Philippines

China

Indonesia

Southern California

Europe

South Korea

Dr. James Melton

Executive Director

Dr. James Melton is executive director of Music Across Borders, an independent non-profit 501(c)3 organization started in 2018. He became acting executive director for Care4M.O.R.E. (formerly CARE Philippines) in 2021. ­Dr. James Melton is also conductor and director of the Coastal California Chorale, a community chorus brought together in 2018 to record and premiere “Consolation for the Suffering”, a major work composed by Dr. Edwin Willmington (Fuller Seminary and the Brehm Center for Worship & the Arts) to provide greater awareness of the persecuted church around the world. 

Most recently in 2024, the Chorale performed at the Schermerhorn Symphony Hall in Nashville, Tennessee with Travis Cottrell, along with Cliff and April Duren, and in 2023 for a special “Tribute to America” concert at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. with gospel artist Sandi Patty. In 2025, the Chorale will return to the Schermerhorn Symphony Hall in Nashville to share in a special tribute concert to Sandi, along with major artists Michael W. Smith, Amy Grant, Steven C. Chapman, Cece Winans, Kristin Chenoweth, and many others.  Touring Germany, and Austria, and experiencing the Oberammergau Passion Play in 2022 was also a recent highlight for the Chorale members.  Above all, sharing with California local churches, inner-city missions, and senior living facilities is a highlight for each singer’s season.

Dr. Melton has leadership experience at both the college and seminary level for over 45 years, including Western Baptist Seminary, Phoenix Seminary, and Arizona College of the Bible (now Arizona Christian University). For 25 years, James taught at Vanguard University of Southern California (Costa Mesa) where he served as Chair of the Department of Music, as well as Dean of Communication & the Arts during his tenure as Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities. His various ensembles presented concerts throughout the U.S. and toured extensively both nationally and internationally in major concert halls around the world, including Europe, China, Hong Kong, and South Korea.

As a guest maestro for Carnegie Hall and the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, James has conducted major works by Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Handel, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Schubert, and Vivaldi, as well as world premieres by contemporary composers as Dan Forrest, Ola Gjeilo, and Rosephayne Powell. His combined choirs were invited to perform in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland in 2017 in honor of the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation.  His University Concert Choir, church choirs, and other vocal ensembles have presented command performances at both Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall, most recently in 2019, and were frequently featured on the Hour of Power’s national and international television broadcasts for over 20 years.  His various choirs and ensembles have 27 recording projects to their credit.

Dr. Melton earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree (DMA) in Choral Music & Conducting from Arizona State University as well as a Master of Music degree (MM) in Conducting and received his Bachelor of Music Education degree (emphasis in piano and voice, BME) from Oklahoma Baptist University. While at OBU he won several scholarships and awards in addition to performing throughout the southwestern and mid-western U.S.  Dr. Melton has over 45 years of experience leading music and worship ministries in churches of various denominations, most recently at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, Newport Beach. He has also served on the staff of Newport-Mesa Church (CA), Scottsdale Bible Church (AZ), Mountain View Baptist Church (Phoenix), University Baptist Church, (Oklahoma), and Faith Baptist Church (Kailua, Hawaii).

He has composed and arranged music for publishing companies such as Brentwood/John W. Peterson Music Company and Tempo Music.  Dr. Melton has recorded and produced choral recordings for Hal Leonard Publications, Fred Bock Music, Jubal House, and Pavane Music Companies.  He has served as a contributing editor for the updated edition of “The New Worship”: Straight Talk on Music and the Church (Baker Books), as well as the “Leadership in Church Music” academic Journal, as well as contributing to several published devotional books and writing numerous articles on worship and church leadership.

Dr. Melton is a frequent choral clinician and adjudicator, serving as guest conductor for California regional and district festivals as well as directing regional and state choirs in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and his home state of Hawaii. He is an active member of the American Choral Directors Association, Chorus America, and the College Music Society.

Jenny (Jee-El) Park

Director

Active in Southern California as soloist, chamber musician, educator, producer and arranger, Jenny Jee-El Park received her B.M. in Piano Performance from Manhattan School of Music and M.A. in Music Education from Teachers College of Columbia University. Since her first public recital at age 15 in Italy, Ms. Park made her Carnegie Hall debut in 1998 as the Winner of Artists International Special Presentation Award, followed by numerous concerts in Europe, Asia and throughout North America. In addition, her compositional work, “Lift High the Cross,” was published in 2017 under the Jubal House imprint, and distributed through the Fred Bock Music Company/Hal Leonard companies. She performs with an experimental trio that combines jazz and classical medium as well as more traditional chamber group called Verismo Ensemble. 

Recently appointed by the Mayor of her city as the Commissioner of Culture and Fine Arts, Ms. Park works in various settings to promote arts in the community. She has worked at the Orange County Children’s Therapeutic Arts Center as music curriculum consultant, and started a volunteer-based music program for the homeless children at the Orange County Rescue Mission. Formerly a faculty member of the United Nations International School, Concordia Conservatory, and Bethesda University, she currently teaches at Vanguard University in Costa Mesa, California.

Dr. Edwin Willmington

“Composer in Residence” & Associate Conductor

Dr. Edwin M. (Ed) Willmington is the Director of the Fred Bock Institute of Music at the Brehm Center for Worship, Theology, and the Arts, and Composer-in-Residence, at Fuller Theological Seminary.

As the institute director, Ed’s responsibilities include teaching graduate level classes related to music and worship studies and serving as mentor to students who lead the Fuller Seminary Chapel.  He also hosts conferences, concert events, speaks and writes on topics related to worship leadership, and conducts choirs at various churches and conferences representing Fuller and the Bock Institute.

In addition to many anthem publications, Ed’s larger compositional projects include “Jubilate! An Ancient-Future Concert Mass,” and “Reconciled in Christ,” the music written for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of The Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization, held in Cape Town, South Africa. Impressed by the plight of Christian persecution around the world, he wrote “Consolation for the Suffering,” an expanded requiem intended to musically bring attention to the plight of those who suffer for their faith. He also has a special interest in encouraging the creativity of other musical artists, and developed Jubal House Publications (www.JubalHouse.com) as a means of sharing new works to serve both worshiping communities and concert hall performances.

Ed has a BA in Church Music and Conducting (Bethel University [MN]), MM in Composition and DMA in Music Composition—-both from the University of Arizona. Ed and his wife Mary Lou have two married daughters, Nicolette Kay and Cami Ferreira, two sons-in-law, Timothy Kay and Gus Ferreira, and four wonderful grandchildren.