The Sanctus is an acclamation by the faith community, joining with all the inhabitants of heaven in giving Thanks. Often, it includes testimony about God’s ability to make change in our lives.

I met Robert Ray when I was 16 years old.  He was the accompanist for a summer youth camp that I attended that year: Illinois Summer Youth Music at the Unversity of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

I was in the Senior Chorus program and we learned a challenging set of repertoire  in both choral and solo music.  The accompanist for the program was a young University of Illinois faculty member, Robert Ray.

Robert made a strong impression on me in that two week encounter and by the end of his life we had many intersections both professionally and personally.
I remember Robert as a wonderfully caring individual; he took young people gladly under his wings.  He was patient and kind and gently corrected the myriad mistakes I would make as I worked to learn both choral and solo selections under his guidance.

After that summer, my interest for singing took off.  I did a lot more singing and performing in high school and in college. After I finished my undergraduate degree from Brown, I returned to University of Illinois for graduate school in Music Performance.

Robert had made the decision to move his career to St. Louis and  joined the faculty of University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL).  He was a bit of a "rock star" with the success of his composition, "Gospel Mass" from the early 80's until after the year 2000; additionally he had developed a close relationship with the great American bass/baritone, William Warfield and served as Warfield's principal pianist.

I had'nt realized till I started to work on this Gospel Mass project, that Robert Ray premiered his Gospel Mass at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, the year after I had first met him.  The piece is funky, spiritually uplifting and satisfying and accessible for a wide variety of choirs and audiences.  It has been  performed by groups as diverse as 12 voices to 100s, by instrumental ensembles from jazz trio to full orchestra.

I got to perform with Robert Ray collaboratively, at the wedding of my cousin in the late 80’s.  Robert played for the wedding and his sister was matron of honor.  I presented the Lord’s Prayer with him and it was a true honor and gift to work with him in this way.   We remained connected; I visited him several times at UMSL and at his home over the years. Several times I have also been tenor soloist for performances of the Gospel Mass.

Through this history,  Charles and myself felt called to make a recording of Gospel Mass to share Robert’s ministry further.

Henry Pleas
President
New Rhythm Arts Collaborative