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. 

 A legend in the word of Christian Contemporary Music, John Michael Talbot’s songs have been the soundtrack for the spiritual life of more than a generation of the faithful. Moving increasingly into a quieter, cloistered life, he reflects with clarity, insight, and delight, on his work and on the sacred arts.

Artist-theologian Julian Davis Reid has performed and spoken worldwide, and has released albums both solo and with his band, the Ju Ju Exchange. Having worked with Chance the Rapper, Jennifer Hudson, Peter CottonTale, and Derrick Hodge, he brings his music and life to the service of the Church, and of people seeking rest among the noise.

Pamela Smart is fascinated by how art works on us, on the totality of our selves. That means she is interested in aesthetics, anthropology, and art history. All of these come together in her studies of the Rothko Chapel, a space that has had a visceral effect on countless visitors seeking stillness.

Dr Hernandez, Mescalero and Warm Springs Apache, is involved in establishing and preserving community archives, as well consulting with museums and community nonprofits. Her experience, in her life, faith, and work, yields profound and rare insights.

Bissera Pentcheva is one of the rare art historians who reaches across disciplines: visual art, architecture, sound. This allows her to speak all the more meaningfully about art as it is actually experienced, by human beings in totality of the sensory world. We talk about her award-winning work with the vocal ensemble Cappella Romana, as well as her recent projects that study sculpture within the play of flickering candlelight.