Use the form on the right to contact us.
You can edit the text in this area, and change where the contact form on the right submits to, by entering edit mode using the modes on the bottom right.
9787931445
Deus Ex Musica is an ecumenical project that promotes the used of a scared music as a resource for learning, spiritual growth, and discipleship.
Filtering by Tag: New Music
Caroline Shaw is quickly rising in her status as a composer, especially since becoming the youngest recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Music at the age of 30. Narrow Sea (Nonesuch Records, 2021), helps listeners long for another world that is free from darkness, strife, and suffering; in the liner notes, Shaw dedicates this piece to “all humans seeking safe refuge.”
Read MoreIntegrity is the standard by which we judge the quality of Art. Paul’s famous line from I Corinthians well states the ultimate standard of quality in any person’s life: “Without love. . . ” any effort is pointless. I find it interesting that one of the examples he expressly cites is that of public speaking. This was an Art he much admired and was gifted in (both physically and spiritually, I believe). Any expression is futile if we have not love. Although I use the word “integrity” to encompass more than just “agape,” that self-denying love found only in things of God, let us examine first the role of agape in a Christian artist.
Read MoreThis month’s Composer Spotlight guest is Ko Matsushita – a prolific Japanese composer whose vibrant choral works have gained international attention. He studied music composition at Kunitachi College of Music and conducting Kodály Institute (Hungary), and his music includes Masses and motets, as well as works based on traditional Japanese music. His works are published in Japan by Edition KAWAI, Pana Musica Edition, and overseas by SULASOL (Finland), Carus-Verlag Stuttgart (Germany), Annie Bank Edition (the Netherlands) Porfiri & Horváth Publishers (Germany) and Santa Barbara Music Publishing (USA) among others. He is currently a special guest professor of Kobe College.
Read MoreC. S. Lewis, one of the greatest Christian thinkers of the 20th century, transitioned from atheism to theism but laughed at the idea that we could ever “know” our Creator any more than Hamlet could “know” Shakespeare. It later occurred to him, however, that this might be possible if Shakespeare wrote himself into the story. If Creator came in the form of the Created perhaps the Created could know and be known. Infinity entering finitude, Word becoming flesh, perfect love and light taking on human form: that is the glorious truth that Christmas proclaims. And it is followed by the equally bold claim of Good Friday – that God shares in our suffering, that Christ, “who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing…and he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death - even death on a cross!” (Phil. 2:6-8, NIV) This reality comes as both sword and salve; it mends the broken and breaks the proud. That God participates in our suffering and invites us to participate in his suffering as doorway to abundant life in Christ – this is a paradoxical and profound reality that has fueled artistic creativity around the world for centuries. With that in mind, here are three recent works that explore the mysterious beauty, goodness, and truth of Holy Week.
Read MoreThis month’s Composer in the Spotlight series is Dr. Sungji Hong. An award- Korean composer now living in the US, Sungji teaches composition at the University of North Texas. Commissioned by the Fromm Music Foundation (USA), the National Flute Association (USA), the Texas Flute Association, the Tongyoung International Music Festival (Korea), the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra (Korea), the Keumho Asiana Cultural Foundation (Korea), the International Isang Yun Music Society (Germany) and the MATA Festival (USA), Sungji’s music reflects an intelligent, playful exploration of timbre.
Read More