Fernando Berwig Silva
Graduate Student in Religion and Culture
Fernando Berwig Silva is a first year Ph.D. student in Religion and Culture and Brazilian composer. A drummer since his teenage years, Berwig Silva earned his Master of Sacred Music (M.S.M.) from Perkins School of Theology at SMU and a Bachelor’s degree in Composition and Conducting from Paraná State University in Brazil. Fernando has experience leading music in churches from diverse cultural backgrounds, and has served three years as Coordinator of Arts Ministries at a Lutheran church in Brazil. Fernando has premiered compositions at the intersection of church and concert music in Europe, the United States, and Brazil. Fernando's current research interests explore how instances of congregational singing outside the church inform faith and ritual in Latino contexts.
Course Advisor: Dr. Marcell Silva Steuernagel
Publications/Hymnology Entry:
"God Weeps" (2023), edited by J.R. Watson, The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology.
"This Little Light of Mine" (2023), written with Mykayla Turner, edited by C. Michael Hawn, History of Hymns, United Methodist Discipleship Ministries, https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/articles/history-of-hymns-this-little-light-of-mine.
Published Hymnals:
"Livro de Canto: Soli Deo Gloria" (2017), Score Editor, São Leopoldo: Editora Sinoadal, RS, Brazil.
Selected Premiered Compositions:
"A Mass for the Missing" (2023), Choir SAB, Handbells, Piano, Organ, and Cello, Perkins Chapel, Dallas, Texas. https://soundcloud.com/berwigfernando/sets/a-mass-for-the-missing.
"Three Meditations on Christ’s Crucifixion" (2022), Piano, Perkins Chapel, Dallas, Texas, https://soundcloud.com/berwigfernando/sets/three-meditations-on-christs-crucifixion.
"PATER NOSTER" (2019), String Quartet, National Academy of Music "Prof. Pantcho Vladigerov," Sofia, Bulgaria.
"Jó Consolado" (2018), Orchestra and Choir SATB, Catedral Metropolitana de Curitiba, Curitiba, Paraná, Brasil.
Presentations:
"Futebol, My Religion"October 2023, at the Society for Ethnomusicology 2023 Annual Meeting, Ottawa, Canada.
"The Sacred World of Futebol"August 2023, at the Christian Congregational Music Conference, Oxford, UK.
"Black, White, Latinx: Racial Divides in Worship Practices"July 2023, with Marcell Silva Steuernagel and Mykayla Turner, at the Hymn Society in Canada and the United States Conference, Toronto, Canada.
"The Incarnation of the Sacred Spirit in John Tavener’s Music,"October 2017, 3rd Annual Meeting of Scientific Initiation of UNESPAR, Campo Mourão/PR, Brasil.
Fellowships and Awards:
2022 and 2023 Roger Daschner Prize in Sacred Music
2023 Hispanic Theological Initiative En Conjunto Fellowship
2023 Pi Kappa Lambda Honor Society
2023 St. Paul’s Foundation Scholarship
2023 March of Remembrance Honorable Scholarship
2022 Ed E. and Gladys Hurley Foundation
