Jazz as Worship at Westmont

As part of Westmont’s Conference on Christianity and Literature, Reverend Norm Freeman will marry music and ministry in a Jazz Vespers service 4:15 p.m. Jan. 22 in Hieronymus Lounge on the upper campus.

The event is free and open to the public.

The Jazz Vespers service synthesizes several traditions, each finding a unifying voice the musical heritage of jazz.

“Jazz gives voice to the hopes, dreams, frustrations and pain that express human experience,” Freeman said. “It is the musical incense that collects and carries the prayers of people.”

Freeman has earned bachelor’s and master’s of music degrees from the Juilliard School. His musical career includes performances with the New York Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera, Barbra Steisand’s 1994 concert tour and the Moody Blues. He is a three-time Grammy nominee and a Grammy Award-winning percussionist on the New York Philharmonic recording of Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 in D Minor. Since becoming an ordained Episcopal priest in 1997, Freeman has performed for the New York Pops, the MTV Music Video Awards, Saturday Night Live with Pavarotti, Metallica and numerous Broadway shows.

Before moving to California, Freeman was percussion department chair at Mannes College of Music. He moved to Santa Barbara to become Episcopal chaplain for UC of Santa Barbara and vicar for the Church of St. Michael and All Angels in Isla Vista.

For more information about Freeman and Jazz Vespers, visit his Web site,  http://www.jazzministry.org/. For more information on the Conference on Christianity and Literature, please contact Cheri Larsen Hoeckley at (805) 565-7378 or visit www.westmont.edu/CCL2005.