Music in Harmony with Values:
Jesuit-Educated Musicians
By Margaret Doheny
Jesuit institutions strive to offer a holistic education, empowering students to pursue their passions and all fields of study. A Jesuit education reflects the fact that each student is a unique creation of God, which manifests in talents and skills of all kinds. Music is one such passion students are empowered to pursue.
While Loyola University New Orleans is the only Jesuit institution in the U.S. with a dedicated school of music and media, several Jesuit universities offer degrees in music studies or partnerships with other schools’ music programs. However, even in the absence of a music program, Jesuit institutions still give students the tools and resources to explore their interest in music.
Successful musicians have come out of nearly every Jesuit school across the United States, spanning all genres. This includes individuals such as the front man of the indie rock group Bright Eyes, Conor Oberst
(Creighton Prep); Jazz pianist Phil DeGreg (St. Xavier High School); singer and composer Harry Connick Jr. (Loyola University New Orleans); and singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey (Fordham University).
Mia Borders
Jazz musician Quin Kirchner, a 2000 graduate of Chicago’s Saint Ignatius College Prep, recalls being able to explore his love of music as a student at Ignatius.
IT WAS VERY MUCH EDUCATION-FOCUSED, BUT IT WAS AN ENCOURAGING ENVIRONMENT TO BE CREATIVE AND PURSUE THE ARTS.
Kirchner first discovered his passion for music through the records in his home, and he began playing drums at age 10. He holds fond memories of his time at Ignatius and remembers the educators who helped him explore his music career, crediting the school’s longtime music director Don Rescigno as someone who was instrumental in helping him hone his talent on the drums.
Kirchner recalls how his Jesuit education allowed him to explore his different interests. “[Ignatius] wasn’t known as an art school,” he says. “It was very much education-focused, but it was an encouraging environment to be creative and pursue the arts.”
Beth Patterson
As a jazz musician, Kirchner’s career has taken him all over the world, as he’s toured in the United States and throughout Europe. And even 20 years after graduating, he credits his Jesuit education for guiding him, saying, “It opened my mind up to what I might experience later, set me up for leaving town.”
He also appreciated the opportunity he had at Ignatius to interact with students from all over Chicago and learn in an environment that prioritized being open to growth. “The inclusiveness that I experienced there was pretty foundational, and it set me up for exploring the world,” Kirchner says.
Gary Louris, a 1976 graduate of St. John’s Jesuit High School in Toledo, Ohio, has also stayed true to his values as a musician. Louris, a singer, songwriter, and founding member of the band The Jayhawks, began classical training in piano at a young age before switching to guitar.
“Music needs to start from the individual.
You need to make music for yourself, and then it needs to be transferred to others for a greater scope and for more meaning,” he says. “It needs to get out of your head and your room to an audience where it may help people.”
Louris, who now lives and works in Minnesota, echoes the motto of St. John’s Jesuit (“men for others”) while describing his work. “That is the one area I feel I am doing something for others . . . I make music, which seems to help people get through things.”
Irish folk and Celtic musician Beth Patterson graduated from Loyola University New Orleans with a bachelor’s degree in music therapy. She spent her time at Loyola knowing that she wanted to pursue music and thus took advantage of the resources offered for those interested in having a career in music.
Patterson credits Loyola New Orleans professor John Lenkin for helping her succeed. “He was crucial to my musical survival,” she says. “Not just about playing—he taught me how to survive in the ‘big bad world’ of music. And that stuck with me.”
Patterson also recalls being inspired by the late Fr. C.J. McNasby, SJ, during her time at Loyola, particularly with his travel and knowledge of different places and cultures— things that “challenged [her] to better [herself] and expand [her] way of thinking.”
Fellow Loyola University New Orleans graduate Mia Borders studied English literature as an undergrad, but remembers saving her electives to take as many music courses as possible.
Borders—a touring musician who has released several albums, EPs, and singles on her own record label—has now made her way back to Loyola University New Orleans, where she directs two ensembles and teaches a course in the school’s popular and commercial music program.
As a professor, Borders sees a connection with her own time as a student interested in pursuing music. “It’s been good to pass on the knowledge I’ve learned in my career to the next generation of musicians.”
As far as the impact of Jesuit values on her career, Borders says “What I took away from the Jesuit experience is mostly service. If there’s something I can do for someone and it’s not going to hurt me, why wouldn’t I do it?” In her approach to teaching, she says, “It’s one of those things where you can learn together and grow together. It goes hand in hand with learning and serving.”
