Photos by Ralph Freso / Slideshow
Raymond Sanchez proposed to his girlfriend last week – on the same day he found out he would be performing with her in the Fall 2025 Songwriters Showcase at Grand Canyon University.
So, what was more nerve wracking – hoping Melody Henry would say ‘yes’ or performing in front of a live audience for the first time in a decade?
“Honestly, I think here (on stage), because I knew she would say ‘yes,’" Sanchez said on Monday night after he and his fiancée sang “Ready to Run” and “Hold Fast.”
The couple, who are scheduled to graduate in April and marry on May 22, performed in front of a crowd that filled the Havoc House patio, a cozy setting warmed by heaters and an engaging crowd. They and fellow worship arts students performed and wrote the evening's 12 songs.
Center for Worship Arts Director Moises Felipe and GCU Recording Studio Manager Eric Johnson enjoyed the new venue for the showcase, conducted at the end of the fall and spring semesters.
Faculty and community experts select the performers from a pool of candidates.
“This is an opportunity for our students to express their creative juices, if you will,” Felipe told the audience. “This is a space of innovation. This is a space of creativity.”
The songwriters and singers reflected Felipe's call to express their love for the Lord in their music and trust in Him, as taken from Isaiah 40.
“It’s so cool to see some of those expressions exemplified in the songs that the students wrote,” Felipe said.
Newcomers Jeremy James and Maya Karbula displayed their passion with convincing approval.
James, a freshman, performed “My Shepherd” as a reflection of how God brought him through the hardest seasons of life, host Vanessa Torres said.
You pieced me back together to make me whole
You gave me life up from the dust
With every breath you fill my lungs
You are my shepherd
“I think just ultimately remembering that this isn't about me or these people, but that this is for the Lord, gives me confidence,” James said.
He also performed “Take Me As I Am,” based on a 3 a.m. worship session.
“I just hope that it relates to people in the sense of just coming to the Lord, maybe like broken or lost, and knowing that it's OK and that you can surrender everything to Him because He knows you,” James said.
Karbula, who performed “Your Love” and joined Shailen Stewart and Kate McIntyre on “Banner of Love,” switched majors from nursing to worship arts. Her nerves subsided as soon as she worked in the studio, thanks to the friendships she developed in the program.
“Writing music is something that I've been super passionate about since I was little,” Karbula said. “And to see all this coming to fruition about God is literally using my dream, and I get to praise Him for that on stage.”
A late September retreat, the Grand Collective Songwriters Retreat, hosted by Compass Christian Church in Chandler, resulted in the formation of two groups of writers that contributed to the showcase.
“It was pretty smooth,” singer/songwriter Noah Bjorkman said. “It all happens really natural.”
“My Good Shepherd” was written by Brooklynne Menezes, Nevaeh Watkins and Bjorkman during the retreat.
“It was incredible,” Bjorkman said. “I hope we do more, because it was so much fun and so many great songs came from it.”
Stewart started working on “Your Bride” at the recording studio and teamed with Bjorkman to finish it.
“We just polished it up and finished it very natural,” Bjorkman said.
With only a week to practice, Henry and Sanchez received rousing applause from the audience after performing “Ready to Run” and “Hold Fast.”
“Trust in the Lord is the thing that's been holding us together and just making our path is set straight on Him,” Henry said. “We're just really thankful, and our trust in the Lord has been what's held us through.”
For a first-timer, Sanchez “did fantastic,” Henry said. “I’m so proud of him.”
GCU News senior writer Mark Gonzales can be reached at [email protected]
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