International Conference: Messiaen the Theologian
12 and 13 October, 2007
BUMP and oliviermessiaen.net hosted an international conference at Boston University entitled 'Messiaen the Theologian'. The conference explored one of the least understood and least discussed aspects of the composer. It included papers on Messiaen's theological training, the context of Catholic theology in France in the twentieth century and his personal theology as it is expressed in his music.
The conference included the Boston premiere of Messiaen's recently published Fantaisie (1933) pour violon et piano and a screening of Paul Festa's award-winning film ‘Apparition of the Eternal Church’. You can see a trailer of this provocative film here.
A poster for Paul Festa's Film can be downloaded here.
The keynote address was given by Rev. Dr. Stephen Schloesser, S. J. (Boston College).
You can download the conference poster here.
The abstracts can be read here.
The program can be viewed here.