“We’re going to be singing about death,” opened David Gungor, lead singer for The Brilliance. The audience laughed nervously. But as the strings swelled and piano filled the auditorium, the audience settled back.

The Brilliance is a different kind of band. With an electric guitar and drum set, but also a grand piano and full string section, its sound is musically complex and different...

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In a conversation with the band after the show, John Arndt, pianist and composer for The Brilliance, said, “We find what we do to be art. I wouldn’t necessarily call this in the genre of worship music…what we’re doing is making something beautiful and presenting it.”

“It definitely wasn’t what I expected,” said sophomore Laura Sheppard. “I was expecting a concert like any other concert. But it was a full experience. The way they had the orchestra and the way it built up was a form of worship itself.”

But the beauty of The Brilliance’s music isn’t just in its rich orchestrations. The lyrics are also complex. The band doesn’t rely on a repetitive verse-chorus structure, but write songs like stories with a beginning, middle, and end. Some lyrics come directly from the psalms, others from church prayers.

Read the full review HERE.