Instrumentation
SATB choir (w/ divisi), four solo voices

Duration
20'

Premiere
Gardner-Webb Choral Union
Boiling Springs, NC (April 17, 2016)

Note
Messe des Perdus was written for the Gardner-Webb University Choral Union in 2015 and received its first performance in April of 2016. This work consists of five movements from the Mass Ordinary: Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei. I chose to set the Mass Ordinary text for unaccompanied choir for a variety of reasons. I grew up attending a Church of Christ, a denomination that typically rejects liturgy as well as the use of musical instruments. When I was beginning my time as an undergraduate at Gardner-Webb University, I was confronted with a number of difficult perspectives that conflicted with many of the beliefs I had inherited from my religious tradition. As I struggled to understand and reconcile these views with my own, I found I needed a way to express my feeling of “lost-ness.” I found that expression through the creation of this mass. By combining elements that were both rejected and accepted by this tradition, I was able to create a much-needed sense of peace. 
Messe des Perdus reflects my struggles but is not unique to them. Translating to “Mass of the Lost,” this work acts as a comfort to all those who have lost their way.