Antonio Eduardo Alonso

Dr. Tony Alonso works at the intersection of theology and culture, with a particular focus on worship and ritual practices. In addition to his scholarly work, Alonso is a Latin Grammy-nominated composer of sacred music and the author of over 200 published compositions and arrangements—including a commission to compose the responsorial psalm for the first Mass Pope Francis celebrated in the United States in 2015.

Alonso’s first book, Commodified Communion: Eucharist, Consumer Culture, and the Practice of Everyday Life (Fordham University Press, 2021) offers a theological account of contemporary consumerism and its relationship to the Eucharist. The book won the 2021 Hispanic Theological Initiative Book Prize, an award that recognizes the best book written by a junior Latinx scholar on theology or religion each year.

In 2019, he was awarded the Catholic Theological Society of America’s Catherine Mowry LaCugna Award for new scholars for the best academic essay in the field of theology within the Roman Catholic tradition for his essay “Listening for the Cry: Certeau Beyond Strategies and Tactics” (Modern Theology, 2017).

Alonso’s second book, The Intimate Notion of Things: Material Transformations in U.S. Catholicism since Vatican II—under contract with Fordham University Press—focuses on the theological significance of transformations in Catholic material culture in the wake of the reforms of the Second Vatican Council.

Song of the Spirit Mass, GIA Publications, 2023

Gloriosi: Music of the Paschal Triduum / Música del Triduo Pascual, GIA Publications, 2022

Commodified Communion: Eucharist, Consumer Culture, and the Practice of Everyday Life, Fordham University Press, 2021

Caminemos con Jesús, GIA Publications, 2020

Revival II: Traditional Hymns for Contemporary Ensembles, GIA Publications, 2019

In Endless Song: An Anthology, GIA Publications, 2018

Encounter: From the Heart of Pope Francis, GIA Publications, 2018

Revival: Traditional Hymns for Contemporary Ensembles, GIA Publications, 2018

Joy and Peace: Eucharistic Acclamations for Holy Communion, GIA Publications, 2016

CHAPTERS AND ARTICLES

“On the Host in the Modern World,” Religion and American Culture: A Journal of Interpretation 33, no. 1 (Summer 2023): 1–30

“In the Shadow of Your Wings” with Sylvia Dunstan, GIA Publications, 2023

“Damaged Goods,”  Worship 97 (Apr. 2023): 108–126

“Latinx Contributions to Liturgical and Sacramental Theology,” in The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Latinoax Theology, ed. Orlando O. Espín, Wiley-Blackwell, 2023, 292–310

“Sometimes Our Only Song is Weeping,” with Adam Tice, musical publication, GIA Publications, 2023

“Misericordia, Señor / Be Merciful, O Lord,” musical publication, GIA Publications, 2023)

A Blemished Offering: Economy, Eucharist, and the Limits of Epiphanic Conversion,” Theological Studies, 83, no. 2, June, 2022

“Tres Días: From Bilingual to Intercultural Triduum,” Pastoral Music, 4, no. 2: 18–25, January 2022

“Music as Embodied Memory in a Time of Crisis,” The Yale ISM Review, Vol. 6.1, Spring 2021

“Embracing Extravagance, Abandoning Limits,” International Journal for the Study of the Christian Church, vol. 20, no. 1, January 2, 2020

“Confessions of a Pastoral Musician: Obstacles toward Full, Conscious, and Active Participation,” in Fully Conscious, Fully Active, Liturgy Training Publications, 2020

“Singing the Community of the Beautiful,” in Worship, vol. 92, Liturgical Press, March 01, 2018

Book Review, Cuéntame: Narrative in the Ecclesial Present by Natalia Imperatori-Lee, Reading Religion, American Academy of Religion August 16, 2018

“Union of Voices, Unity of Hearts,” in Pastoral Music, vol. 41, no. 1, National Association of Pastoral Musicians, Nov. 2017

“The Psalms: Bread of Heaven in the Wilderness of Our Exodus,” in The Hymn, vol. 68, no. 14, October 01, 2017

“Listening for the Cry: Certeau Beyond Strategies and Tactics,” in Modern Theology, vol. 33, no. 3, Wiley Blackwell, July 01, 2017

Contributor and Editor, “Theology Education Between the Times,” in Spotlight on Theological Education, American Academy of Religion, April 2017

“A Not-So-Universal Language: What Neuroscience Can Teach Us about Music Styles in Worship,” in Liturgy vol 30, no. 4, fall 2015

“Consumed: Celebrating Liturgy in a Consumer Culture,” in Worship vol 87, no. 5, September 01, 2013

“Singing Our Lives to God,” in On Our Way: Christian Practices for Living a Whole Life, Upper Room, 2010

2024 Calvin Institute of Christian Worship Vital Worship, Vital Preaching Grant for Teacher-scholars: An Intimate Notion of Things: Material Transformations in U.S. Catholicism since Vatican II

Hispanic Theological Initiative Book Prize, Commodified Communion: Eucharist, Consumer Culture, and the Practice of Everyday Life (Fordham University Press, 2021)

Vital Worship Grant for 2021 by the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship

The Catherine Mowry LaCugna Award, Catholic Theological Society of America, 2019

Emory Center for Faculty Development SWAP Grant, Emory University, 2019

History and Theology of Eucharistic Worship

Liturgical Theology

Modern Catholicism

Public Worship

U.S. Latino/a/x Theologies