| Next to his family, music and faith have been the greatest influences in Matt Wessel's life. Both have brought immense comfort and reward, and both have helped him through difficult times.
Wessel is a senior at Marquette University, where he is completing a degree in broadcast journalism. He was born and raised in Gurnee, Ill., one of seven children born to Tom and Patrice Wessel. Wessel began taking piano lessons at age 5, and by the time he graduated from Warren Township High School in 1999, he was a fixture in the choir at St. Paul the Apostle Parish. Playing the piano at church led Wessel to other musical skills: reading music written for guitar chords, which in turn taught him how to write music. Musical composition turned out to be a saving grace for Wessel. During his freshman year at high school, tragedy struck the Wessel household. His father was diagnosed with a brain tumor. "It was an up and downhill battle. He had his really good months and really bad months," said Wessel. "He went through a number of surgeries and was very strong throughout all of it." Tom Wessel died Nov. 23, 1997, nearly two years after the tumor was detected. Throughout his father's illness and after his death, Wessel found solace in music. He began writing music as a way to escape the sadness and grief of his father's illness and death. "It was kind of my way of dealing with his death," explained Wessel. "The first song I ever wrote was called "Dad's Song," said Wessel. "It's the only song I've written that he ever heard me play." The song is a piano instrumental and was featured on a CD he released in 1998, a collection of inspirational songs meant to be a tribute to his father. It is the first of four CDs he has recorded. Wessel said he was inspired by his father's positive attitude as his health deteriorated. "He never said, 'Why me' or anything like that. He was the most positive of any of us." Another song on the CD, "Everlasting Love," featured words written by Wessel's mother. "It was the only one out of nine tracks with words," he said. "I wrote the melody and she wrote the words. It was something that was nice for her to be able to do." The song also gained Wessel statewide recognition. He was chosen as one of the top five high school composers in the state of Illinois in 1999. Two years after the release of his first CD, titled "Pure Inspirations," Wessel held a concert at St. Paul Church for Kate Pedersen, a student at Warren Township High School who had cancer. Billed as a Concert for Life, it raised $6,000. A second Concert for Life in February 2001 raised $8,000. By the time Wessel enrolled at Marquette, his passion for liturgical music had taken root. "I experimented with pop, but now I'm extremely focused on liturgical music," said Wessel. His definition of liturgical music "is not something you hear on the FISH (contemporary Christian radio station). It's liturgical music you could sing at church." The experience of playing piano at Mass throughout high school not only sparked Wessel's love for liturgical music, it fostered his love for the church. But it has been the past four years at Marquette where Wessel's faith has matured. "The faith I have now is much different than the faith I had four years ago," he said. "Four years at a Jesuit school has really opened my eyes to my faith and made me become a more disciplined Christian." Wessel's skills at writing liturgical music have also improved over the last four years. "I understand Scripture better, the workings of the Mass better since coming to Marquette. Because of that I can write with more ease. I have a greater sense of text to use in my songs." He calls his song-writing abilities a "gift that ... I know is from God and I'm thankful every day. Music aside, my faith is so important to me in my life and I think that's revealed through my music." What is also revealed through Wessel's music is the impact cancer and death have had on his life. "When I play a song that deals with cancer and my ability to get past the sorrow when my father passed away, I know I'm going to inspire someone else," he said. Two years after his father's death, Wessel's family was again touched by cancer. His aunt, Mary Schumann-Maass, died of cancer. On his second CD, "Come Run With Me," Wessel dedicated a song to his aunt, "Mary's Song." He continues to devote his time and talent to concerts benefiting cancer research. Last November, Wessel held a Concert for Life at Marquette in memory of Alan Kindler, coach of Marquette's rowing club, who died of cancer two months earlier. He sponsored the benefit after hearing the coach's team members eulogize him at a prayer service at Marquette Sept. 6, the day Kindler died. "Listening to these girls come up and share stories about him, I realized this man had the same impact on these students as my father had on me," said Wessel. For Wessel, the concert was not only in memory of Kindler, but of Kate Pedersen, his fellow Warren High School classmate, who died a week before the concert. Over 350 students attended the concert, which raised over $1,500 for the American Cancer Society. Wessel, who is student music director at Marquette and plays piano at three Masses a week at Gesu and on weekends at Three Holy Women Parish, Milwaukee, is planning another Concert for Life March 21, 7 p.m., at his parish in Gurnee. To help publicize his concerts and music, Wessel has his own Web site, www.mattwesselmusic.com. The liturgical musician is presently recording his fifth CD, titled "Be With Me," which he expects to release in March. The CD includes a song dedicated to Pedersen, "Kate's Song." "That song I just wrote in the weeks after her death, over Christmas break," he said. "I just sat down at the piano and it kind of came out." As he continues his musical endeavors, Wessel said he is constantly inspired by the people in his life who died of cancer: his father, his aunt, and his friend Kate. "The way they carried themselves during the time of their illness, the attitudes, all three of them had were the same," he said. "They were all positive and inspiring. None of them were really down at any time on themselves. They just knew what they were dealing with and they made the most of it and appreciated life for all it was." He sees their examples as hope eternal for others who are diagnosed with cancer. His music and his concerts are one way to convey that hope. "So many people who deal with cancer deal with it in a negative way," he said. "They are at a loss, they are confused. It's nice for them to hear a story of moving on or somebody finding hope. I'm honored to be able to share my story with people -- and my music." |
| mattwesselmusic.com |
| letters (read what people are saying about my music) LITRUGICAL MUSIC IS SAVING GRACE FOR MARQUETTE SENIOR by sam lucero | catholic herald (milwaukee, WI) | february 20, 2003 |