Christopher Willcock, SJ

Bio

Jesuit Father Christopher Willcock is a gifted, prolific and award-winning composer and music teacher. Born in Sydney, Australia, he completed studies in piano and composition at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in 1974 and was ordained a priest in the Society of Jesus in 1977. He completed doctoral studies in sacramental and liturgical theology at the Institut Catholique and the Sorbonne in Paris. On his return to Australia, he began teaching liturgy at the United Faculty of Theology, which he did for many years. From 2011 to 2012, he held the Gasson Chair in Jesuit Studies at Boston College.

Much of Fr. Willcock’s compositional activity has been in the area of liturgical music, but a smaller body of his work was written with the concert hall in mind. He has published many liturgical music collections for assembly and choir through OCP, including God Here Among Us, In Remembrance of You, Your Kingdom Come, Psalms for the Journey, Sing We Now of Christmas and Who Did You See?, his collection of music for World Youth Day 2008 in Sydney, Australia. In 1993, Christopher was the inaugural recipient of the Percy Jones Memorial Award for outstanding contribution to liturgical music. He was recently awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Australian Catholic University, also for his contribution to liturgical music within the Catholic Church.

Fr. Willcock is a frequent workshop presenter in Australia on the topic of music in the liturgy. He is currently an adjunct professor at Jesuit Theological College, in Parkville, just outside Melbourne, Australia, which allows him to devote himself full-time to composing.