The MasterWorks Festival is a month-long intensive summer training program for classical performing artists. It is held in Winona Lake, Indiana, home of evangelist Billy Sunday

Billy Sunday

William Ashley "Billy" Sunday was an American athlete who, after being a popular outfielder in baseball's National League during the 1880s, became the most celebrated and influential American evangelist during the first two decades of the 20th century.Born into poverty in Iowa, Sunday spent some...

, the birthplace of Youth for Christ

Youth for Christ

Youth for Christ is the name of a number of previously unaffiliated evangelical Protestant religious campaigns which led to the creation of Youth for Christ International in 1946....

 and the location of many early Billy Graham

Billy Graham

William Franklin "Billy" Graham, Jr. is an American evangelical Christian evangelist. As of April 25, 2010, when he met with Barack Obama, Graham has spent personal time with twelve United States Presidents dating back to Harry S. Truman, and is number seven on Gallup's list of admired people for...

 crusades. It was co-founded in 1997 by Artistic Director of the Christian Performing Artists' Fellowship

Christian Performing Artists' Fellowship

The Christian Performing Artists' Fellowship is a non-profit, trans-denominational Christian ministry, dedicated to the classical performing arts world. CPAF is based in Winona Lake, Indiana, home of evangelist Billy Sunday, Youth for Christ and was the location of many early Billy Graham...

 (CPAF) Dr. Patrick Kavanaugh

Patrick Kavanaugh

Patrick Kavanaugh is a composer, conductor, and the author of many books, including Music of the Spheres , The Spiritual Lives of the Great Composers , Worship - A Way of Life , Raising Musical Kids , Music of the Great Composers , and Spiritual Moments with the Great Composers ,...

 and his wife Barbara, and by Trombonist, James Kraft and his wife Mary Jeane.

The festival is operated on the campus of Grace College

Grace College

Grace College is an evangelical Christian college located in Winona Lake, Indiana. The college is associated with Grace Theological Seminary and the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches.-Accreditation:...

. It focuses on intense artistic training and deep spiritual growth. MasterWorks offers master classes for classical musicians, dancers and actors instructed by world-renowned performing artists. It has featured such performers as Midori Goto

Midori Goto

is a Japanese American violinist. She made her debut at the age of 11 in a last-minute change of programming during a concert highlighting young performers by the New York Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta. When she was 21, she formed the philanthropic group Midori and Friends to help bring music to...

, Christopher Parkening

Christopher Parkening

Christopher Parkening is an American classical guitarist.Parkening was born in Los Angeles, California, and pursued music in part because of his cousin Jack Marshall, a studio musician in the 1960s. Marshall first introduced Parkening to the recordings of Andrés Segovia when he was 11, and...

, Rebecca Wright

Rebecca Wright

Rebecca Wright, , was a ballerina, teacher, choreographer and ballet school director....

, Jeanette Clift George, John Dalley

John Dalley

John Dalley is second violinist of the Guarneri String Quartet was born in Madison, Wisconsin, United States and studied with Efrem Zimbalist....

, Lawrence Dutton

Lawrence Dutton

Lawrence Dutton is an American violist, and is currently a member of the Emerson String Quartet. He earned a Bachelor and Master's degree from the Juilliard School where he studied with Lillian Fuchs....

, Anne Martindale Williams, David Hardy, Doug Yeo, Christine Smith, Steve Hendrickson, John Nelson

John Nelson (conductor)

John Wilton Nelson is an American conductor. Nelson studied at Wheaton College, and later at the Juilliard School of Music with Jean Morel ....

, Phil Smith, Paula Robison, Stephen Clapp, and the Ying String Quartet.

The festival hosts a variety of artistic and spiritual activities from concerto competitions and community performances, to bible studies and evening worship services. Over 40 performances are held throughout the month-long festival including two weekly orchestral performances, a full length ballet

Ballet

Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...

 program with orchestra, a full length theatre

Theatre

Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...

 production, a full length opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

 production, *chamber music

Chamber music

Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...

 recitals, student recitals, faculty recitals and guest concerto

Concerto

A concerto is a musical work usually composed in three parts or movements, in which one solo instrument is accompanied by an orchestra.The etymology is uncertain, but the word seems to have originated from the conjunction of the two Latin words...

artists.

MasterWorks also hosts a summer intensive technical internship program. The program assists in productions throughout the festival.

In 2004, MasterWorks expanded its festival outside the US and MasterWorks Europe took place in London, England. Since then, other non-USA MasterWorks Festival have taken place in Winchester, England and in Zhengzhou, China. Plans for more MasterWorks Festivals around the globe are currently in the process of development.