Luminous: Conversations On Sacred Arts

Tõnu Kõrvits has for some decades been a rising star among Estonian composers—one can now say that the star is decisively risen, and shines with the ethereal light of his lush and compelling work. Another episode recorded in the field—this time in the heart of Tallinn, Estonia.

Kaupo Kikkas is one of the most compelling photographers working today. Centering on portrait as well as fine art photography, with predilections for the American Southwest, the Amazon rain forest, and Lapland, as well as for musicians and their instruments. He is deeply reflective, and highly articulate about his craft and his vision.

David Bentley Hart began his storied career as theologian and public intellectual with a book called The Beauty of the Infinite, a game-changing and definitive foray into theological aesthetics. His most recent little masterpiece is Roland in Moonlight, a reverie about his philosophical mentor, who also happens to be his dog Roland. We have a lot to talk about.

When a Nobel Prize-winning physicist begins to speak of the universe as “a work of art,” don’t we want to ask him whether the universe itself could be numbered among the sacred arts? And whether he thinks there might be an Artist? Frank Wilczek is brilliant and engaging, with a talent (and commitment) to making complex concepts understandable for the rest of us.

Susan Ashbrook Harvey, a foremost scholar in Late Antiquity, discusses fragrance in ancient Christianity and the importance of women's voices in Syriac liturgical singing. The podcast explores the transformative power of art and music, fragrance as a spiritual experience, and the significance of women's choirs in the Syriac tradition.

Ivan Moody, a world-renowned composer, conductor, scholar, and author, discusses the significance of St. Romanos and St. John Cuckoo's Elis in church music, his family's musical talents, the importance of writing music, exploring chant melodies and influences, sacred art and music, and gratitude for support in the realm of sacred arts.

Tobi Kahn is a painter and sculptor whose work has been shown in over forty solo exhibitions and over sixty museum and group shows. For twenty-five years, Kahn has been making miniature sacred spaces he calls "shrines." Steadfast in the pursuit of his distinct vision and persistent in his commitment to the redemptive possibilities of art, Kahn has explored the correspondence between the intimate and monumental in paint, stone, and bronze.

Dn Haig Utidjian is one of the foremost figures in the world of Armenian musicology, as well as in several other fields including Czech composers. A gifted and much-sought-after conductor, an educator, a scholar/author, he is a delight to talk with on many aspects of sacred arts.

Paul Barnes is a force of nature. His music, and his insights about music, pour out of him, with beauty. His longtime collaboration with Phillip Glass has left an indelible mark on both of them. Our conversation on Luminous is full of that ebullient energy. 

A conversation with one of today’s most brilliant and creative minds on creativity and holiness, through icons, poetry, fiction, monasticism, and so much more.