The final concert of the 2024-25 Ed Ward Fine Arts Series is going to rock! Join us in the St. Cletus Parish Center when "The Bucks" take the stage. It's sure to be a great time!

Sunday, April 14 we will host a Tribute to Ed Ward. This performance will be truly one of a kind and likely never repeated, bringing Ed’s many talented friends, colleagues, and even students together to honor Ed’s memory in the best way we know - by celebrating his gift and love of music.

The ChurchJazz Band presents Bending Towards the Light, a jazz nativity composed by Anne Phillips during Advent in the Chicago area. This features the band, a choir, soloists, and dancers in a marvelous presentation of the story of the birth of Christ. Joseph, Mary, the angels, and the shepherds sing traditional Christmas carols and new music to tell the story. A highlight is the appearance of the trumpet king, the tap dancing king, and the Latin percussion king.

ob Milne is a self-taught pianist. He says that when he was younger he thought everyone knew how to play the piano. It was so simple and natural for him to be able to play what he heard.

His concert performing career began in 1991 and has taken him on tours all over the U.S. and beyond: Bob was named a Musical Ambassador by the U.S. State Department, touring widely in Japan and Switzerland.

Milne was declared a National Treasure in 2004 by the Library of Congress after being interviewed for the national record. His documented ability to “hear,” in his head, four different symphonies playing at once continues to be studied by neurological scientists.

In May of 2022, Bob was awarded an honorary doctorate degree from the University of the South, in Sewanee, Tennessee. This lifetime achievement award came as a surprise to Bob who says, “I’m only trying to do the best I can for as long as I can.”

Join us for The Jazz Passion on Sunday, March 19th at 4pm in the St. Cletus Parish Center.

Featuring 12 choir voices and 11 jazz musicians. Libretto by Pastor David Abrahamson of Saint Luke Church Chicago. Music composed by Andy Tecson, Bobby Lewis and Bobby Schiff. Dan MacDonald will sing the role of Jesus. Justin Sisul will be the conductor. Admission is free. This work is one hour in length.

The Story of Christ's Passion through Jazz

Originally premiering in March of 2010, Victorious, Eternal, Light: A JAZZ PASSION is the result of a collaborative process between Pastor David Abrahamson and composers Andy Tecson, Bobby Lewis, and Bobby Schiff in an effort to create, in modern language and the jazz idiom, a musical account of Jesus’ ultimate act for our salvation.

This work has its origins in the long history of musical portrayals of the Passion Story, and it boldly proclaims Christ’s mercy and grace.

Piano Bar Night in the St. Cletus Parish Center. Join us for a fundraiser for the Ed Ward Fine Arts Series at St. Cletus. Tickets are $40 in advance, $45 at the door. Ticket includes entertainment, snacks, and beer/wine. Doors open at 7:30 pm, Entertainment begins at 8pm.

We are excited to host Bending Towards the Light, a Jazz Nativity. This concert will feature jazz arrangements of traditional Christmas carols along with original compositions tell the story of Mary, Jesus, Joseph, the Angels, the Shepherds, and the three Wise Men in a staged production. Filled with a sense of grace and humor, the cast will include a tap dancing king, a Latin percussion king, and a trumpet king, as well as vocal soloists, a vocal jazz quartet, and an eight-piece jazz band.

The CoverGirls Violin Show is a colorful, high-energy musical revue of the greatest pop and rock hits from Led Zeppelin to Lady Gaga, all performed on the CoverGirls' signature purple electric violins.

Please join us for the first concert of the 2022-23 Ed Ward Fine Arts Series on Sunday, September 18 at 4pm in the St. Cletus Parish Center.

Howard Levy, two time Grammy award winner, will be one of the featured musicians with the ChurchJazz Band at this Jazz Psalms concert. Howard was the pianist for the Jazz Psalms premier in 1982 and is on the album.

Other featured artists include: Douglas Anderson, baritone, Victor Garcia and Kirk Garrison, trumpets, Stewart Miller, bass, Ken Jandes and Andy Tecson, saxophones, Bob Rummage, drums, Bobby Schiff, piano, Tim Coffman, trombone, and singers Daniel Riley, Kecia Waldschmidt, Gayle Bisesi, Dan MacDonald, John and Liz Rudy, Dan Krout, and RoseMary Jandes, and Justin Sisul, conductor.

Admission is free. Donations will benefit the glenhagen farm retreat. Learn more at glenhagenfarm.org

Piano Bar Night in the St. Cletus Parish Center. Join us for a fundraiser for the Ed Ward Fine Arts Series at St. Cletus. Tickets are $40 in advance, $45 at the door. Ticket includes entertainment, snacks, and beer/wine. Doors open at 7:30 pm, Entertainment begins at 8pm.

Join us for Victorious, Eternal Light: A Jazz Passion on Sunday, March 22nd at 4pm in the St. Cletus Parish Center.

Featuring 12 choir voices and 11 jazz musicians. Libretto by Pastor David Abrahamson of Saint Luke Church Chicago. Music composed by Andy Tecson, Bobby Lewis and Bobby Schiff. Dan MacDonald will sing the role of Jesus. Justin Sisul will be the conductor. Admission is free. This work is one hour in length. Author Rev. Peter W. Marty wrote about this work: "The Jazz Passion performance was truly awesome. As I listened (and watched – and there was a lot to watch), I kept thinking of the many beautiful layers and textures in the piece."

Piano Bar Night in Morrissey Hall. Join us for a fundraiser for the Ed Ward Fine Arts Series at St. Cletus. Tickets are $40 in advance, $45 at the door. Doors open at 7:30 pm, Entertainment begins at 8pm.

Chicago Church Jazz Musicians present “Bending towards TheLight: A Jazz Nativity” on Sunday, December 15 at 4:00 p.m. in St. Cletus Church. Admission is free.

Join us for a free concert in St. Cletus Church on Sunday, October 27 at 4:00 p.m. “Flute Music Of Our Lifetime: Works of Rutter, Shocker, Clarke, Granados, and Gordelli”
Carolyn May, flute
Kathleen Kress, flute
Justin Sisul, piano

Join us on Sunday, September 22 at 4:00pm in the St. Cletus Parish Center for a wonderful concert of great pop songs which will benefit the Ed Ward Fine Arts Series at St. Cletus and the glenhagen farm retreat. Tickets are $30 each.