The music sung at Virginia Tech's Catholic Campus Ministry after the tragedy of April 16, 2007.

10 MP3 Songs
SPIRITUAL: Inspirational, SPIRITUAL: Hymns

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Virginia Tech Students Respond to Tragedy with CD Release

While holding the memories of the 33 lives lost on April 16, 2007, a group of Virginia Tech students will release a CD titled, âVoices of Hopeâ on April 16, 2008, with intention to share a message of hope that faith in Jesus Christ can bring.

The 10-song CD features the songs sung by the Newman Community at a Mass held on April 16, 2007, as well as songs sung at Masses and events in the days and weeks that followed.

âThe response to the violence on April 16th by the Catholic student community was to gather and be consoled by love, mutual support and faith,â said Virginia Tech Catholic Campus Minister Fr. John Grace.

âOne of the most significant ways this love and faith was communicated was through song. This recording of those songs reflects the faith and belief of students facing the raw consequences of violence. In their faith and the music they selected, victims have become witnesses to the power of God who is life.â

Beginning on the evening of Feb. 21 and continuing into the weekend, more than 30 volunteer musicians came together to record in the Virginia Tech Music Departmentâs recording studio in Blacksburg, Va. The musical company included undergraduate students, graduate students, alumni and professional musician Stephen Pishner. Pishner is the composer of track 7, âGod Will Wipe the Tearsâ.

All tracks were recorded and mixed by Jeremy Miller, alum of the Tech Music Department.

âThe order of the songs of the CD is a journey in itself,â said Bryan Schamus, a Virginia Tech senior who directed the CD. âIt starts with our call for Jesus to heal us, then transfers to our calling to continue to walk and live, then ends with Godâs promise for a future filled with hope.â

While many of the group are active musicians in the Newman Community, multiple communities of faith were represented on the recording.

All donations received will be put toward defraying the cost of production, then toward future service and mission trips taken by the Newman Community.

This past March 1 to 8, the Newman Community sent more than 40 students on alternative spring break trips to Puebla, Mexico; Matabonite, Haiti; and to the inner city of the Chicago, Ill. The group of students in Chicago also spent time at the Catholic center on the campus of Northern Illinois University.

âService is a key expression of the Christian life,â Grace said. âWe strive to follow the example of Jesus who washes the feet of his disciples and has compassion for the weak and powerless. Service is gift of time and labor. It is working with and sharing in mutual support with people across different economic, racial, national boundaries. It is kindness and respect given and received. It is about building up the human person. It is helping to strengthen the familial and community bonds so important for a good life. It is loving as Christ loves us.â

Newman is the Catholic Community at Virginia Tech, founded on Christ's teachings and the Eucharist. We welcome all to grow in faith as we challenge each other to imitate God's love, and through our living example share Christ with the world.

Established in 1924 as The Newman Club, The Newman Community at Virginia Tech is Techâs Catholic Campus Ministry. The community holds three Sunday Masses at 10 a.m., noon and 8 p.m. in the War Memorial Chapel on the campus of Virginia Tech.

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