TheoArtistry: The power of the arts to communicate the divine

TheoArtistry is a new dimension of the work of ITIA, the Institute for Theology, Imagination and the Arts, based in the School of Divinity. Directed by Dr George Corbett, TheoArtistry explores how ITIA’s research at the interface between theology and the arts might inform directly the making, practice, performance, curatorship and reception of Christian art, and transform not only the scholarly but the public perception of the role and the vital importance of the arts today in theology, Church practice, and society at large.

In TheoArtistry’s inaugural project, six outstanding young composers (from England, Scotland, Southern Ireland and Northern Ireland, and Canada) have been selected, from almost a hundred applicants, to work with Sir James MacMillan, Dr George Corbett, Kathryn Wehr, and six doctoral researchers from the School of Divinity, at the University of St Andrews. Over a six-month scheme running from September 2016-February 2017, theologians and composers are collaborating on six new choral works for non-professional chapel choir of approximately 3 minutes in length. The composers’ Scriptural settings will be performed by St Salvator’s Chapel Choir (directed by Tom Wilkinson) at a second symposium with Sir James at the end of New Music Week on 19 February 2017, and again by the choir during the liturgical year.

Sir James MacMillan, composers, theologians, Divinity and Music staff
at the TheoArtistry Symposium

Dr George Corbett and ITIA researchers are also teaming up with Tom Wilkinson and St Salvator’s Chapel Choir to produce a new TheoArtistry CD recording. This collaborative project explores how an appreciation of the profound spirituality and faith of many composers in the Classical tradition may influence the performance and reception of their music. ITIA is providing expertise on the relationship between theology and music, research on the theological contexts of the musical programme, as well as help curating secular and liturgical performances by the choir.

Promoting Christian pilgrimage in Scotland

The research of Dr Ian Bradley, of the School of Divinityinto the history of Christian pilgrimage and its recent revival, specifically in Scotland but also across Europe, has fed directly into the activities of churches, heritage bodies and specialist travel companies. Dr Bradley’s research has focused on the importance of the practice and theme of pilgrimage in Ireland and Scotland in the so called ‘golden age of Celtic Christianity’ in the sixth and seventh centuries, explored in his books Columba: Pilgrim and Penitent (Wild Goose Publications, 2000) and Colonies of Heaven (Darton, Longman & Todd, 2006). His important study Pilgrimage: A Spiritual and Cultural Journey (Lion Books, 2010), so far translated into Dutch, Norwegian, Japanese and Arabic, demonstrates the extent and nature of the revival of interest in Christian pilgrimage across Europe over the last 40 years. Dr Bradley’s research on the history of pilgrimage has led him to be invited to speak to the Scottish Parliament on the potential for pilgrimage related tourism in Scotland and to numerous radio and television appearances, most recently speaking to Neil Oliver about Iona on the 2014 BBC2 Series ‘The Sacred Wonders of Britain’.
His research into initiatives and practices for pilgrimage is being applied by churches, contemporary Christian communities, including the Iona Community, and heritage bodies, such as Historic Scotland, both to stimulate pilgrimages to significant historic and spiritual sites and as a basis for developing new pilgrim routes. For the last 10 years, Dr Bradley has been devising and leading pilgrimages around St Andrews, including the St Andrew’s Day and Good Friday pilgrimages. In 2010, at the invitation of Pax Travel, the leading pilgrimage operators in the UK, he led a pilgrimage across Scotland from Iona to St Andrews. He is closely involved with the Scottish Pilgrim Routes Forum in the current research and development of long distance pilgrim ways across Scotland from Iona to St Andrews and across Fife from St Andrews to Edinburgh via Dunfermline. His involvement is bringing about the development of pilgrim routes across Scotland.