Thursday Schedule

Mastery of vocal technique and style can give a singer the tools to be extremely versatile, and to authentically sing a wide range of musical styles. As a church moves from traditional to inspirational, inspirational to contemporary, or contemporary to post-modern, how do singers keep up with the changes? We will also discuss how we adapt to our changing culture and stay relevant to the people we are seeking to reach with the gospel. The goal of this session is to provide practical tools for yourself and your teams to gain the flexibility to adjust your vocal approach to meet the changing needs of the culture you desire to reach with the unchanging message of hope and Life in Christ. Come prepared with a song to sing and, as time permits, we'll lead you through a vocal coaching session that will give you hands-on tools for you and your team to become vocally versatile so that you can authentically minister through multiple musical styles. (This class is designed for leaders of vocal ministries, worship leaders, and lead vocalists.)

Vonda Dyer
Vonda Dyer is the executive producer at Bent Tree Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Texas where she oversees all aspects of Sunday services. She also leads Bent Tree's vocal team and choir. Prior to moving to Texas, Vonda was the Director of Vocal Ministries at Willow Creek for 6 years, overseeing all of the vocal teams and choir at Willow. Vonda has taught private voice since 1989. Her students have included Word recording artists BarlowGirl. Vonda and her husband, Scott, have taught vocal and worship seminars in churches and at conferences all over the world. Vonda has led worship and been a lead vocalist at Bent Tree, at Willow Creek and at Willow Creek conferences, both domestic and international. She is a featured vocalist on Still Amazed: Live Worship at Bent Tree and several Willow Creek CD's. Vonda has had the privilege of singing at the White House and also for the 2000 Presidential Inaugural Prayer Service. She has led in worship alongside Darlene Zschech, Tommy Walker, Robin Mark and others. Vonda and Scott have 2 beautiful daughters, Delaney, 5, and Avery, 2.

Scott Dyer
Scott Dyer has served as the Pastor of Worship and Arts at Bent Tree Bible Fellowship, in Dallas, Texas, since 2004. Prior to coming to Bent Tree, Scott served on staff at Willow Creek Community Church and the Willow Creek Association for 14 years. Scott served as a worship leader, songwriter and vocalist at Willow. At the WCA he oversaw the development of resources for the arts, including Heart of the Artist, drama scripts and music charts. He produced 4 CD's for Willow Creek and has served as executive producer for 6 other recording projects. Partnering with his wife Vonda they have produced a series of vocal exercise CD's to help singers realize their vocal potential. Scott's song, "Forgive Me", was recorded by Rebecca St. James and BarlowGirl on Rebecca's latest CD, If I Had One Chance to Tell You Something, and it was performed live at the Dove Awards in April of 2006. His song, "Not I But Christ", was featured on Worship Leader Magazine's Song DISCovery volume #61. Other songs Scott has written include "Everything I Am", "He Was", "Lay Your Burdens Down", "Still Amazed (Amazing Grace)" and "Ancient of Days". He is the author of "The Source for Effective Church Service Planning."

While at Willow Creek, Scott was a worship leader, songwriter and vocalist. Scott also oversaw the development of Arts products for the WCA, including Rory Noland's book "Heart of the Artist" and Willow Creek drama products and music charts. Scott produced 4 CD's for Willow Creek, and served as executive producer on 6 other projects.

Scott and his wife, Vonda, have traveled around the world, singing at Willow Creek conferences and teaching vocal seminars at churches in the U.S. and in many other countries. They have produced a series vocal exercise CD's to help singers realize their vocal potential. Scott is the author of published by Zondervan. Scott and Vonda live in Lewisville, Texas with their daughters, Delaney, 5, and Avery, 2.

This course will cover theatrical worship lighting, video lighting, architectural lighting and moving lights at an advanced level. Participants should have at least basic level of lighting experience and design.

David Martin Jacques
David Martin Jacques is a lighting designer and consultant for numerous houses of worship across the United States. His specialties include architectural and theatrical lighting systems for all sizes of churches. David's articles on lighting design and equipment appear regularly in Church Production Magazine. He has designed over 300 theatre, opera, television, dance, worship, and special event productions. Recent productions for the theatre include lighting designs for the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Canadian Opera Company, the Kirov at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia, Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Teatro la Fenice in Venice, Teatro Maggio Fiorentino in Florence, Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Central City Opera in Denver. For several years David has designed the lighting for the Ft. Lauderdale Christmas Pageant (which was broadcast on PBS). Future productions include Lulu with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, West Side Story for Central City Opera, and Otello with The Welsh National Opera in Great Briton. David's designs for television have been broadcast on NBC, A&E, and PBS. He also served as lighting consultant for Walt Disney Creative Entertainment and designed numerous projects for Epcot Center, MGM, and Euro-Disney. David serves as Head of Stage Design for California State University, Long Beach.