The Christian Performing Artists’ Fellowship

Imagine an orchestra, choir, and ballet team composed entirely of Christian musicians, singers, and dancers volunteering their talents to bring the Gospel to the secular classical music world and give glory to God alone. Too good to be true?

Patrick Kavanaugh, executive director and “Konzertmeister” of the Christian Performing Artists’ Fellowship (CPAF), says, “God has called us to be a missionary organization to proclaim the gospel in the world of the performing arts.” The CPAF began in Washington, D.C., in 1984 when three couples (including the Kavanaughs) started a small prayer group with the desire to reach the performing arts world for Jesus Christ. The first CPAF concert, in November of that year, featured Bach’s Cantata No. 140, Wachet Auf! (“Sleepers, Awake!”), and a choir of four singers. Over the years, the CPAF has grown to approximately 650 instrumentalists, singers, and dancers from over 300 churches and some 25 denominations. The Asaph Ensemble, CPAF’s main performing group, has presented outstanding performances at some of the most elite concert halls in the Washington, D.C., area—the Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Constitution Hall, the National Portrait Gallery, and the Center for the Performing Arts, to name a few. Their most noted performances include Mozart’s Requiem, the Bach Magnificat, Brahms’ Requiem, Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms, and, their acclaimed annual event, begun in 1989, the choreographed version of Handel’s Messiah (held each year in Washington’s historic Constitution Hall). In 1991, CPAF debuted its first opera, Boito’s Mefistofele starring opera virtuoso Jerome Hinds. The effort expanded in 1993 to include their first international performance, presenting Hines’ opera I Am the Way at Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre, which was nationally televised throughout Russia. Yet, in spite of their outstanding success, the volunteer performers have kept their original goal foremost in their minds, presenting the salvation story at every concert.

CPAF’s executive director, Patrick Kavanaugh, is highly qualified and respected in his field. Born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee, he has been involved in music all his life. His education includes a Bachelor of Music from the CUA and both a Master of Music and a Doctor of Music Arts from the University of Maryland. He is the author of The Spiritual Lives of Great Composers, a compilation of stories revealing the spiritual sides of such men as Johann Sebastian Bach, Franz Schubert, and Igor Stravinsky. He is now working on a book similar to Amazing Grace (see review) which will have inspiring stories of composers and their compositions instead of hymn writers and their hymns. Kavanaugh also composes music; eighteen of his compositions have currently been published by Carl Fischer, Inc., licensed by Broadcast Music. He and his wife, Barbara, are looking into home schooling their four children some time in the future.

Today, Christian Performing Artists’ Fellowship has expanded. There are now Asaph Ensembles in some of the larger cities across the United States. The fastest growing extension of the Virginia-based organization in Dallas, Texas, just premiered their first annual Messiah performance.

Amazing Hymns

Amazing Grace: 366 Hymn Stories for Daily Devotionals is a devotional book written especially for musicians, singers and other lovers of the arts. This beautiful,soft bound volume by Kenneth W. Osbeck contains inspiring lyrics of such famous hvnms as “All the Way My Savior Leads Me”, “I Surrender All”, and “Rock of Ages”. It also shares the personal struggles of the men and women like Charles Wesley, Fanny J. Crosby, and Robert Lowry who wrote the hymns. Besides including a hymn and its historical background, each day has a list of Scripture references to go with the theme being addressed. For example, June covers hymns about the Gospel, Salvation, Forgiveness, Invitation, and Testimony. Look for Amazing Grace in your local Christian book store.

Editor’s note: Kenneth W. Osbeck has also authored three other top-quality books of hynm stories: 101 Hymn Stories, 101 More Hymn Stories, and 52 Hymn Stories Dramatized.