Degrees
PhD, Emory University, 2017
MA, Loyola Marymount University, 2011
BMus, Northwestern University, 2002
Phone
(404) 727-1816
EMAILDOWNLOAD CVDr. 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
“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
“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
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
In the media
June 15, 2023
Association of Catholic Publishers
November 27, 2020
America Magazine
March 21, 2020
National Catholic Reporter