Madeleine Festival of the Arts and Humanities celebrates 25th anniversary; award dinner is May 9

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Dr. Craig Jessop

SALT LAKE CITY —Dr. Craig Jessop, dean of Caine College of the Arts at Utah State University in Logan, will receive the Madeleine Arts and Humanities award at the Madeleine Award Dinner May 9.

The award is part of the Madeleine Festival, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary. It was founded in 1988 by Monsignor M. Francis Mannion, then rector of the Cathedral of the Madeleine. The festival’s primary goal was to revitalize the traditional role of cathedral churches in the cultural life of their communities.

"At its broadest, the Madeleine Festival has an evangelical thrust to it," said Msgr. Mannion. "It was, and continues to be, designed to proclaim the Word of God and the Gospel through the arts and humanities. It was meant to provide a presence in Salt Lake City, and therefore has a strong ecumenical character to it."

To celebrate the anniversary, the festival, which began April 7 and concludes May 12, has included as performers past award winners Ririe Woodbury and David Kranes, as well as a special tribute to opera with the Utah Symphony and Opera and The Madeleine Choir School choristers. Valerie Capers, a blind jazz pianist, returned April 21 to perform with faculty from Brigham Young University.

"This year we are reaching out specifically to people with disabilities and children because children’s music has been such a big part of the music history at the cathedral," said Laurel Dokos, Cathedral of the Madeleine development director.

For 25 years, the festival has showcased Utah talent from throughout the state as well as hosted national and international performers. During the 1991-1992 restoration of the cathedral’s interior, the festival was held in other Salt Lake City venues. When the cathedral reopened in 1993, the festival celebrated with a performance by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

"Hundreds of people of many faiths stood in long lines in hopes of getting a seat for the concert," read a May 7, 1993 article in the Intermountain Catholic.

Architect Ray Kingston received the first Madeleine Festival Arts and Humanities award in 1989. "The awards are given to honor those who are not as highly recognized in the community, although their tenure and service has been long-standing," said Dokos.

Jessop was selected to receive the award for his contributions to the arts and humanities as founding dean of Caine College of the Arts at Utah State University, his tenure as music director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and head of the department of Music at Utah State. He also is founder and music director of the American Festival Chorus and Orchestra and has served as music director of the Carnegie Hall National High School Choral Festival sponsored by the Weill Institute of Music at Carnegie Hall.

Jessop was a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force music program, where he served as director of the U.S. Air Force Singing Sergeants in Washington, D.C. and as commander and conductor of numerous bands and choral groups in Europe. He also has been active as a baritone vocalist.

"I am very humbled and honored to receive this award," said Jessop. "I have such great respect for the Cathedral of the Madeleine and particularly for Gregory Glenn [musical director of the Cathedral of the Madeleine], who has built, what I think is the premier cathedral music program in the United States in the Madeleine Choir School."

Glenn received the Madeleine Festival Arts and Humanities award in 2008.

Jessop was a guest conductor of the Cathedral of the Madeleine Choir on many occasions as director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, he said. "The Madeleine Choir appeared several times on "Music and the Spoken Word."

Jessop grew up in Cache Valley in an agricultural family, but "I came out of the womb singing," he said. "Music has been my entire life since I was a small boy."