Many of us know that many Catholic artists, such as Audrey Assad, have written songs inspired by saints. Saints and religious were a popular subject for classical composers but did you all know that even secular artists (some who aren't even Catholic!) have written songs for or inspired by saints? Continue reading

The Air Tonight singer is known around the world for being the drummer and singer of rock band Genesis, while also having a phenomenally successful solo career in the 1980s and 1990s. Continue reading

However the poster, which features a demonic character covering the face of the band frontman Josh Homme , was swiftly taken down by the building's owners.

The building which the poster was plastered onto was in fact owned by a church. Read more

He was present at the recent official opening of a digital recording studio will allow the teaching of NCEA Level 3 Song Writing which has been accredited this year by NZQA.

Other prominent alumni at the opening included Peter Urlich and Rikki Morris.

During the opening ceremony, Rikki and the late Ian Morris, were inducted onto the college's Arts Honours Board along with musician Bernie Allen, sculptor Denis O'Connor and cartoonist Keith Waite (deceased).

They join 17 previous inductees, with famous musicians Tim Finn, Dave Dobbyn, Mike Chunn and Peter Urlich, photographer Peter Bush, pianist Jeffrey Grice, broadcaster - the late Frank Torley and artist Milan Mrkusich to name a few.

Chunn has been advocating the development of the School of Imagination because he want to see musical innovation fostered in the school.

"Now that we've given them a field to play on they'll go into the recording studio and start making records of songs that they have written and all the crafts that come with it," he said.

"To me the School of Imagination is a model for what every school should have."

Chunn said music wasn't a subject when he attended Sacred Heart College in the 1960s.

He recalls sneaking off with Tim Finn and other classmates to pretend to practice piano because that was the only instrument they were encouraged to pursue.

"But it wasn't [piano], we were just dreaming of being The Beatles, Chunn said.

As a result, he and the likes of Finn didn't take music seriously until after they left school.

Chunn is the founder of Play It Strange, a charitable trust that develops musical and writing skills at secondary school level.

• View more photographs
• Listen to interview with Chunn RNZ

Source

• sacredheart.school.nz
• stuff.co.nz
• Image: sacredheart.school.nz

He wasn't. But I was and so was most of the rapt, standing-room-only crowd that crammed the Greek Theatre at University of California, Berkeley, for the second of three sold-out Mumford & Sons concerts in late May.

This is what I had come for — not just a concert, but a shared experience with a congregation of strangers (and a few friends).

"Love, it will not betray you, dismay or enslave you, it will set you free," Marcus Mumford and his bandmates — Ben Lovett, Winston Marshall and Ted Dwane — sang. "There is a design, an alignment, a cry of my heart to see, the beauty of love as it was made to be."

More biblical allusions, declarations of spiritual yearning and what felt like prayers of the heart followed during the 90-minute show and the remaining two concerts.

I was not surprised. As a longtime fan, it was what I had expected to hear. Since their debut in 2009, Mumford & Sons has achieved monumental success, both critically and commercially, particularly among a subset of diehard fans I'd describe as the spiritual-but-not-religious.

It's a modifier that could be (and has been) applied to the band members themselves. Frontman and lyricist Mumford, 26, who was born in Anaheim, Calif., is the son of John and Eleanor Mumford, founders of the evangelical, charismatic Vineyard Churches in the United Kingdom and Ireland. He is a pastor's kid, reared in the church where his musical vocation first took root.

Recently, in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine where he was asked about his religious predilections, Mumford declined to affix the "Christian" label to himself, causing a lot of handwringing from some evangelical fans who thought he was "one of ours."

His spiritual life is a "work in progress," Mumford said, adding that he has never doubted the existence of God and that his pastoring parents aren't lamenting the condition of his soul. Continue reading

Sources

• Cathleen Falsani in National Catholic Reporter
• Image: Global Cool

Cathleen Falsani is the faith and values columnist for The Orange County Register.