Born in 1965, Jansson said of his work, “My music is my own and I have never tried to be original. That has always been my motto and I have only tried to use music to express all the feelings which life has to offer. This has led people to describe my music as ‘so sad that it sounds like birds who have lost their wings,’ but also as ‘the happiest classical music that we have ever heard.’ My compositions are almost all sacred. They express not only my own faith, but also my appreciation and respect for the timeless texts that have been used for centuries and centuries.” Also included on the program will be a performance of Stabat Mater by German Romantic Josef Rheinberger. Rheinberger (1839-1901) spent most of his musical career in Munich where he was a professor at the Munich Conservatory, director of the Munich Oratorio Society and was appointed conductor of the Church of St. Michael. His Stabat Mater, Op. 138, was written in response to a prayer for the healing of his severely diseased hand, which prevented him from composing for about a year.

The concert begins at 7 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 17, in Arrupe Hall Auditorium. Music Director Timothy McDonald, Ph.D., will present Live Program Notes at 6:15 p.m. Free parking is available in lots accessed at 54^th Street and Troost Avenue, or in the garage at 52^nd Street and Troost. See rockhurst.edu/map for more.