"Jubilate! An Ancient-Future Concert Mass" composed by Fuller’s Ed Willmington
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10/27/09
The premiere performance of Jubilate! An Ancient-Future Concert Mass will be offered by Fuller Seminary’s Fred Bock Institute of Music and Brehm Center for Worship, Theology, and the Arts on Tuesday, November 3, from 7:30 to 9:00 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Pasadena. The mass is an original composition by noted orchestral and vocal composer Edwin M. Willmington, who is director of the Brehm Center’s Fred Bock Institute of Music.
The mass will be performed by the Fuller Vocal Ensemble, conducted by Willmington, and accompanied by original choreography from artist and worship designer Marcia McFee.
At the conclusion of the performance, a reflection on “The Sound of Faith” will be given by theological Nicholas Wolterstorff of Yale University.
From the opening sounds of distant drums and a Middle Eastern flute, Jubilate! An Ancient-Future Concert Mass serves as a musical convergence of elements from the origins of the Christian church with those familiar in the 21st century. It takes common texts of the ancient mass and interprets them with sounds that are both traditional and modern in a concert format. Musical techniques of ancient times are used freely throughout the work, along with other traditional elements—juxtaposed against an electronically created “techno” track of sounds common to the 21st century ear, but not usually associated with spiritual works. The resulting effect is both powerful and inspirational.
A prolific composer, Edwin Willmington has 150 published orchestral and vocal pieces and 20 full-length recordings to his credit. Prior to joining Fuller Seminary as director of the Fred Bock Institute of Music, he served for 22 years as pastor of worship and arts at Scottsdale Bible Church in Arizona, training generations of worship leaders. He has served on the advisory board for the Worship and Celebration Hymnal WORD, the best-selling non-denominational hymnal, and has programmed and directed a wide variety of choral and instrumental music.
Fuller Seminary’s Brehm Center for Worship, Theology, and the Arts works to revitalize the church through the arts, offering an innovative space for the creative integration of worship, theology, and the arts in culture. Among other activities, the center fosters creativity and creative events on campus and in the community.
First Congregational Church is located at the corner of E. Walnut St. and N. Los Robles Ave., Pasadena 91101. For more information on the concert, call 626-304-3789 or email brehmcenter@fuller.edu.