MEANING OF MUSIC

AN ORIGINAL FILM SERIES BY THE VIGIL PROJECT

THE PROJECT

The Vigil Project – a Catholic ensemble that creates music for the journey of faith – brings you Meaning of Music, an eight-episode documentary film series aimed at discovering the gift of music in the life of faith. In this film project, we unpack music in its many forms and moments by bringing to the same table for the first time ever the voices of musicians, clergy, scholars, speakers, and more. Music is a gift from God that can be an incredible gateway to the divine, but in recent decades, the Catholic church has forgotten its inheritance of music. In this first-ever cinema-quality documentary exploring the meaning of music, perhaps it is time we remember.

“When man comes into contact with God, mere speech is not enough. Areas of his existence are awakened that spontaneously turn into song.”

— JOSEPH CARDINAL RATZINGER

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CAST & FILMING LOCATIONS

Matt Maher - nine-time GRAMMY-nominated contemporary-Christian music artist, and a trailblazer for Catholic musical artists of today.
Bishop Robert Barron - Bishop of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota and acclaimed media host & theologian whose credits include the widely popular “Catholicism” film series.
Bishop Fernand Cheri - Auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of New Orleans and one of the foremost archivists & experts of Gospel music in North America.
Fr. Colm Cahill - Priest of the Archdiocese of New Orleans, Chaplain of The Vigil Project, and lover of Beauty whose depth of insight surpasses his age.
Michael Kurek - Composer Laureate for the state of Tennessee, celebrated modern classical composer, and author of the popular book The Sound of Beauty.
Guy Massey - British GRAMMY-winning mix engineer and producer whose credits include Paul McCartney, Ed Sheeren, Van Morrison, Paul Simon, and many more.
Liz Lev - US art historian, author, and transplant to Rome where she teaches at a handful of major universities and guides expert tours through the artistic treasures of the Eternal City.
Ben Batalla - a young, Catholic composer and performance pianist whose passion and work are already making a big impact in the Church.
Steffany Gretzinger - GRAMMY-nominated performer and songwriter who is inspiring a generation of song leaders that desire to praise God through song.
Steven Curtis Chapman - Five-time GRAMMY-winning artists with one of the most versatile catalogs of music in Contemporary-Christian music, and an incredible story to tell of his own journey of faith.
Abbot Olivier-Marie Sarr | Benedictine Friars - Benedictine monk and Abbot of the Keur Moussa abbey in Senegal and professor of theology of liturgical inculturation, liturgical spirituality, and methodology at the Pontifical Liturgical Institute of Sant’Anselmo (Rome).
Manfred Honeck - Austrian GRAMMY-winning classical music maestro whose passion and world-renowned achievements conducting the major orchestras of the world are deeply rooted in his Catholic faith.
Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia - The “Nashville Dominicans,” as they’re often called, continue the teaching mission of St. Dominic while holding sung prayer (Liturgy of the Hours) as a key component of the life of their community.
Fr Tansi | Franciscan Friars of the Renewal - An evangelist and a friar whose deep African roots have inspired both his missionary work and his music.
Bob Rice - Professor and theologian at the Franciscan University of Steubenville that sees the need to foster the talents of young Catholic musicians.
Jackie Francois-Angel - Popular Catholic musician, speaker, author, and mom known for her work with Ascension Press and beyond.
Paul Jernberg - Acclaimed composer and conductor working through the Magnificat Institute to awaken the Catholic Church to the necessity of Sacred music to prayer and liturgy.
Eric Genuis - Seasoned composer and pianist whose ambition is to bring hope through music to those who are in need of it, from house concerts to prisons and everywhere in between.
Andy Irvine - An Irishman and a fixture in the Irish folk music scene who’s been around long enough to know how intertwined music and culture really are.
Fr. Andrew Merrick - Priest of the diocese of Baton Rouge whose assignment on the campus of LSU makes him keenly aware of the need for excellence in music from outreach to Mass and all the moments in between.
Athenas - Widely popular Argentinian musical artist who’s traveled the globe bringing the light of the Gospel to many through song and leading for some of the biggest gatherings of Catholics in the world.
The Hillbilly Thomists - The unexpected folk band of Dominican friars trace their history back to a long line of leisure musicians in the order and derive their name from one of Flannery O’Connor’s pithier remarks.
Fr. Patrick Setto - A priest of the Chaldean Diocese of St. Thomas in whom the heritage of tradition is integrated with the modern demands of outreach and prayer.
Bill Donaghy - A man whose ocean of wonder and wisdom outweigh his lengthy list of professional accomplishments and credentials as a theologian and instructor at the Theology of the Body Institute.
Fred & Dinah Gretsch - The namesakes of one of the foremost instrument brands in the modern day, the Gretsches waste no time on accolades as they elevate the gift of music both inside and outside the Catholic Church.
Fr. Marco Frisina - Italian priest, award-winning Hollywood film composer, director of numerous Vatican choirs, and dear friend of St. Pope John Paul II

…and many more!

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BACKGROUND & ABOUT THE FILM

When most of us think of faith and music, we think about the Mass. But how often do we allow this conversation to extend beyond the doors of the Church…to the bar, the sports arena, or our homes?

The Vigil Project, in partnership with 4PM Media (a close collaborator of The Vigil Project over the years, as well as the production company behind The Wild Goose series with Fr. Dave Pivonka, among others), is traveling around the world to unpack this conversation about the meaning of music and experience it for ourselves. We see ourselves as facilitators of the conversation, not experts on the topics of this film. In other words: we don't know all the answers, but we know the right people to ask who do!

Here’s what you WON’T experience in this film: a bunch of experts sitting very still in front of big bookshelves imparting their expertise on music.
Here’s what you WILL experience in this film: just that...an EXPERIENCE of a broad spectrum of global cultures, accomplished artists, studied theologians, and sacred traditions all wrapped up in a powerful encounter with the music they each give us on our journey of faith. We have been blown away by what we've captured thus far. We think you will be too!

You’ll join us, The Vigil Project, as we travel the globe to ask the right questions of the right people, open our ears and hearts to our brother/sister Catholics (and non-Catholics) from other cultures, and learn more than we’ve ever known about the gift of music that spans from the bedrock of ancient chants and sacred hymns to the modern current of musical creativity in the church today.

While we explore this story from the Catholic perspective, it is not strictly theological, or focused on a specific genre of music. We believe and honor the fact that every heart has the capacity to know and love music, just as every heart has the capacity to know and love God.

From exploring natural law with a world-renowned expert on the science of sound and matter, to interviewing many others like GRAMMY award-winning rockstars and contemplative monks and religious sisters who have given their lives to prayer, this film truly explores the universality and the meaning of music in our lives as humans!

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THE PROBLEM

If funded and supported in full, Meaning of Music will solve a decades-long problem within and outside of the Church: we’ve lost the fullness of our ability to encounter God through the gift of music. It’s worth mentioning a few problematic fruits from that come from that ability being lost:

In centuries past, the Catholic Church held the standard of excellence in the realm of art and music. In recent decades the standard of musical excellence within the Church has diminished and the true value and understanding of music in our life of prayer largely forgotten.
The dialogue around music in the Church has often become divisive and narrow instead of unifying and expanded.
As modern technology and convenience continues to progress, music has become more about preference than anything else. When people encounter music that isn’t aligned with their chosen favorite genre – within the liturgy, in devotional prayer, or out in daily life – it becomes a barrier to their relationship with God instead of an aid to deepening that relationship.

As a collective of Catholic musicians, we’ve traveled to over 200 different parish communities in the last 6 years and have seen these challenges rise at the parish level across the board. The parish is the heartbeat of the Church. If it suffers, we all do. If it thrives, we all thrive! As a Catholic—and therefore universal—Church, we recognize this gift of music must be unifying. This film opens that conversation and (we pray) upon its release, takes a giant step in the direction of unity. We’re eager to be the first to shed light on this story in the modern era and give back to the Church the unifying gift of music. This project is ambitious in scope, but it's exactly what we feel the Holy Spirit has asked us to do for the Church at this moment in history.

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THE HEART OF THE PROJECT

Since 2016, The Vigil Project has traveled extensively across the US and beyond to pray and sing with parish communities. As we’ve entered communities around the globe, we’ve seen some common threads of experience and misunderstanding when it comes to music in the Church. It's hard for most Catholics to naturally extend the conversation about music in the practice of our faith beyond simply talking about music for Mass (an important conversation indeed, but far from the only one). There’s more to it than that. The gift of music is enormous, and it extends to every moment of our lives, inside and outside of Mass.

From the beginning, music has played a central role in the Church and in Christian prayer. From liturgy, to prayerful devotion, to all the moments of our Christian lives that are lived beyond the doors of the church building, music is a language that permeates the whole of our existence, raising our gaze to the Transcendent. The Church has long known this and historically patronized the arts for this reason. We believe that if the Church is going to become a people of prayer once again, we must rediscover the meaning of music.

In so far as it seeks the beautiful, fruit of an imagination which rises above the everyday, art is by its nature a kind of appeal to the mystery. Even when they explore the darkest depths of the soul or the most unsettling aspects of evil, artists give voice in a way to the universal desire for redemption. It is clear, therefore, why the Church is especially concerned for the dialogue with art and is keen that in our own time there be a new alliance with artists. From such cooperation, the Church hopes for a renewed “epiphany” of beauty in our time and apt responses to the particular needs of the Christian community. – Letter to Artists, Pope John Paul II, 1999

MORE THAN A FILM

As a documentary, Meaning of Music will certainly stand on its own to be viewed as a comprehensive film. Beyond the film itself, our goal is to encourage a positive step forward in the conversation around music in the Church. In order to accomplish this, we will do the following:

Film Release - get the film out there and distribute it on its own as widely as possible.
Parish Study - develop a resource for parish communities to journey through the film and study booklet through weekly meetings. Participants will walk away with the experience of the film and many guided conversations with others in their own communities around the gift of music.
Musician Curriculum - develop a resource for Catholic musicians (at home, at the parish, and beyond) to experience the film and learn from it. Participants will walk away with a deeper understanding of their call to serve the Church through song.

ABOUT THE VIGIL PROJECT

We are a lay Catholic nonprofit organization that seeks to make music for the Catholic journey and supports others to do the same. To date, we’ve released eight high-quality music / video projects in English and Spanish, we’ve toured the US extensively serving over 200 communities with our music, we’ve partnered with major conferences and events to deliver excellent music to their attendees, we’ve offered retreats and workshops for hundreds of Catholic musicians, we’ve supported Catholic dioceses and other large apostolates with custom content creation to serve their constituents, and the list goes on.

Perhaps the important question to ask is, “Why do we think we can do this?” There are two reasons we know we can do this…

By the grace of God and the support of our community, we’ve never failed at a project, regardless of how big or small it was. We haven’t found our creative ceiling yet, and we’re far from it. We’re still climbing.

God is continually asking us to do something more: something that casts a wider net or vision for this gift of music He’s given us. We know we need to do this film, not only as a passion project, but also as one of obedience to what He has asked us to do.