During the annual Mid-America Music Festival held on the campus of Union Adventist University, students in Union’s Introduction to Music Production and Technology (MAUP 110) class tackled a marathon project. Over the course of three hours, the class recorded 120 tracks. The end result? A cover of “Revelation Song” starring approximately 200 vocalists from seven Adventist academies in the Mid-America Union.
“When we got together with the Enrollment team to brainstorm ways to make this weekend a little bit more impactful, a little more exciting and a little more memorable, we thought, Why not incorporate something we’re already doing?” said Steven Hutchison, assistant professor of music. “We thought, Let’s bring them all into our music studio. But our music studio isn’t that big.”
The choirs were recorded separately then combined digitally to include all of the high school students. With vocal coaching from Mayah Evans, a senior nursing major, vocalists from each school recorded the solo tracks, though only six were featured in the final song. The selection process was completely blind — based solely on the quality of the recording and the voice. Because of the anonymous selection process, Hutchison does not know which students made the final cut.
Written by Jennie Lee Riddle, “Revelation Song” references passages throughout the Book of Revelation. It has been covered by Christian recording artists including Philips, Craig and Dean, Kari Jobe and The Newsboys. This Music Festival recording features an original arrangement by Hutchison.
“One of the things we love doing at Union is amplifying voices,” Hutchison said. “By that, I mean we have so many unique perspectives and so many students from different areas of the country and different walks of life coming together here on our campus. They all have a story, and we help them find their voice. We have students now taking classes in our recording studio on how to produce podcasts and record music and write their own music.”
The track is available to listen and download through Union’s website at uau.edu/musicfestival2025
