PhD MA BMus LRAM
Christopher Grey
Lecturer in Theological Aesthetics
Chris has been part of the Theology, Music and Worship department at London School of Theology since 1997 and a faculty member since 2009. Since then he has developed and taught undergraduate modules introducing students to interdisciplinary studies in theological aesthetics and music theology/philosophy. These courses navigate ecclesiastical boundaries, encounter diverse historical and modern sources, and explore the philosophical, practical and theological questions of artistic creation, transmission and reception. Chris currently teaches two new undergraduate modules: Christianity and the Arts, and Music, Philosophy and God, as well as teaching History of Music in the Church, from the Patristic era to the Gothic age, and Case Studies in Church Music.
Chris completed his PhD in June 2021 through the Open University, funded by an Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) scholarship. His studies revolved around the French Catholic philosopher Jacques Maritain, and his research explored the idea of musical beauty from a Thomistic theological and philosophical perspective. From Maritain’s revolutionary aesthetic works, alongside Aquinas, Patristic sources, and significant composers, he constructed an account of musical creation which overcomes enlightenment definitions of beauty and is tradition-constituted, but remains pertinent to the modern era. His main research interests are in aesthetics, theories of beauty and/or any stimulating conjunction of philosophy, theology and art. He is a Thomist in outlook and method—firmly located in the realist tradition, as a habitat for intellectual and spiritual knowledge. Chris avidly believes in giving students the freedom to observe and to inquire.
Having studied initially at the Purcell School of Music, Chris then trained at the Royal Academy of Music, specialising in harmony and composition, with principal studies on the violin and viola, and second study on the piano. Later, he completed an MA in Music Education at University College London. Chris worked in secondary music education for over 20 years, teaching academic music, directing chamber orchestras and teaching the piano and violin.
Outside LST, Chris is a Pearl Jubilee Research Fellow at Margaret Beaufort Institute of Theology, Cambridge. Here he is engaged in a two-year project to promote the intellectual and spiritual legacy of Jacques and Raïssa Maritain in the UK, and working on a monograph in Thomistic musical aesthetics. In March 2024, Chris convened a groundbreaking conference at MBIT – ‘Beggars for Heaven’ – which appraised the Maritain’s witness to the mission of the laity, and their saintly lives lived in the pursuit of truth, beauty and goodness. He has an abiding love for the English metaphysical poets, Bach, Robert Schumann, and jazz music, and was until recently, the regular pianist for the London Jazz Vespers Project based at Westminster Central Hall. Chris lives in Norwich, he is married to Liz, a nurse, and they have 6 children aged between 11 and 28.
2024, ‘There Are Many Mansions in Heaven: Philosophical Reflections on the Ordinariates and the Liturgy. Littlemore Forum, Colloquium on the Anglican Tradition in the Catholic Church, Catholic University of America.
2023, ‘A Music Which Only the Intellect Can Understand: Interpreting Maritain’s Creative Intuition in Art and Poetry.’ American Maritain Association, University of Dallas.
2022, ‘Reason Hears: Music, Goodness and the Virtuous Aesthetic Experience.’ American Maritain Association, DeSales University.
2022, ‘Maritain and Music: Developing a Thomist Philosophy of Music.’ Postgraduate Research Seminar, Institute for Theology, Imagination and the Arts, University of St Andrews.
2020, ‘Realist Solutions to the Problem of Music and the Ineffable.’ American Maritain Association, Franciscan University and Byzantine Catholic Seminary of SS. Cyril and Methodius.
2019, ‘Thomist Foundations for a Theological Aesthetic of Musical Beauty.’ Theology, Creativity and the Arts, Margaret Beaufort Institute of Theology, Cambridge.
2019, ‘Thomist Foundations for a Theological Aesthetic of Musical Beauty.’ American Maritain Association, DeSales University.
2019, ‘Understanding Tragedy Truthfully: J.S. Bach’s Zerfliesse Mein Hertze.’ Plenary at American Maritain Association, DeSales University.
2019, ‘Musical Beauty, God and the Church: Early Historical-Ecclesiological Contexts.’ Music Research Conference, The Open University, UK.
2017, ‘Events in the Life of Christ in Art: John Donne, Josef Ratzinger and a Few Painters.’ Michaelmas Public Lectures, The Parish Church of St Michael, Highgate.
2017, ‘The Musical Aesthetic Inside Maritain’s Notion of Poetic Knowledge.’ American Maritain Association, Notre Dame Seminary, New Orleans.
2015, ‘The Melodic, Harmonic and Rhythmic Decline of Vocal Memory in Congregational Singing.’ Christian Congregational Music Conference, Ripon College, Oxford.
2010, ‘The Dynamics of Knowing: Process in the Experience of Composer, Performer and Listener.’ The Society for the Study of Theology, Manchester University.
- The American Maritain Association
- The Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham
- PhD (Philosophy and Music), Open University, UK
- MA (Music Education), University College London
- BMus Hons (Music), London, Royal Academy of Music
- LRAM Royal Academy of Music
- London School of Theology, Green Lane, Northwood, HA6 2UW
- +44 (0) 1923 456000