Luminous: Conversations On Sacred Arts

There’s nothing quite like the music of Nik Bärtsch: its flow, energy, dynamism bring the listener in deeply. In this conversation we explore the sensibilities, intuitions, and thoughtfully developed ideas emanating from Nik’s heart and mind, for a unique and special episode of Luminous.

Reflecting on a life well lived, and on music beautifully played, celebrated organ master Phil Baker contributes profound observations on music and the sacred.

A master photographer, Ralph Sidway also thinks and speaks articulately about the art of photography, and the beauty of putting the camera aside and simply seeing.

The symbiotic chemistry of two visionary artists is both creative and personal. This comes across palpably in our three-way conversation—a particular joy.

George Kordis is a world-renowned iconographer. His work can be found in churches, museums, and sacred spaces throughout the world. He's also a theologian and a teacher, someone who has really thought through his work. He's uniquely able to communicate his holistic sense of art, culture, and theology. Kordis's first conversation with Luminous , "Art in Secular Culture," re...

It’s rare that one encounters a soul so vastly creative, and so clearly attuned to the things-that-are. Helena Tulve’s diverse compositional oeuvre finds its common thread in that attunement. She expresses herself with warmth and with precision. Our conversation begins on the subject of the Jesus Prayer and takes right off from there. 

 Kim Haines-Eitzen adds to a rich body of work with her most recent book, an exploration of the desert soundscapes that may have shaped the lives and writings of the ancient desert ascetics. We talk about this, and more, in a conversation I recorded from my forest hideaway in Estonia. 

In his art and in his thought, George Kordis articulates his ideas with breathtaking clarity. And he is one of the world’s great living iconographers. Enjoy this conversation, recorded in front of a live audience at St. Vladimir’s Seminary.

Mona Arshi brings all of herself to her poetry: her background as a human rights lawyer, a family lineage deeply embedded in the poetic, and a keen observation of the world—with a commitment to recognize and subvert patterns within that observation. All this makes her a very special interlocutor on her artistic medium. 

 Aidan Hart works in multiple media—painting, sculpture, carving, mosaics—to create liturgical art of stunning beauty. As an author and speaker, he also reflects deeply on the nature of the sacred arts, stemming from a profoundly theological vision of creation. Our Luminous conversation, recorded in his studio in Shropshire, visits all these places. 

This special episode of Luminous is a tribute to Fr Ivan Moody—composer, scholar, musicologist, conductor, who impacted so many people and constituencies with his musicality, erudition, warmth, and infectious joy. With guests Alexander Lingas, Peter Phillips, Ivana Medic, Svetlana Poliakova, and Maria Takala-Roszczenko.

 Vesper Stamper writes books for some of the most discerning and important audiences: young adults. And others, but it’s this audience that informs much of our conversation. Her illustrations are as clear and articulate as her writing, and together we are swept up into a narrative of history that means everything. 

This conversation with award-winning poet Nicholas Samaras is a reminder of what life can be like when we listen, pay attention, and hear the musical lyricism of the world. This is at the heart of poetry, and his in particular.

On this special episode of Luminous, our host talks with two students in the MA Program at the Institute of Sacred Arts. This is an opportunity to meet two exceptional people, and to hear about the work and ethos of our Institute!

Apart from our enjoying the arts, even being spiritually uplifted by them, the sacred arts are carrying a message, even a “teaching” that we can attune ourselves to receive. Today’s guest is herself attuned to this, among other dimensions of the arts, which she teaches, writes about, and practices herself.

 One of the leading lights of sacred choral music in the world today, Alexander Lingas has so much to offer in a conversation about music from many times and places, East and West, and its unique power in conveying the sacred. 

 "What does Tim Patitsas mean by his refrain of “beauty first?” That’s one question that made me want to talk with him. We go there. And many other places. As one does, with a thinking, reflective person who has listened to people of wisdom from within and outside the traditional fold." 

Fr Maximos is Professor of Patristics and Orthodox Spirituality. A summa cum laude graduate of Holy Cross (1987), he completed his PhD in Patristics and Historical Theology at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. (1993), after which he taught at Hellenic College and Holy Cross (1993-1998). In the fall of 1998, he was invited to join the faculty of Harvard Divinity School, where h...

 Nun Katherine Weston, an Orthodox Christian monastic, is a pastoral counselor and trauma specialist in private practice. For some 15 years, she has been addressing topics central to the basic human experience, integrating an Orthodox Christian worldview with perspectives from current psychotherapies. In addition to racial identities, topics have included loneliness, shame, anger, anxiety, attachm...

 Matt Hinton, documentary filmmaker, rock guitarist, and burrito legend — for all these contributions, each so excellent, the world is a better place with him in it. Join us in our conversation about art, sacredness, and his films. 

Victoria Emily Jones graduated from UNC–Chapel Hill in 2010 with a BA in journalism and English literature and a minor in music, and she has done some postgraduate coursework in worship and the arts at Regent College in Vancouver. Now she works as an editorial freelancer and pursues independent research on Christianity and the arts, with a special interest in visual art that engages with biblical...

 On this special episode of Luminous, our previous guests suggested for us their chosen musical selections that evoke the sacredness of the season. The result is a beautiful and diverse, and often surprising playlist of Christmas music. Our gift to you. 

Andrew Gould’s designs for churches and other buildings, as well as for furnishings within churches, are exquisitely beautiful. But they are more than that. His vision of sacred art and architecture sets the bar very high—heavenly-high—which is exactly where he thinks it should be.

 A world-renowned artist and great pedagogue, Bruce Herman speaks eloquently about what art is and what it means to him, notably at this time in his life: newly retired, and with a surprising loss of hearing.