“As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His people both now and forevermore,” reads Psalm 125:2, the passage inspiring the name of new worship collective The Mountains Surround, comprised fully of Geneva alumni and a current student.

The Mountains Surround is an intergenerational collective of musicians, “inspired by the pilgrim songs of Scripture.” Their mission is “to create art that leads the Church into a deeper walk with God, anchored in the rich theological heritage of the Psalms.” The collective has recently released their first album of psalms titled “The Songs of Ascent.”

For Stephen Vesolich ‘03, pastor of Centerpoint Community Church in Monaca, Pennsylvania, and his sister Stephanie (Vesolich) Wilsey ‘00, this musical group has been the culmination of a longtime love of the psalms, worship, and the integration of music and faith.

“It really started when I was at [Trinity] seminary,” says Stephen. “My final paper for a discipleship class on the Psalms led me to write music for Psalm 134. Over the next ten years, especially during COVID, that became a journey of setting all 15 Songs of Ascent to music. It was a season of thinking deeply about spiritual practices and how worship can shape our everyday lives.”

Stephen did not begin recording until he and Stephanie attended Calvin University’s Symposium on Worship. “We found out they had a grant for worship initiatives, and we began writing the grant application along with a team from our church," Stephanie says. Their proposal was selected, and they received a Vital Worship Grant from the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, funded by Lilly Endowment Inc. The grant gave the siblings the resources and support they needed to launch a year-long creative journey which resulted in “The Mountains Surround.”

The project initially began as a six-week intergenerational Bible study at Centerpoint Community Church, which wove together original songs by Stephen, prayers written by Stephanie, and meditations on the Songs of Ascent. This gradually morphed into The Mountains Surround, a loose band of friends and church members who contribute half a dozen different instruments and a wide range of vocals to the fifteen psalms on their album.

“We wanted to name it something about being lifted on high,” says Stephen. “Eventually we looked at Psalm 125 and picked the phrase ‘the mountains surround’ because the psalms are about how God’s love surrounds us.”

Stephen and Stephanie chose the Songs of Ascent (Psalms 120-134) for their first recording because of the Songs’ messages of encouragement in dark times. “The Songs start in a really dark place, but they’re a journey toward hope,” says Stephen. “They lead us upward toward God’s love and mercy.”

“The hardest part was scheduling to record the album,” Stephen says. “Getting nearly a dozen people in one place at one time was a real challenge.” The worship collective includes nine regular members, all of whom are Geneva graduates or current students.

The Mountains Surround collective includes:

• Stephen Vesolich ’03: Composer, Vocals, Guitar, Mandolin, Banjolele, Ukulele

• Stephanie Wilsey ’00: Vocals, Piano

• Levi Stahl ’03: Drums

• Charlie Modro ’12: Drums

• Nate Langelli ’07: Vocals

• Amy Langelli ’07: Vocals

• Ariel Goehring ’10-’12: Cello, Vocals

• Caleb Foster ’03: Video

• Alexa Wilsey ’27: Vocals

The Mountains Surround is, however, a communally focused group and has been from the beginning. “We want people to sing with us,” Stephen says. “If we play in a church, we want the congregation to be singing. The goal is to grow together and share.”

Both Stephen and Stephanie emphasize that this project is about worshiping God and growing as a community through the spiritual practice of singing His word. “We’re whole people,” says Stephanie, who argues for a recognition of the spiritual in the physical and their integration.

“This project very much grows out of our time at Geneva,” Stephanie shares. “Just having that culture of real, deep Christian thought and engagement there, that shaped everything.”

“This project wouldn’t be possible without Geneva,” agrees Stephen. “Some of the people on the project, some of whom we’ve been playing with for twenty years or so, are people we met at Geneva.”

The Mountains Surround released their debut album in January 2026. For more information and to hear their music, watch their video recordings, and dig deeper into the Songs of Ascent, visit themountainssurround.com.