Sacred Music Colloquium, June 20 to 25

Author Archives: SacredMusic

There’s still time to donate

We have been receiving requests for scholarship assistance for the Summer Chant Intensive and Sacred Music Colloquium since last November. Thus far the the donations that have come in have enabled us to assist 85% percent of the people who have sought help. But we still have a waiting list of humble and patient souls – most of whom have asked for just enough to help them make one of these programs part of their summer – and their musical formation. All are worthy candidates.

Our goal every year is to help everyone get to the Colloquium who has the desire to attend. This isn’t always going to happen, and maybe its not realistic, but it remains our goal – that will not change.

If you are coming yourself and think you could help someone else with a gift of $20, $50, or even $150 or more, please make a donation today. If you are not going to be attending, but you value the work the CMAA is doing in changing the landscape of liturgical music in our country, one parish at a time, please consider making a donation – in time for someone to benefit from your gift this coming June. It will help make that individual’s dream come true – but more importantly, it is an investment in the restoration of beauty and solemnity in the heavenly liturgy.

Registration deadlines upon us

The May 1st registration deadline for the Chant Intensive has passed. We can squeeze a few more in, but you need to register this week. As for the Sacred Music Colloquium the registration and payment deadlines are May 15th. Register now to reserve your spot.

Teaching the Sung Mass

Starting on Tuesday, in Stamford, Connecticut, is a three-day seminar just for priests and seminarians. The purpose is to teach the extraordinary form of the Mass. The emphasis is on singing the Mass. There are several reasons for this.

First, the sung Mass is the normative form, and this form of Mass has the brightest-possible future in its sung form.

Second, there are pedagogical advantages to singing the Mass rather than just speaking it. Look at any pedagogical program for kids designed to teach reading or math. Music plays an integral part because music provides a means of ordering unfamiliar text and concepts. If you have had trouble with Latin or had difficultly following the text or are just intimidated by the sheer abundance of new things to learn for saying the EF, consider that using music may actually help you get to where you need to be. This is what makes this seminar unusual.

Third, we now have access to great teachers who know how to teach this Mass in its normative form, and they will be there for this seminar: Fr. Scott Haynes of St. John Cantius and Scott Turkington of St. John Evangelist, the host parish. It is not easy to revive what has been nearly lost but it can be done, and one can’t but be grateful that such teachers are available.

The seminar can accommodate more. Now is the time to take advantage of the opportunity. It is three days that will change the liturgical character of a vocation.

Chants of the Church, Modern Notes

First, the news on the Parish Book of Chant. We are moving into the 3rd printing of this book. It is being used by seminaries, colleges, cathedrals, and parishes all over the English speaking world, and demand is increasing.

Also, here is Chants of the Church by Solesmes/Gregorian Institute of America, 1954. We preserved the color in scanning this, which makes the file bigger than it ought to be. But it is very helpful in this way for printing programs and guides.

This book contains a large Kyriale plus many chant hymns, in modern notes, with English translations in red (literal translations). This will not go into print because of the cost of color printing but it is a very helpful online tool.

Here is a sample:

Colloquium and Chant Intensive News

For those still considering attending the 2009 Sacred Music Colloquium: there are only ten single rooms remaining at the lower price of $420. Once these are filled, single rooms will be available at the rate of $522 for the week. There are plenty of doubles left as of today’s date. Deadline for registration and payment is May 15, 2009.

The Chant Intensive is filling up as well. There are 17 spots left. Deadline for registration is May 1, 2009.

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