“In her profound program, Ruiter-Feenstra demonstrated the power of music, both centuries old and newly composed, to address injustice and to offer opportunities for healing and reconciliation.”
The American Organist review of her Seattle American Guild of Organists National Convention recitals.
GRAMMY-nominated composer and performer Dr. Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra is the Founder and Artistic Director of Healing Bells, a non-profit organization in which artists, journalists, and survivors collaborate to transform trauma into empowerment through musical storytelling. Healing Bells offers public storytelling events featuring music, theatre, dance, and poetry; a Compose for Change: Healing Arts course series and certificate program; healing arts compositions, blogs, videos, and documentary films. A transformative pedagogue and cross-disciplinary researcher, Ruiter-Feenstra has served as a professor and researcher at the University of Michigan, Eastern Michigan University, Göteborg University (Sweden), and Bethany College. In her acclaimed volumes of Bach & the Art of Improvisation, she discovered Bach’s method of learning, teaching, and performing improvisations–keyboard improvisation that proves relevant to pattern-language music throughout the eras. A multi-award-winning composer, Ruiter-Feenstra accepts commissions for social storytelling, liturgical, solo, chamber, choral, and orchestral works. A lifelong learner committed to building a bridge between the healing arts and social work, she is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Social Work at Howard University.
Concert & Liturgical Programs
- Historic Organ Repertoire-Inspired Improvisations
- Storytelling on the Organ
- Bach & the Art of Improvisation
- Tours of Toccatas, Chorale Preludes, or Fantasias through the Ages
- Fresh Soundscapes from Women Composers
- Global-majority Composers: Memorable Stories, Engaging Rhythms
- Hymn Festivals (“When Justice Awakes”; liturgical year, specific celebrations/commemorations)
Presentations
- The Transformative Power of the Healing Arts
- Bach & the Art of Improvisation
- Global Improv
- Storytelling at the Organ
- Social Justice and the Organ
- Creative Continuo Playing: the 3Ds
Masterclasses
- Gamut of the repertoire–early to modern
- Bach & the Art of Improvisation
- Global Improv
- Healing Arts
- Social Justice and the Organ
- Spice Up Your Hymn Playing
Composition Commissions
- Organ solos
- Choral solos
- Organ plus
- Festive anthems, oratorios: choir, organ, chamber ensembles
- Piano, voice, harpsichord, carillon, chamber orchestra, brass, full orchestra
Contact
pamela.ruiterfeenstra@gmail.com
https://healingbellsglobal.com
