Inspiring La Sierra music video tells beloved hymn’s story

The video, presented to a full sanctuary at the La Sierra University Church during two services, featured La Sierra music major and award-winning tenor Anthony Léon singing an arrangement composed by August Champlin, director of the university’s Intensive Practicum in TESOL Instruction in the School of Education. La Sierra music student John Wang performed on cello for the production. The video can be accessed at the following links: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99bat7ax0Gc

https://www.facebook.com/LaSierraU/

https://www.facebook.com/La-Sierra-University-Alumni-and-Friends-1916680185237668/

The video portrays the hymn’s stirring backstory in a scripted period drama starring actor David Ross Paterson as Horatio Spafford who composed the hymn in 1873 following a devastating personal tragedy. Paterson’s substantive acting credits include parts in more than 50 films, including “Frost/Nixon,” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” and “Saving Mr. Banks.” He also participated in the award-winning short 2015 short film, “The Butterfly, the Harp, and the Timepiece” produced by La Sierra’s Department of Film and Television Production.

Spafford penned the lyrics for the hymn during the grief-stricken aftermath of the loss of his four daughters in a shipwreck on the Atlantic Ocean. The terrible tragedy was the latest to devastate his family over the course of two years during which he also lost his 2-year-old son and faced financial ruin when his property investments were extensively damaged during the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Spafford learned of the loss of this daughters upon receiving a telegram from his wife with the now-famous message, “Saved alone …” He wrote the hymn lyrics while on a voyage to meet his wife and during which he passed near where his daughters had died. The music for “It Is Well with my Soul” was written by gospel hymn composer and singer Philip Bliss.

The La Sierra music video for “It Is Well with My Soul” is the second produced and directed this school year by Advancement development officers Jonathan Davidson and Kristine Barker, and by music department outreach coordinator Lovelyn Razzouk who acted as assistant producer. The video productions seek to showcase the university’s talented students through spiritually uplifting, professionally and artistically developed visuals, music and story-telling.

All three cello parts heard in the video were recorded individually by Wang. La Sierra senior Joel Mendoza served as audio engineer. Two of the actresses, Hannah McBride and Otinelis Iancu, are current La Sierra University students. Otinelis’ two sisters also appear in the film. 

Production for “It Is Well with My Soul” involved dozens of hours of script writing and music arrangement, recording, engineering, costume and scenery development and post-production work. Scenes were filmed at locations around Southern California – Newport Beach, Riverside, and at Edwards Mansion in Loma Linda. 

Carla Lidner-Baum, a former La Sierra University trustee allowed the crew to film scenes involving Horatio and his family in her 1890’s-era home in Riverside. The home’s basement was used to recreate a Western Union telegraph office.

In order to create an 1870s-era lifeboat, Davidson purchased a boat for filming. The crew re-painted the boat and drilled holes to hang period-appropriate rope around the edge. “We couldn’t have done that with a rented or borrowed boat,” Davidson said. 

The Advancement office and music department premiered their first joint music video last Christmas during the 70th Annual Candlelight Concert in a version of “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.” The music was arranged by music department adjunct professor and six-time Emmy winner Gary Kuo. The video, shot in the Sierra Nevada mountains and in the Painted Canyon area near Mecca featured eight La Sierra music students as vocalists and instrumentalists, and two La Sierra alums acting as Mary and Joseph. The Christmas video has scored more than 76,000 views on YouTube. 

Credits for the La Sierra University music video, “It Is Well with My Soul” are as follows: 

Executive Producers: - La Sierra University Department of Music - La Sierra University Office of Advancement Produced and Directed by: Kristine Barker and Jonathan Davidson

Story Adaptation: Jonathan Davidson 

Assistant Producer: Lovelyn Razzouk 

Music Arrangement: August Champlin 

Vocalist: Anthony Leon

Instrumentalist: John Wang, cello

Audio Engineer: Joel Noe Mendoza 

Cinematographer: Mark Soderblom 

CAST 

Horatio Spafford: David Ross Paterson 

Anna Spafford: Nikki Neufeld

Spafford Daughter 1: Hannah McBride

Spafford Daughter 2: Otinelis Iancu

Spafford Daughter 3: Valdenis Iancu

Spafford Daughter 4: Tyretel Iancu

Lifeboat Attendant: Steve Hemenway

1st Assistant Camera: Erik Harty 

2nd Assistant Camera/Gaffer/Grip/BTS Photography: Brendon Wilson

Production Assistant: Nick Feldkamp 

Wardrobe: Klarissa Bietz

Hair and Make-up: Katharine Coffin 

Property Master: Alejandrina Calvillo

Post production: Phillip Sherwood, Mark Soderblom