Who inspires you? Perhaps it is this week’s guest, Tony Alonso. This conversation explores the bravery, audacity, but above all the invitation that calls us toward this sacred vocation of music ministry. How is God speaking to you? Through desire, gumption, curiosity? Through the voice of another? Through mentors, teachers, models, examples? And how do you know when you’re on the right track? What difference does it make? Settle into this conversation and reflect on your own vocation and path. 

Guests: Tony Alonso

Tony Alonso is a Latin Grammy-nominated composer of sacred music and a theologian whose work responds to the diverse needs of the contemporary church. 

A Cuban-American Roman Catholic, Tony's compositions embrace multicultural musical expressions and reflect a commitment to strong ritual song. His music appears in compilations and hymnals across Christian denominations throughout the world. Tony’s Mass of Joy and Peace is one of the most widely sung Mass settings in the United States. In 2015, his compositional work was recognized with an invitation to compose the responsorial psalm for the first Mass Pope Francis celebrated in the United States. In 2020, he was nominated for a Latin Grammy for his groundbreaking album Caminemos con Jesús.

Tony's scholarly work lies at the intersection of liturgical theology and cultural studies. In 2019, he was awarded the Catherine Mowry LaCugna Award for new scholars for the best academic essay in the field of theology within the Roman Catholic tradition by the Catholic Theological Society of America. His book Commodified Communion: Eucharist, Consumer Culture, and the Practice of Everyday Life was awarded the 2021 Hispanic Theological Initiative Book Prize. Tony is Aquinas Associate Professor of Theology and Culture with tenure at Candler School of Theology at Emory University where he also serves as the inaugural Director of Catholic Studies.

Songs heard in this episode: 

G-4293, With the Lord There Is Mercy, from We Are God’s People, Cotter

G-10077, Caminemos Con Jesus, Alonso

G-8675, I Will Lift My Eyes, Alonso