A Tribute to Ivan Moody — Institute of Sacred Arts

A tribute to Ivan Moody (1964 - 2024) is, on the one hand, so easy: to consider his life, his character, his impact is an unmitigatedly positive, joy-filled endeavor. But a proper tribute to this man is also impossibly difficult: how can one do justice to the vast number of people and worlds that he touched, and changed for the better?

This episode of Luminous, recorded only a week after Fr Ivan’s untimely demise, is but a beginning, with surely more tributes to come. We welcome here a few of the key people who worked closely with Fr Ivan to share some of their recollections, knowing full well that there are many more notable personalities whom we could have brought onto this program. My hope is that ways will be found to hear from them.

Fr Ivan’s biography is available on his website - one hopes it will soon be updated - but it gives a small sense of his enormous impact as a composer, scholar, musicologist, author, and conductor. As you listen to this episode, you will also come to know (or be reminded of) his warmth, his welcome, his predilection for inclusion rather than exclusion.

As joyous and grateful as one feels in remembering him, there is also profound heartbreak for all of us who knew him. I am certain that what gives him joy now is that we recall him in the context of Christ’s cross and resurrection — the victory of life, to which he devoted so much of his creative output.

Joining me on this episode is my colleague Alexander Lingas, artistic director of Cappella Romana and associate director of the Institute of Sacred Arts, together with special guests: