Judson gets first artist-in-residence

Musician and Judson University alumnus Huntley Brown will serve as Judson's Center for Worship in the Performing Arts' first artist-in-residence.

Brown graduated from Judson in 1988 with a bachelor's degree in music and served as a board trustee from 1998 to 2007. He was ordained by the Evangelical Church Alliance International, and is a concert pianist and recording artist who travels the world with well-known ministries, including the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

"I am excited to return to Judson, where I received such valuable training and spiritual formation," said Brown, 51, of Aurora. "Judson impacted my life forever. People come up to me and ask where did you learn this. I want to tell them, come to Judson University."

Brown credited the musician he is today to his piano teacher, Paul Satre, and the late Edward Thompson, who founded Judson University's music department.

"He taught me how to take an audience on a musical journey," Brown said of Thompson.

Brown just returned from a festival tour in Ukraine for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, and is the pianist for Ruth Graham Ministries. He previously served as an artist-in-residence for the Total Living Network - a Chicago-based Christian network, formerly TV-38 - for more than 10 years, and was artist-in-residence for CTS-TV, a major Christian station in Seoul, South Korea. He has played at Carnegie Hall, been inducted into the Fox Valley Arts Hall of Fame, and has a black belt in martial arts.

In 2014, Brown helped lead a music ministry trip to his homeland of Jamaica with the Judson University Choir. He will be coleading a return visit to Jamaica in May.

"What he brings is his wealth of experience," said Warren Anderson, director of Judson's Center for Worship in the Performing Arts. "We're just so blessed to have someone who has been on stage with some of the most important people in Christianity for the past 30 years. He is going to enrich our students' lives and education just by sharing stores of his 30 years of ministry around the world."

Brown had been the university's unofficial ambassador for years and will promote Judson even more in this new role, Anderson said.

<h3 class="breakHead">What he'll do</h3>

As artist-in-residence, Brown will lecture on trends in global worship, give master classes in jazz piano, minister in concert with the Judson University Choir, and serve as the worship leader for the biannual Judson University Cruise in January 2017.

"In many churches there is a full-blown war taking place when it comes to worship," Brown said.

Growing up in Jamaica, Brown sang hymns in church. Today, church music involves a number of musical instruments, such as drums, base guitar, and rhythm guitar.

"Many people have issues with contemporary music," Brown said. "There has been a debate on what kind of music can be played in a church; what kind of music can be used to glorify god? Churches have split over this ... but it's changing."

Brown's answer is - all kinds of music.

He studied classical piano at Judson, learned to play jazz by ear, and plays blues, gospel, reggae, a bit of country, and calypso - a style of Afro-Caribbean music.

"What makes music Christian or secular? The answer is the lyrics," Brown said. "Once you establish a foundation that all kinds of music can be used to glorify god, then you have a working template for true worship. My job as a worship instructor will be to talk to the students, show them examples of how you can bridge the gap between traditional and contemporary music, without offending grandma and grandpa and not alienating the younger generation."