES

MMF will continue to conduct business online and by email, although we will have limited staff physically present at MMF offices on an increasing basis, but with a limited schedule.
Please call or email ahead to make appointments.

August – CLICK for North Carolina Guidance

August – CLICK for Pennsylvania Guidance

Wednesday, July 1 – UPDATES

MMF will continue to conduct business online and by email, although we will have limited staff physically present at MMF offices on an increasing basis, but with a limited schedule.
Please call or email ahead to make appointments.

July 1 – CLICK for North Carolina Guidance

July 1 – CLICK for Pennsylvania Guidance

Pennsylvania is in Yellow Phase

MMF staff will be onsite at the Bethlehem MMF office on a limited basis; the building will remain closed to the public until Northampton County (PA) is permitted to enter the “Green” Phase. At that time, the Archives and MMF will continue to limit the total number of people in the building. Please call 610-866-3340 or email to make appointments. gwyn@moravianmusic.org

North Carolina is in Phase Two

MMF will continue to conduct business online and by email, with a limited schedule in the Winston-Salem MMF offices. The Archives is also on a limited schedule. Please call 336-725-0651 or email info@moravianmusic.org

https://www.nc.gov/covid-19/staying-ahead-curve

“All businesses in North Carolina are strongly encouraged to continue directing employees to telework, if possible. Additionally, non-essential travel and in-person meetings should be avoided.”

– North Carolina Phase 2 Guidelines

Pennsylvania Guidance for Businesses

Pennsylvania Work & Congregate Setting Restrictions:

• Telework Must Continue Where Feasible
• All must wear face-coverings in public
• Businesses Must Follow Business and Building Safety Orders“

June 10 Winston-Salem Journal Health Report on Forsyth County (NC) includes:

• A record number of people hospitalized for COVID-19 in Forsyth Co.
• Forsyth’s rate of infection & hospitalizations have risen steadily since mid-May (we entered Phase 2 on May 22)
• Forsyth’s infection rate per 100,000 people is higher than the state’s, and has been so since May 18
• 90 new cases were identified in Forsyth County, yesterday

And in other reports

• NC is one of 9 states where hospitalizations have increased since the Memorial Day holiday (Washington Post)
• NC is one of 14 states that have experienced their highest 7-day average of new cases (The Guardian)
• Healthline and the New York Times also show NC as among the states with increasing case count and rate – more than can be accounted for just by increased testing

Staying in touch,
while keeping our distance…

Physically distant, socially connected.

The effects of the pandemic on music and worship:

Further guidance by the PEC of the Moravian Church, Southern Province:

Tuesday, May 19 & Friday, May 22 UPDATES

MMF will continue to conduct business online and by email, although we may begin to be physically present at the Winston-Salem MMF offices on an increasing basis. The PA office remains closed.

Covid-19 Considerations for the Foundation, as a business:

Following CDC guidance, both NC and PA are continuing restrictions on groups and businesses. NC is entering Phase Two of a loosening of restrictions with more businesses opening, with guidelines and limitations.

Under Phase Two, restaurants and bars would be allowed to serve a limited number of on-site customers, and entertainment venues could reopen with reduced capacity. More people would be allowed to gather publicly, and playgrounds could reopen. (Raleigh News & Observer)

The number of new daily cases continues to climb in North Carolina but other key trends, such as hospitalizations and the percentage of positive tests, have remained steady or are falling.
Read more (Raleigh News & Observer)

Thursday, March 26 UPDATE

Following CDC guidance, both NC and PA are increasing restrictions on groups and businesses in an effort to limit the spread of Covid-19 virus, so we will not be physically present at the Winston-Salem MMF offices after 4:30pm Friday, 3/27/20. more info

HOWEVER, WE WILL BE WORKING, ACCEPTING INQUIRIES, REQUESTS AND ORDERS PLACED ONLINE OR BY EMAIL

We will have remote connectivity and will be
happy to communicate through emails:

info@moravianmusic.org
sales@moravianmusic.org

or directly to each staff member’s contact info

THE BETHLEHEM OFFICE IS CLOSED FOR BUSINESS DURING THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC, UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.

THE WINSTON-SALEM OFFICE IS CLOSED FOR BUSINESS AFTER FRIDAY, 4:30PM 3/27/20

Monday, March 23, 2020 INFORMATION

Interprovincial Board of Communication (IBOC) is working with MMF to provide resources for churches moving to livestream-at-home worship services. We recorded some music just this week!
Please visit moravianmusic.org and moravian.org for links, as these unique resources become available.

The Board of Cooperative Ministries (BCM) is offering a range of resources. Click on “Covid-19” for electronic and other special resources for this time.

During this time of no rehearsals nor concerts, enjoy new Moravian music and instructional videos on MMF’s YouTube Channel. (we’ve been busy!)

Abundant topics of interest are also provided throughout the website, but especially at NOTES FROM NOLA and GEMEINKAT: KEEPING TRACK OF THE DETAILS.

Moravian Music and Educational Vids on YouTube

Monday, March 16, 2020

On Saturday, March 14, 2020, North Carolina Governor, Roy Cooper, issued an executive order prohibiting all gatherings of over 100 people, to reduce the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19). In light of this recommendation, Moravian Music Foundation (MMF), will postpone and reschedule some upcoming events and performances. As new dates are confirmed, the MMF will make public announcements and post them here, on the website, and on Facebook.

The Archives in Bethlehem is closed for the remainder of March, so MMF’s Northern Province office phone will not be active. The staff of MMF is available by phone and email using the contacts on our STAFF page.

For now, the Winston-Salem office is open, but we encourage visitors to call to discuss needs and requests and to order products online. We will be happy to reduce shipping costs, if that is a deterrent, and will institute an easy pick-up policy with “safe distancing,” i.e, products ordered may be picked up from the southwest porch of the Archie K Davis Center, behind Cedarhyrst (Provincial offices) in Old Salem.

We are in dialogue with the Interprovincial Board of Communication (IBOC) and the Board of Cooperative Ministries (BCM) to provide resources for churches moving to livestream-at-home worship services. Please visit moravianmusic.org and moravian.org for links as these unique resources become available.

While lectures, workshops, concerts are on hold, please visit the VIDEO page to view concerts and lectures. Abundant topics of interest are also provided throughout the website, but especially at NOTES FROM NOLA and GEMEINKAT: KEEPING TRACK OF THE DETAILS.

Lastly, MMF is planning a virtual meeting(s) in March to replace the biennial Board of Trustees spring meeting in Bethlehem, PA.

Peace and blessings to those on the front lines, those at risk, infirmed, isolated, or separated from loved ones.

Please let us know how we may help.

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• the above article was edited from content provided by the Moravian Ministries Fdtn in America, with permission.

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