What do we, the Catholic Church, have to do with the arts?

The Catholic Church has a long history of collaboration with the Arts.  The commissioning of music, paintings, sculpture, architecture and other forms has resulted in inspirational works that deeply enrich worship.  This partnership has also provided livelihoods for innumerable artists throughout the centuries.

The directors of the Jubilus Music Festival are proud of our continuation of this tradition.  The festival has enriched the spiritual and cultural lives of parishioners as well as community members of all faiths, while assiduously supporting artists and the Arts. 



The Festival has also created strong bonds between our church and the local musical community--including the University of Florida School of Music and the Gainesville Chamber Orchestra.  And the festival has grown to include music education outreach to local children, with an emphasis on reaching needy and at-risk youth.



The 2011 festival provided a particularly rich musical offering.  We delved into the roots of Roman Catholic liturgical music at Concert II (February 15th at 7:30pm), when the guest artists of the Florida Schola Cantorum performed a program of ancient and modern chant and polyphony for the Lent and Easter seasons. 



And at the Season Finale, Concert VI (February 25th at 7:30pm), we explored the heritage of more recent centuries--the musical fruits
of the African Diaspora.  The program included traditional African-American Spirituals and recent compositions based on Spiritals performed by our own Music Ministry.  And we were excited to welcome UF’s Pazeni Sauti Africa Choir, as they presented music from the African continent sung in numerous native languages. 

Jubilus in the news:

•  "Sacred Sounds," Gainesville Sun, 2/15/2003

• "Jubilus Concert Series Celebrates Last Days Before Lent," Gainesville Sun, 1/30/2010