The Holy Spirit Mass came into being when Gary Aamodt and Celia Ellingson approached the National Lutheran Choir with an idea to commission a substantial piece of music to commemorate the 500th Anniversary of the Protestant Reformation—a practice that had marked previous Reformation anniversaries. Aamodt and Ellingson provided lead funding for the project and the seminal idea that the work should honor the progress between Lutherans and Catholics in finding common ground despite their theological differences. To honor the musical antecedents of both traditions, Aamodt’s research led to the text forHoly Spirit Mass combining the Ordinary of the Mass with the 9th Century hymn, Veni Creator Spiritus, and Martin Luther’s hymn “Come Holy Ghost, God and Lord.”The National Lutheran Choir presented the world premiere of Kim Andre Arnesen’s Holy Spirit Mass at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC, followed by two “rapturously received” (New York Times) performances and a live radio broadcast in Minneapolis-St. Paul. The work was recorded in the spring of 2018 and was subsequently presented by the National Lutheran Choir at the University of Notre Dame as part of a four-state regional tour.

Note: Due to copyright restrictions, this recording is not available for digital download or streaming.