Dr Jacobus (‘Kobie’) Kloppers of Edmonton will be conferred the honour in recognition of his distinguished career as a church musician, musicologist, educator and composer as part of a biennial SICM tradition dating from 2009. Kloppers, the first to be so honoured from the province of Alberta, joins a who’s-who of prominent Canadian church musicians from Ontario, Manitoba and British Columbia.

Jacobus Kloppers (born 1937 in Krugersdorp, South Africa) served as Professor of Organ and Musicology and Chair of the Music Department at The King’s University College (currently The King’s University) in Edmonton since its founding in 1979 until 2008. Until his retirement in 2013 he continued as Full-time Lecturer in Organ and Musicology at King’s as well as Adjunct Professor in Keyboard at the University of Alberta (a position he held since 1997). Dr Kloppers is a distinguished composer, editor, juror and scholar, who has also consistently served as church musician – in South Africa, Germany and since 1976, St John’s Anglican Church in Edmonton.

In recognition of the occasion Edmonton composer Trent Worthinton was commissioned and has created a new choir anthem “Cantate Domino (Sing in julle hart)” with text in Latin, English, French and Dr Kloppers’ home language, Afrikaans. The work will receive twin premieres on Thursday July 13th in the concluding choral/organ concerts of both SICM campuses. Dr Kloppers will be receive the Institute’s eighth Fellowship certificate at the Edmonton performance.

Past Fellows of SICM include the Institute’s founder the late Dr Stanley L. Osborne and long-time Director, the late Dr Kenneth W. Inkster, and Dr Fred Graham, Dr Patricia Wright, Mrs Winnifred Simm, Dr Ruth Watson Henderson and Mr Rupert Lang. The anthems by Canadian composers created in honour of the Fellowship program are published by or held in the catalogue of Cypress Choral Music.