The Moody Campus Orchestra, directed by Dr. Daniel Mattix, consists of students and faculty members from Moody and some musicians from the local community. The orchestra plays arrangements of church music and a variety of other styles as well. The orchestra’s ministry is to build strong community relationships and perform in a broad range of venues, including local churches and schools.

The Moody Chorale, conducted by Dr. Yongmin Kim, was founded in 1946 and has long been recognized as one of the leading collegiate choral organizations specializing in sacred music. The chorale’s purpose is to lead men and women in the worship of God by ministering biblical and theological truths through music and personal testimony. Their repertoire includes a broad range of choral music from several periods of music history.

The Moody Gospel Choir, led by Prof. Walter Owens, uses music to share the good news of Jesus Christ and convey God’s love through praise and worship. This choir-band combination plays both traditional and contemporary gospel music while placing an emphasis on Scripture. The ensemble performs concerts in the Chicagoland area at churches, schools, and organizations.

The Moody Worship Collectives, EverPraise and Ecclesia, directed by Aaron Wong and Hayden Bradley, seek to worship God and lead others in worshiping Him through contemporary praise music. All types of stage-based arts are incorporated to add richness and variety to corporate worship. Members are Moody students from all majors. Performance and worship leadership opportunities include many on-campus events and chapel as well as off-campus performances at churches.

The One O’Clock Jazz Band, led by Kazumasa Terashima, is a small ensemble that focuses on a wide selection of classic, contemporary, and original jazz tunes. Open to students, faculty, and staff members at Moody, “Jazz with Kaz,” as it is affectionately known, performs at Candlelight Carols, in chapel, and at other events around Moody’s Chicago campus. Kaz himself writes most of the arrangements.

Bethany Paulsen has a Bachelor of Arts in Theology and Biblical Studies from Moody Bible Institute and a Master of Fine Arts degree in Directing and Dramatic Writing from the University of Idaho. Bethany has a passion for collaborative storytelling and has worked professionally as an actress, appearing on TV and in independent film and theater productions. As a jack-of-all-trades, she freelances as a writer, artistic director, and public speaker. As a playwright, she has had several of her original plays produced across the United States. Bethany also works within the commercial industry as a line producer and casting director.

Dr. Mattix enjoys a diverse career as a church musician, conductor, composer, and professor. He teaches a variety of classes in songwriting, composition, music theory, and church music, in addition to private lessons at Moody Bible Institute. Dr. Mattix serves as conductor of the Moody Campus Orchestra, and his compositions have been performed in 35 states and nine countries. Dr. Mattix, a Moody alumnus, is also active as a worship leader in his local church. He and his wife, Katie (a Moody alumna herself), enjoy making music with their two children and also maintain a music studio in Chicago’s western suburbs.

Dr. Kim is the conductor of the Moody Chorale and associate professor at Moody Bible Institute. He is an experienced church musician, having been the worship and music director at the Korean Presbyterian Church of Metro Detroit for 17 years. Currently, Dr. Kim is serving at Chicago Covenant Presbyterian Church in Glenview, Illinois, as the creative director of Worship and Media Arts. He is a distinguished musician who holds degrees from Presbyterian College and Seminary (Seoul, South Korea), Eastman School of Music, and the University of Michigan, where he earned both a Master of Music in Choral Conducting and a doctorate in Voice Performance.

Walter Owens is a native Chicagoan and currently serves the Salem Baptist Church of Chicago as minister of Music and Arts. His professional full-time music ministry career spans more than 34 years, and he has served in churches across the Chicago metropolitan area. Walter’s passion for sharing the gospel has allowed him to travel extensively to Sweden, Germany, and Switzerland while participating in gospel festivals and concerts. He is married to Dr. Teresa Owens, general minister and president of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the US and Canada. Walter was recently appointed as the director of the Black Sacred Music Academy at Salem.

Aaron Wong holds degrees in music and in transformational leadership. His church music ministry experience over the past 14 years includes guitar, drums, bass, worship leading, songwriting, and conducting choir and orchestra, as well as audio engineering. Aaron is an active member of Maywood Free Church—Rockford, where he served as Pastor of Worship and Creative Outreach. Born and raised in Hong Kong, Aaron has given solo guitar concerts in England and Scotland and has also shared the stage with Keith and Kristyn Getty. Currently, Aaron is the owner of Aaron Wong Studio, giving private lessons and developing many young local musicians in the Rockford area. Aaron and his wife, Abbey, have four children.

Hayden Bradley was born and raised in a small farm town in Ohio and graduated from Cedarville University with a bachelor’s degree in Worship Arts. He has worked as a worship leader for the last decade and finds immense joy in using his musical gifts for God’s glory. Hayden is a songwriter and has had the privilege of recording and releasing multiple projects within the worship music genre. He enjoys overseeing Ecclesia at Moody Bible Institute and having the opportunity to pour into young worship leaders. Hayden lives in Rolling Meadows with his wife, Erin, and two children.

Kazumasa Terashima came to the United States in 2006 after he worked for 10 years as a professional jazz musician in Tokyo, Japan. Settling down in Chicago, he has performed with numerous jazz musicians including Phil Woods, Benny Golson, Bob Lark, Yoko Noge, Jimmy Ellis, and John Watson. He studied trumpet (both jazz and classical) and earned a Master of Music degree from DePaul University and a Master of Divinity degree from Moody Theological Seminary. Kazumasa joined Moody’s One O’Clock Jazz Band in 2015 and became the band’s director in 2019.