In 1997, the first four-week Masterworks Festival began on the campus of Houghton College as a ministry of the Christian Performing Artists’ Fellowship (CPAF).
After five consecutive summers in New York, MasterWorks had become a significant ministry, drawing students and faculty from around the world. A Bible Study and prayer group leadership program was an integral part of the curriculum, designed to equip students and faculty to begin similar groups in their conservatories and performing arts departments.
After increased enrollment caused MasterWorks to outgrow the facilities at Houghton College, the Festival moved to the campus of Grace College in Winona Lake, Indiana.
After the summer of 2016 at Cedarville University in Ohio, MasterWorks moved to Converse College in Spartanburg, South Carolina, where it continued through the summer of 2022. Campbellsville University in Kentucky hosted the Festival for the summers of 2023 and 2024.
In 2025, The MasterWorks Festival moved to its new home at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. MasterWorks will celebrate its 30th season in the summer of 2026!
MasterWorks’ outreach has extended to the United Kingdom, Honduras, China and Hawaii. Throughout the years participants have included such notable artists as guitarist Christopher Parkening, cellist Anne Martindale Williams, violinist Midori, and trumpeter Phil Smith.
The continuing prayer of the MasterWorks leadership and faculty is that the Festival will become known world-wide as a center of Christian artistry. We have a mandate from the Lord to uphold a high standard for others to follow – a standard for excellence in the arts with a sincere Christian walk lived in light of the Gospel.
Please join us in prayer that this vision will be realized, in a way that gives God the greatest glory. Without the prayers of the saints and the blessing of the Lord, we labor in vain. Yet we believe that God has called this ministry into being, and that He “will carry it on to completion until the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6b)
