State Symphony Cinema Orchestra
Music director and chief conductor – Sergei Skripka

State Symphony Capella of Russia
Music director and chief conductor – Gennady Dmitryak

Choir of Academy of Choir Art n.a. Popov
Art director – Aleksey Petrov

Polina Shamayeva, mezzo-soprano
Rushan Shaybekov, tenor

The piece was commissioned by the Royal Armouries Museum for the Millennium celebrations, to mark the museum's move from London to Leeds, and it was dedicated to victims of the Kosovo crisis.

The form of the “Man” is loosely based on catholic funeral mass. Besides classic parts of mass like Kyrie, Sanctus, Agnus Dei, etc, the composer uses Islamic call to prayer, excerpts from the Bible (e.g., the Psalms and Revelation), the Mahabharata, as well as poems by Kipling, Tennyson, and Japanese poet Sankichi Toge, who survived the Hiroshima bombing but died some years later of leukaemia when he was in his early 20’s only.

“The Armed Man” premiered at The Royal Albert Hall, London, on 25 April 2000, performed by The National Youth Choir of Great Britain and the National Musicians Symphony Orchestra with Julian Lloyd Webber as the cello soloist, and conducted by Grant Llewellyn. The piece is one of Jenkins' most popular works, and is regularly performed by professional and amateur musicians. By March 2008 it had already seen 537 performances worldwide. Of the 348 UK performances, the majority were by nonprofessionals. The Mass is believed to have been performed more than one million times by now!

The first CD release was recorded during summer of 2000 by The London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Karl Jenkins himself, to be released on the Virgin label on September 10, 2001.

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Welsch Karl Jenkins is known for his crossover pop-classical pieces.

Jenkins was educated in music at Cardiff University and the Royal Academy of Music. He studied jazz wind and string instruments at Barry Summer Jazz School, and became a star of London jazz community. Later in 1980’s, Jenkins started experimenting with classical and ethic fusion, and one of the early experimental pieces called “Adiemus” topped the classical charts around the globe and brought him to the world's attention.

In 2008 Jenkins' The Armed Man was listed as No. 1 in Classic FM's "Top 10 by living composers".

He was awarded an honorary doctorate in music from the University of Leicester, the Chancellor's Medal from the University of Glamorgan and honorary visiting professorships at Thames Valley University, London College of Music and the ATriUM, Cardiff.

Jenkins was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2005 New Year Honours and a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2010 Birthday Honours.[1][15] In 2015 he was made a Knight Bachelor.

Jenkins is joint president of the British Double Reed Society[17] and Patron of the International Schools Choral Music Society (ISCMS).

In 2016 Jenkins received the BASCA Gold Badge Award for his unique contribution to music.

“His music knows no bounds – and that is very much its virtue”, ClassicFM.com writes.