Veritas brought its second speaker of the year to campus on Thursday, Sept. 22. Mark Hijleh, the founder and president of Christian Fellowship of Art Music Composers and author of “The Music of Jesus,” spoke to a group of about 50 students about the importance of musical variety in life.

Hijleh’s presentation, “It’s Only Rock n’ Roll But I Like It: Preference and Value in our Musical Lives,” lasted about 45 minutes and was followed by a question and answer session. Hijleh addressed aesthetic preference in relation to aesthetic value in music, and the need for a variety of different kinds of music in one’s life.

“It is just such a foundational truth, that is necessary for pluralism to be possible,” Hijleh said. “Better aesthetic choices can actually enhance our spiritual lives.”

Hijleh talked about how people decide what music they like and prefer. He said that the main factor in the decision is based on familiarity.

“Familiarity results more or less from repetition and exposure,” he said. “The economic predictions of most popular music … are based on how quickly the audience can become comfortable with (the music).”

However, he added that sometimes people will appreciate music that is different based on its complexity. Preference supersedes familiarity.

“Sometimes we like to be completely offended,” he said.

He went on to say that it’s important to put aside personal preference for healthy diversity.

He compared the musical experience to eating, and explained the need for a balanced diet of music. He said that some kinds of music require a lot of chewing and digesting, while others “are like candy bars.” It is important to have the healthy music, but he added that it is important to have desserts as well. Similarly, one cannot survive on only Twinkies; people need the “meat and potatoes” as well. Neglecting the different aesthetic experiences is the same as neglecting the nourishment of the spirit.

Hijleh then spoke about the need for music to be a communal experience. Although people emphasize individuality, Hijleh made an example of the Rolling Stones song mentioned in the name of the presentation as compared to the USA for Africa song “We Are the World.” Although the Rolling Stones’ “It’s Only Rock n’ Roll But I Like It” song related to individuality, the more communal “We Are the World” was more successful commercially.

“This says something about the hunger we have for a communal experience,” he said.

He added that people who essentially listen to music only on headphones are not getting the full aesthetic experience that they need from music.

Hijleh concluded by reiterating that music is not inherently evil.

“I’m convinced that no one music is particularly dangerous over another,” he said.

After his presentation, Hijleh answered questions from the students, mostly related to what would be the “meat and potatoes” of the music industry, and what would be considered the musical Twinkies.

Most students said they enjoyed the presentation.

“I thought he did a really good job of presenting a Biblical view of music,” said senior Joe Helt. “Biblically what he said supported what I believe to be true, and that is that there is no specific genre of music that is inherently evil.”