About The Psalm Project

A remarkable combination of gifts come together in Psalms Unplugged. To begin, the texts are fresh and contemporary settings of the ancient biblical psalms. In addition, the tunes are also fresh and contemporary versions of 16th century tunes from the Genevan Psalter of 1562, produced under the leadership of John Calvin. A third combination of gifts comes from members of The Psalm Project, professional musicians under the leadership of Eelco Vos who had a vision to dress historical treasures in 21st century sounds.

When first learning of the work of The Psalm Project, we at the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship were intrigued by their vision and by the excellence of their work. [After all, psalters set to the Genevan melodies are still available in Dutch,
English, German, Hungarian, Indonesian, and Japanese. The tune of Psalm 134 is the best known tune in hymnals around the entire world. ] So we eagerly encouraged them to consider a recording with English texts. Psalms Unplugged is the result. We also invited them to participate in the Calvin Symposium on Worship in 2011 to introduce them to a North American audience. We rejoice in their approach to revive singing of the psalms, the prayer book of the church of all times and places.

"The Psalm Project is a group of musicians from the Netherlands who have taken Genevan Psalm tunes from the 1500s and updated them with arrangements for piano, guitar, and strings. They have created a beautiful and inspirational album of songs that are both familiar and fresh. Many of these tunes are historically important but are also sometimes difficult to sing. In these new versions, though, the psalms come alive, so we can engage them in new ways. This is a wonderful album."

Robert J. Keeley
Professor and chair of the Education Department
Calvin College