Music Spotlight Interview Cousins in Christ, O Night Divine By Lisa M. HendeyChristmas is a time of celebration, rich spiritual tradition, and family. With release of their new CD O Night Divine Catholic music group Cousins in Christ combines these three elements, creating a masterpiece your family will treasure for years to come. These talented young singers, ages fourteen through nineteen, are actually “double cousins” sharing same two sets of grandparents. John Paul Rudolph(19), Rebecca Meyer (18), Matthew Rudolph (17), Katie Meyer (16), David Rudolph (15), and Stephenie Meyer (14) now perform together combining their love of song and their strong Catholic faith formation.
O Night Divine includes twelve timeless performances of traditional Christmas carols, blending a myriad of styles and featured solos and spiritual narratives by each of Cousins. Cousins in Christ recently completed several days of filming accompanying music videos for CDs. These captivating videos will be featured in two EWTN Christmas specials during December. Fr. Mitch Pacwa will spotlight Cousins in Christ and their music in his Christmas special, to be aired on Wednesday December 15th at 7:00 pm and midnight and again on Thursday December 16th at 8:00 am.
The music of O Night Divine will be performed during Cousins in Christ Christmas Special, to be aired on EWTN on Wednesday, December 22 at 7:00 pm and midnight and again on Thursday, December 23rd at 8:00 am.
John Paul Rudolph of Cousins in Christ recently spoke with Register correspondent Lisa Hendey on experience of performing as a young Catholic musician.
Q: How did Cousins in Christ get started singing together and can you tell us about some of your earlier projects? A: The Cousins in Christ are actually double cousins since they share same two sets of grandparents. Steve Rudolph married Rose Marie Meyer. Then Bob Meyer (brother of Rose) married Carol Rudolph (sister of Steve). Rose Marie has been a singer and performer since she was a small child. In 1997, she was preparing to record a country album when her son Kevin suffered a ruptured appendix and was hospitalized as his five year old body was stricken with infection. After a successful surgery, Rose Marie prayed in hospital chapel in thanksgiving. It was there that she felt God’s calling to promote belief of True Presence in Eucharist. Within a few months, she produced our first CD, Bread of Life, Bread of Heaven - The Story of Eucharist for Children.
At time, Cousins ranged in age from newborn to 11. Two vanloads of 10 children traveled 400 miles roundtrip to Chicago for recording sessions. Our parents were impressed by our good behavior, never complaining about long recording sessions, meals on go, and having to keep quiet in studio. We discovered that while each of us was individually talented, blend of our voices was even more beautiful.
Both Rudolph and Meyer families now have six children each – with oldest 3 Rudolph boys and 3 Meyer girls as primary performers under direction of Rose Marie Rudolph.
Q: How does your Catholic faith impact music you record?
A: Our Catholic faith provides foundation and core of our music for we began first and foremost as a music ministry to bring souls to Christ. Our hope is to respond to call of Pope John Paul II to evangelize through media and use our talents for God. We generally record one or more original songs for each CD – ranging from honor of Our Blessed Mother to pro-life, pro-child themes and even one ambitious attempt to incorporate Familias Consortio and Humanae Vitae into song! Q: What is it like to be a teenager or young adult involved in Music industry?
A: It is very exciting. We are fortunate to have this experience at such a young age. However, being involved in this ever-changing industry has challenges in itself. To an extent, we have become role models for our peers, and have to act accordingly. We find that trying to mix school, work, family obligations and social time while practicing for performances and planning for future CDs is sometimes overwhelming! We’ve learned quickly that responding to God’s call requires maturity and sacrifice. And God has provided graces for us to grow spiritually and artistically. John Paul and Rebecca have both been awarded college scholarships for vocal performance and younger Cousins will hopefully follow in their footsteps.
This ministry has been a blessing in ways we are just beginning to realize. We have been very blessed to be able to spread faith in countries including Canada, Singapore, Australia, many Africa countries, and recently in Iraq. We just received a thank you note from a soldier in Iraq who says he regularly listens to Bread of Life Bread of Heaven. We are thankful to have been able to use our talents to serve God, promoting Catholic faith and good wholesome music. Q: How can Catholic parents help their teenagers make good choices when it comes to music they listen to? A: Music is just another personal choice in life that all people make. This is similar to other choices like drugs, alcohol, choosing friends, or even cleaning up a room. If children have been raised to realize what is good and what is offensive to God, they will have ability to make good choices. Of course parents can influence their children in area of music. If children learn to appreciate music (many different genres) and are pointed, but not forced towards appropriate music, most children will be drawn to good music.