Forefront 360

Interview: Jonathan Ogden

Forefront Chairman Rich Christman interviews musician Jonathan Ogden.

From delicate acoustic songs to jazz and hip-hop infused pop, Jonathan crafts musical soundscapes that invite the listener on a journey. With a background in graphic design, he is passionate about exploring the intersection of visual art and music to form a complete experience. Describing his songs as ‘prayers set to music’ he expresses his faith through psalm-like lyrics and sweeping, melodic instrumentation. Following the release of his beat tape, Twenty Four, and an acoustic EP, Songs From Home, Jonathan is now releasing singles and working towards his first full-length album, Future Forever.

 

Check out Jonathan's work:

• Jonathan Ogden Music
• Magnify Studio
• Sencha
• Rivers & Robots

Keynote: The Critical Calling of Artists in Times of Darkness

Rev. Dr. David Kim delivers the opening keynote at Forefront Festival '22, titled The Critical Calling of Artists in Times of Darkness.

Special: Forefront Festival ’22 Preview

Nate and Rich give a preview of what's happening at Forefront Festival '22: Making New. Join us in Rochester, NY on Feb 19 for a vibrant festival of faith and art.

Learn More / Get Tickets

Interview: Timothy Leaven

Nate talks to singer/songwriter Timothy Leaven about songwriting, sourdough, sadness, and more. 

Help crowdfund Tim's next album at kickstartleaven.com.

Come see Tim (and many other incredible artists) at Forefront Festival 2022.

Forefront x WGW Christmas Variety Show, Act II

The 2021 Christmas Variety Show hosted by Forefront Festival and Why God Why, recorded in front of a live studio audience, is back for a second & final act.

In this Act:

• Music from Victoria Moore's jazz combo
• A non-fiction story from Kyle Navratil
• Music from Timothy Leaven

Plus, conversations with the artists about why Christmas still gives us hope.

Forefront x WGW Christmas Variety Show, Act I

Forefront Festival joins Why God Why for a special Christmas Variety Show, recorded in front of a live studio audience.

In this Act:

• Music from The Noble Kind
• Music from Cottage Street Band
• Poetry from Ryan Diaz
• Music from Victoria Moore's jazz combo
• A short story from Cody Schweickert

Plus, conversations with the artists about why Christmas still gives us hope.

Interview: Eva Ting

Rich and Nate interview Eva Ting. Eva is the Director of Events and Programming at W83 Ministry Center, the home of Redeemer West Side Church that also serves as a community and cultural center on the Upper West Side of New York City. Her interests lie in cultivating spaces for community engagement and designing art experiences and events that invite the public to participate in thoughtful conversations as well as thoughtful action. Prior to her work at W83, Eva was the Public Programs Coordinator at Times Square Alliance, executing public art installations and events in one of the world’s most iconic urban places. Eva lived in Shanghai, China for several years and directed twocities, a gallery that specialized in contemporary craft and hosted music and cultural events, including a well-loved jazz performance series. Eva is a member of Christians in the Visual Arts and served as a board member. 

In the episode we also mention Eva's new nonprofit, Here to Honor, and the video Nate produced for Goldenwood that features Eva.

Interview: Ryan Diaz

Rich and Cody interview poet Ryan Diaz.

Ryan Diaz is a writer, poet, and theologian from Queens, NY. He holds a BA in History from St. Johns University and is completing a MA in Biblical Studies. His writing has appeared in publications like Transcendentals, Dappled Things, Ekstasis, and Premier Christianity. His first poetry book, For Those Wandering Along the Way, debuted in 2021.

Ryan’s poetic work seeks to find the divine in the ordinary, the thin place where the transcendent and the mundane meet. His academic interests include the literature of J.R.R. Tolkien and the Inklings, the Christian Mystical tradition, and the relationship between Art and Faith. He currently lives in Queens, NY with his wife Janiece.

Interview: BibleProject feat. Mike McDonald

Forefront Chairman Rich Christman talks to Mike McDonald from BibleProject about the use of animation to help people understand Scripture.

Mike McDonald works on cultivating awareness and creating strategic relationships with churches, organizations and other non-profits that are looking to use BibleProject Videos in their context. He also leads their Global Focus team which is working on localizing their videos into different languages. He previously spent 11 years leading a global development organization as well as serving on several boards for international organizations with compassion and justice missions. In a previous life, he owned and operated restaurants in Canada and the US, and still loves enjoying a great meal in new cities with his wife, Melissa.

Interview: Dr. Jessica Hooten Wilson

In this special episode, Forefront director Nate Mancini talks to professor, author and speaker Dr. Jessica Hooten Wilson. This episode was recorded with a live studio audience at the Imagination Redeemed conference in Colorado Springs. In the first half we discuss which of today’s authors give Jessica hope for the future of fiction literature, how artists should read books differently from others, how to build an online presence without losing your soul, and of course, how our faith drives us to excellence in the arts. The second half features virtual audience questions from authors such as Dr. Russell Moore, Dr. Karen Swallow Prior, Dr. Benjamin Myers, and Dr. Ralph C. Wood.

Jessica Hooten Wilson is the Louise Cowan Scholar in Residence at the University of Dallas. She is the author of Giving the Devil his Due: Flannery O’Connor and The Brothers Karamazov, which received a 2018 Christianity Today Book of the Year Award in the Culture & the Arts; as well as two books on Walker Percy: The Search for Influence: Walker Percy and Fyodor Dostoevsky (Ohio State University Press, 2017) and Reading Walker Percy’s Novels (Louisiana State University Press, 2018); most recently she co-edited Solzhenitsyn and American Culture: The Russian Soul in the West(University of Notre Dame Press, 2020). She has received numerous fellowships, grants, and awards, including a Fulbright Fellowship to the Czech Republic, an NEH grant to study Dante in Florence in 2014, and the Biola Center for Christian Thought sabbatical fellowship.  In 2018 she received the Emerging Public Intellectual Award given by a coalition of North American think tanks in collaboration with the Centre for Christian Scholarship at Redeemer University College, and in 2019 she received the Hiett Prize in Humanities from The Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture.

Jessica has two books releasing in 2022, which you can preorder today: The Scandal of Holiness: Renewing Your Imagination in the Company of Literary Saints and Learning the Good Life: Wisdom from the Great Hearts and Minds that Came Before.