Arlene Oost-Zinner on: Charleston, Day Three

Do you remember your parents or grandparents telling you that things were hard when they were children? They had to walk to school - no one gave them a ride, much less waited in a car line at the end of the day to pick them up. What's more, they had to walk unbelievable distances - five, ten, or even twenty miles. Through the snow. With no shoes.

It's unseasonably cold this January in Charleston. No snow, and everyone attending, through providence, has shoes. We are also very fortunate to be starting off the morning with a close look at the CMAA's Parish Book of Chant, which is one of the textbooks of the course.

This is the first chant book for congregations published in the United States in the last forty years. It expands on Solesmes' slim volume for congregations, the Liber Cantualis, and includes a kyriale and ordos for both the Ordinary and Extraordinary forms of the Mass.

Brilliantly typeset by editor Richard Rice, here is a snippet from his foreword to the book.

Those intending to use this collection in the context of the Ordinary Form have the luxury, when introducing (or re-introducing) chant into the parish repertoire, of taking a gradualist approach, inserting chants at various points during the Mass as their congregations can absorb them. Occasional and seasonal chants provide a good starting point. Nevertheless, the goal of the liturgical movement has always been, and remains, the full, conscious, and active participation of the faithfulin the Mass itself.

That means, first and foremost, singing the parts of the Mass—the responses and chants from the Order of Mass itself—and not relying exclusively on extra-liturgical hymnody (whether in Latin or English) to foster participation. To this end, the priest must lead with his own chant. Never forget that a fully-chanted Mass, as prescribed by the modern Graduale Romanum, remains the ideal for the new Mass, no less than for the old.

Summorum Pontificum in no way consigns the Church’s treasure of Gregorian chant exclusively to the Extraordinary Form of the RomanRite, just as it does not sequester the lovers of liturgical tradition,including Latin, to the Extraordinary Form. A collection such as this can serve to encourage mutual enrichment, but only if congregations and liturgical musicians are willing to reevaluate their commitment to the Church’s treasure of sacred chant, and follow Pope Benedict’s admonition, in the words of St. Paul, to “widen your hearts also!”
(2 Cor 6:11-13)

From AOZ: Chant in the New Year

If you were still thinking about attending the CMAA's Winter Chant Intensive coming up on January 5-9, this might be the sign you've been waiting for. There have been a few cancellations due to illness - which leaves a handful of spots open.

Imagine yourself studying nothing but chant for an entire week - and with one of the premier chant masters working today. Can you see yourself singing the propers for Epiphany in the historic Founders Chapel at the University of San Diego? There is no telling how long it's been since the chant has taken pride of place in a Mass celebrated in this beautiful and sacred space. Become a part of this historical event.

You can register here.

Arlene Oost-Zinner on: An Apostolate In Our Midst

I am struck this morning with the treasure we have in our hands. The CMAA's work, publications, and educational programs are an active apostolate of the Church. The signs are making themselves evident. More than just education in a tradition, they are an active form of evangelization beyond anything we might have dreamed of. We are musicians and clergy who felt ourselves called, as individuals, to do the right thing. And we are now beginning to see the fruits of our labors in ways more grand every hour, every day.

When I entered into all of this work for the Church, almost ten years ago, my only thought was that this music needed to be heard. It didn't matter who cared about it at the time, who was against it, or how it would be received in our parish and parishes far and wide. I felt moved and responsible, as a musician, to learn about and sing the music of the Church, and bring its sublime beauty back to the liturgy, back where it belonged, so it could, on its own merit, do its work in the hearts and minds of all who heard it - the laity, the clergy: all of those who had been deprived of its beauty and graces for so long. Did I know what I was doing? No. Did it stop me? No. Why did I do it? No explanation anyone could understand.

Years later, after lots of mistakes and learning and education and reeducation and occasionally getting it right, I'm seeing things happen I never thought could be achieved in my lifetime. The line had always been that no one liked this material any more, that it was outmoded, that it wasn't hip, that it was just concert material or material reserved for monks in the most remote places, far from modern life. There were pockets of light, especially for those of you who had dedicated your professional lives the Church and its liturgy. But what about the rest of us?

I have now seen how things have flowered in our own parish. And regionally. And on a national level with the immense growth of the Colloquium and workshops. The Chant Intensive, which I pushed for last summer, was a huge hit. So why not do one in the Winter. Thankfully, Scott Turkington agreed. The time seemed right. And we have an every growing number on our team whose gifts and willingness and hard work make it all possible.

But moving CMAA activities from Washington across the country to Loyola? And now to the University of San Diego? Bringing our ideals to Catholic schools who, in many ways, are Catholic in name only? But herein resides our mission and what I believe is the secret of our continuing success.

My greatest suspicion, since I became involved in all of this, was that most resistance came not from belligerence from the other side, but from ignorance. Bringing these kinds of programs to these very places offer local communities and musicians, in an nonthreatening way, in charity, offers professional and volunteer musicians the opportunity to become exposed to the music and the kind of liturgy they had always dreamed about in their heart of hearts - but felt was beyond their reach. How can a local music director admit to lack of knowledge of the very thing he was hired to be an expert in? The first reaction, the knee jerk reaction, is to be dismissive, and argue against its merits. Why? For fear of exposure.

But the miracles keep happening. Just this morning I opened my email to find four members of the music team from the Immaculata Parish at USD having signed up for the Winter Intensive. Who would have thought this possible? What wonder is that that called us to do a program there in January? There is no explanation other than that clock said "do it," the players were all in place, the stars and moon lined up, and that the Holy Spirit is working through all of us in the most amazing ways.

The Winter Intensive is already three quarters of the way full. Imagine the bright future for liturgy in our country.

Jeffrey Tucker on: An Idiot's Guide to Square Notes

Arlene and I have revised our old article that ran in Crisis, May 2006: "An Idiot's Guide to Square Notes." It was actually commissioned by the staff because they couldn't make heads or tails of the music they kept seeing in chant books.

The link remains the same but in the past, we had up a PDF from the final publication, and it was a bit bulky. That is now replaced with a new version that looks more like a manuscript but has a much faster load time. It is 12 pages.

I'm still very happy with it overall because it seems to be the most accessible source for answering the precise questions that musicians have at the very outset of neume reading. I can recall when I first started trying to read chant, the Liber Usualis tutorial was almost useless to me: so many technicalities but no clear explanation of how to figure out the melody! The same was true of many other tutorials that I ran across. It turns out that academic or monastic chant specialists are not really the best people to ask for a quick tutorial, or so it seems.

Now, if you are seeking something that is both clear and more in depth, the best source is the tutorial in the back of the PBC. But this guide will get you pretty far actually.

AOZ on: A Foreign Correspondent

Read the charming and informative adventures of one music director's recent trip to centers of prayer and music in London, the mountains of Switzerland, and beyond.

AOZ on: The Gloria in the Deep South

Here's a follow up to Jeffrey's post on the Gloria from the other day:

To recap, we sent Father the music and an mp3 earlier in the week and waited a couple of days for an answer to the burning question - could we give Gloria XV a go this weekend? His go ahead came in good time for us to get things ready for Mass today. In fact, he agreed to my suggestion that he intone it, even though he was slightly nervous about doing so. He has a good, strong singing voice and quite a presence as a celebrant - of course I knew it would go beautifully if he consented.

We rehearsed the schola on Thursday evening. The main focus was rhythm and diction- my sense was that our "performance" had to be compelling if we were going to convince the congregation that they should like it, much less sing along. Lacking their attempt at participation, a project like this can go south in no time

Father surprised us by joining us for warm up this morning. He intoned and then sang along with us as we prepared for Mass. He suggested that our tutorial before Mass should allow for the congregation to sing it through twice. What we've normally done is sing through something once as a demonstration, and then have people sing along. But we took his advice. It's usually very good.

When it came time, the first thing to do was make sure that everyone had a program - the entire Gloria was printed in it. Gregorian notation. (We had to use legal size paper this week. The funny result of this, after taking so much care with the program, was that the Gloria took up so much space that the last line of the Sanctus was inadvertently omitted! )

We sang it once. A few people joined in. We sang it again. A few more. Mass began. The Greeting. The Vidi Aquam - and then - the Gloria! Jeff reached over and played the first notes for Father to give him confidence. Father took the cue and sang beautifully. Then came the moment of truth: and people sang! they really sang!

In many ways it seemed like a miracle. And it was . But I can't deny, as well, that it was also the result of years of taking baby steps, careful planning, and of course many mistakes from which we have learned so much. One thing we have learned, and today's Mass showed us yet again, is that people do what they are asked to do in Mass. The actions of the celebrant have so much to do with the success of a beautiful liturgy.

One woman came up to a member of our schola after Mass and said how much she liked the Gloria. She said she sang, and that even her husband, who never sings, sang. Why? Again, maybe because of the leadership of a strong celebrant. Maybe it was because of our convincing "perfomance." Maybe because of the tutorial before Mass. But I suspect it was because that Gloria XV, sung along with the angels, taps into the eternal so longed for by everyone who comes to Mass.

JT on: Good Friday Program

Here is our Good Friday program, and it is far from ideal, but, given the constraints and the size of our parish, it will be very nice. A. Oost-Zinner wrote the Psalm, and it will be mixed with choral verses. Otherwise, the big piece here is Miserere by Allegri, for communion.

AOZ on: SF Chronicle podcasts Mahrt's St. Ann Choir

The CMAA's William Mahrt's St. Ann Choir is featured in the December 23rd edition of the San Francisco Chronicle. Listen to the Podcast.

AOZ on: The language of church musicians

I just happened upon a liturgy planning guide put out by a well known publisher of contemporary Catholic music. Instead of referring to musicians as church musicians, the term that is used again and again throughout the publication is "pastoral" musician. Yes, I know there is a national association of people who refer to themselves as pastoral musicians, but I had never spent time thinking about the term as such, and the effect this kind of language has on the way a musician views his role in the liturgy.

Not able to shake the question, I looked up some directives in the 2003 GIRM:

103. Among the faithful, the schola cantorum or choir exercises its own liturgical function, ensuring that the parts proper to it, in keeping with the different types of chants, are properly carried out and fostering the active participation of the faithful through the singing.87 What is said about the choir also applies, in accordance with the relevant norms, to other musicians, especially the organist.


And,

104. It is fitting that there be a cantor or a choir director to lead and sustain the people's singing. When in fact there is no choir, it is up to the cantor to lead the different chants, with the people taking part.

Then, to beg the question, I looked up a definition of pastoral, in case I was missing something. Here's what the Wikipedia says:

Pastoral, as an adjective, refers to the lifestyle of shepherds and pastoralists, moving livestock around larger areas of land according to seasons and availability ofwater and feed.

Now if I read the GIRM correctly, it seems the role of a musician is to serve the liturgy - to make sure that correct music is in place. Oh yes, and lead the singing. Seems clear enough. But add to that the term pastoral(I understand that the above needs to understood metaphorically)and I'm left wondering how the serious parish musician with sound training and dedication to the music and traditions of the Church, and with focus on the quality and beauty of the music he provides for the Mass, should suddenly be required to consciously provide for the vital needs of the many souls crying out for salvation at the same time.

Isn't that why we have pastors? Shouldn't pastors be the ones providing proper guidance to musicians (especially if we're seen as part of the faithful, as per the GIRM)and parishioners alike? Bottom line - isn't what happens at liturgy ultimately the responsibility of the pastor?

AOZ on: The Problem

Caribbean Christmas

AOZ on: But are they stable?

Here is a semi-interesting story about a group of students who have requested an extraordinary form Mass at Georgetown in Washington, DC. Seems that the powers that be are asking the same question asked by officials of the archdiocese, that is, what constitutes a stable group of the faithful.

Fr. Timothy Godfrey, director of campus ministry, said he “will follow the same route as the Archdiocese [of Washington, D.C.] and take time in the implementation of this Mass.” He said the archdiocese is working on determining what a “stable group of faithful” entails.

I fear this very question may prove to be one of the main excuses for complacency across the nation. And it seems like it is the only only portion of the letter, "Summorum Pontificum," some pastors are willing to quote...

read the article

AOZ on: Celebrant Training in the Sung Mass

A quick reminder that the Celebrant Training Seminar, sponsored by the CMAA and St. John Cantius, is only weeks away.

Sessions at the seminar are designed to train priests in singing the Ordinary Form in English and Latin, as well as the Extraordinary form. Many pastors are finding the changes that last take places slowly. The ordinary form remains, for the most part, the Mass that will be said (and sung!) in parishes across the country and the world for the foreseeable future. Singing the Mass first in English, and then in Latin, will slowly but surely lead the hearts and minds of even the most resistant parishioners in the directions of beauty and mystery. Pastors can lead the way.

There are only three rooms remaining at the retreat center, so sign up here soon. Remember, too, that arrangements have been made for a discounted price at one of Chicago’s nicer hotels only blocks away from St. John Cantius. Call the Crowne Plaza directly to make your room reservation, and mention the “Priest Training Seminar.”

AOZ on: A Seminar in the Sung Mass for Celebrants

Can your pastor sing the Mass? The Church Music Association of America, in conjunction with St. John Cantius, Chicago, Illinois, will be offering a two day training seminar for priests in October. Here is the press release:

Priest Training for Singing the Mass

Richmond, VA - The sung Mass remains the normative form in the Roman Rite. Indeed, the Second Vatican Council said that singing the Mass texts ennobles the liturgy. But this is not the norm in most parishes. Many celebrants are ready to take the step, but they need training in the finer details and the confidence to begin.

To provide this training is the purpose of "Missa in Cantu: A Seminar in the Sung Mass for Celebrants," as sponsored by the Church Music Association of America and St. John Cantius parish in Chicago, Illinois. The dates are October 17-19, 2007, and the cost is $165 including meals. The location is St. Cantius, 825 N. Carpenter St., Chicago, Illinois. Registration Deadline: September 17, 2007. You can register and pay online at MusicaSacra.com/celebrant.

The seminar includes tracks for the new and old forms of the Roman Rite. It is designed for celebrants who have never before attempted to sing the Mass, and also those who need to refine their abilities. The seminar covers: the basics of common tones; singing the collects, readings, prefaces, and other parts of the Mass; the musical rubrics for the Roman rite; the integration of the celebrant, schola, and people; the literature and the wide range of options, vocal production and style; and much more.

The faculty has many years of experience in training priests for the sung Mass. They are all specialists in the rationale, method, and liturgical management of the sung Mass: Fr. C. Frank Phillips, C.R., pastor of St. John Cantius; Fr. Scott Haynes, St. John Cantius; William Mahrt, Stanford University (President of the Church Music Association of America); and Scott Turkington, Stamford Schola Gregoriana (Gregorian Chant Master Class).

The seminar begins at noon on Wednesday and concludes with lunch on Friday. Sessions take place at the parish and daily Masses will be celebrated in this splendid Church that has achieved national prominence for its multiplicity of liturgical forms and its vast musical program.

Participants can also join the members of the Canons Regular of St. John Cantius and their parishioners for all of the hours of the Divine Office, the recitation of the Holy Rosary, Solemn Benediction, and the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in the Ordinary Form (in both English and in Latin, 1970 Missale Romanum), as well as in the Extraordinary Form (1962 Missale Romanum).

They will be joined by several parish choirs, including the Cantate Domino Choir (girl choir), the Holy Innocents’ Choir (children’s choir), Schola Cantorum of St. Gregory the Great (men’s schola) and the Sine Nomine Choir and Orchestra (adult mixed choir and orchestra).

For more information,including schedule, brochure and flyer downloads, go to MusicaSacra.com/celebrant, or write programs@musicasacra.com. You can also write CMAA Registration, 920 Sanders St., Auburn, Alabama 36830 or call 334-444.5584.

AOZ on: Are you workshop savvy?

You are fed up with the status quo - you want chant and polyphony - truly sacred music - to take hold in your parish or in your diocese once again. You realize that it will take not only a change of heart, but a lot of education to make this happen.

Weekend workshops are a wonderfully viable place to begin, and you’ve got the drive to stage one of your own. You’ve even been given the thumbs up by your pastor or bishop. What is the next step?

I offer here an incomplete and shockingly practical list of considerations:


• Most people coming will be novices when it comes to real sacred music. You need to meet them at their level. Even if you end up with a group of skilled musicians and music directors, chant will likely be brand new to them. And although most will be enthusiastic, you’ll have a few skeptics. Things need to be kept light and fun and not overly academic or you’ll lose your audience

• You need to build in plenty of time for chant – learning from the ground up. This is the main reason people will be coming.

• Start singing right away – people need to be involved – especially the skeptics.

• Keep lectures at a minimum. One guest lecturer is probably enough for a short workshop like this.

• Have all materials prepared and published ahead of time. Don’t try to save money by making copies of music at the parish office- homespun efforts usually look like just that. Save yourself the headache and go with a professional service – a few dollars more, but less headache and the presentation is so much better.

• Don’t spend lots of time brainstorming with committees about repertory and logistics. That usually amounts to nothing but a lot of pie-in-the-sky ideas and wasted time. Have two people make decisions, make up the schedule, stick to it, and things will fall into place.

• Think of all costs for inviting faculty – travel, accommodations, wining and dining, honoraria. Probably a lot more than you think.

• Consider starting the workshop on Thursday evening or early on Friday and then doing the vigil Mass on Saturday instead of the coveted Sunday morning Mass. Lots of singers and music directors will have trouble staying over because they need to return to their own parishes for their own Sunday Masses.

• Make sure all music and liturgy plans are laid out clearly for celebrants and local MC’s ahead of time.

• Centralize practical efforts (two or three people is enough), and don’t count on additional volunteers to make decisions or do more than act as gophers on d-day. Whoever handles registrations needs to be on top of the all the details and be an excellent communicator. Everyone will be writing or calling with a special situation or need. The persons fielding these calls or taking registrations need to be thinking of only one thing – customer service.

• Success on d-day has everything to do with careful and decisive planning ahead of time. It should all appear effortless – no one wants to see the sausage being made.

And here is probably the single most important piece of advice I can offer. The success of your workshop, and of the sacred music movement in general, is more dependent on this than you may realize:

• Make sure your local parish community is prepared for and feels itself a part of the event taking place – the workshop Mass will be their Mass, too.

AOZ on: Summer study opportunity

Classes in chant and the famed Ward method will be offered by the International Centre for Ward Method Studies at the Benjamin T. Rome School of Music at the Catholic University of America. Classes run from June 25 to July 13, 2007, and can be taken for credit or non-credit. Offered on a rotational basis, this summer’s lineup includes:
.
WARD METHOD – COURSE I
MTWRF 9:30am – 12:30 p.m.
MUS 543 : 3 credits; Tuition : $2,100
SMUS 543 : Non-credit workshop; Tuition : $500
Instructor : Nancy Fazio, M.F.A.Lower School music teacher, Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart, Bethesda, MD
Prerequisite: ability to sing on pitch.

WARD METHOD – COURSE II
MTWRF 1:30 – 4:30 p.m.
MUS 544 : 3 credits; Tuition : $ 2,100
SMUS 544 : Non-credit workshop; Tuition : $500
Instructor : Amy Zuberbueler, M.Mus.Ed. Director, Ward Centre, San Antonio, Texas
Prerequisite : successful completion of MUS 543 and consent of instructor/director; experience in teaching Ward I strongly recommended.

WARD METHOD – COURSE IV:
GREGORIAN CHANT PRACTICUM I
MTWRF 9:30am-12:30pm
MUS 547 : 3 credits; Tuition : $2,100
SMUS 547 : Non-credit workshop; Tuition : $500
Instructor : Scott Turkington, organist/choirmaster at St John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church, Stamford, Conn..


More information available by writing.

AOZ on: Hosanna filio David - silenced?

There seems to be great confusion between the different entrance possiblities on Palm Sunday. I have suggested that our schola sing the Hosanna filio David - but modern rubricists seem to have clever ways of doing away with any vestage of tradition yet again.

With practicality in mind, people in our parish will be given palms to hold before they gather in the church, and there will be no procession per se. Is tradition being eschewed under the guise of modern functionalism? Is this the reason for opting for the less than ideal "Solemn" entrance? If that is the case, then, functionally speaking, the procession will still happen, but informally. Would it be a violation of anything to sing the opening antiphon at this point, i.e., just prior to the blessing of the palms, since the people have arrived at their appointed destination?

The Graduale lists the Hosanna filio David as the opening antiphon for the ceremony of the blessing of the palms. Elliot's contribution is extensive but doesn't take into account modern, functionalist thinking. Here is another case where settling for less than the ideal conveniently does away with a ceremony geared at, of all things, active participation in the liturgical drama. The irony!

Maybe I'm grasping at straws...but it sounds like another clever way of bypassing the contents of the Gradual..

AOZ on: A sign of the times?

Let's hope so!

The Archdiocese of Mobile has graciously agreed to underwrite the Gregorian chant workshop taking place this coming Saturday, December 2nd. There will be no charge for participants.

Read more about the workshop here.

AOZ on: Chant workshop in Reno, Nevada

Colleague and crusader Greg Plese of California reports on this past weekend's chant workshop in Reno, Nevada:


This past Friday and Saturday, October 20 and 21, Professor William Mahrt [of Stanford University and president of the Church Music Association of America] conducted a chant workshop at St. Thomas Aquinas Cathedral in Reno, NV. About 26 people from Nevada, California, and Idaho attended.

Professor Mahrt began the workshop by commenting that, for hundreds of years, people learned chant by listening and memorizing, since notation had not been developed. So, for the first hour, we learned several chants without any musical notation. Fortunately for us participants, this was not the rule for the entire workshop, but we did see an obvious difference when we went from singing by imitation to singing from notation: where initially we were singing a melody, and making the subtle changes in rhythm and intonation characteristic of a song, when we picked up the notated version, we immediately stated "singing the notes", that is, focusing on each individual neume rather than the phrasing of the verse as a whole. It was an illuminating experience.

Professor Mahrt spoke at length about beauty: not only are the chants beautiful, but they bring beauty to the liturgy. In explaining some of the definitions of beauty that have come to us from St. Thomas and others, he showed how the use of chant not only elucidates the text of the verse, but its setting and employment at different parts of the liturgy can vary according to its liturgical function. Using the Psalm text "Justus ut palma florebit: sicut cedrus Libani multiplicabitur", he showed how different types of melodies allowed the same verse to be used as an Introit, an Offertory, a Gradual, an Alleluia, and as a regular Psalm verse. The differences in the melody and the use of melisma point up the different functions the verse is playing in the liturgy at that point: accompanying a procession of ministers, the incensing of the altar and the congregation, or as a call to mediation and attentiveness to the readings.

The beauty of chant, when properly employed, brings us back to the sacred, and makes the liturgy more sacred. Chant is recognizable as 'sacred' music, even to those who do not know what it is, because of it "aims at something beyond", which Professor Mahrt explained was a phrase that a colleague of his always used.

He also told many anecdotes in the course of the two days. One concerned monastic rules for pausing between the two 'halves' of a Psalm verse sung to a Psalm tone: some abbeys suggested the silent recitation of "Ave" between the two parts; others, "Ave Maria". A friend of his found the instruction, at St. Alban's, of saying "Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum", which she was sure was a mistake, but on attending a service in that cathedral, found that the reverberation of the space required just that amount of silence between the verses. He also told a personal story of his background, and mentioned that growing up he never realized that anything except the "4 hymn sandwich" existed as a model for the liturgy until, as a music major in graduate school, he was told to learn all the chants for Holy Week to assist in the liturgies. This was the first time he had ever heard chant, and he remembers the occasion and the beauties of the chants to this day.

The workshop concluded with the attendees singing for the Saturday evening Mass at the Cathedral. The propers for the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time were sung for the Introit ("Ego clamavi"), Offertory ("Meditabor"), and Communion ("Domine Dominus Noster") from the Gregorian Missal, and the Ordinary for Mass XI (Orbis Factor) was used, with the substitution of the Gloria from Mass VIII (De Angelis).

AOZ on: Ward Method offered as Fall workshop

The International Centre for Ward Method Studies is offering a class in the Ward Method of Music Instruction for Catholic Schools. The same Ward Level I course that is offered every summer at the Catholic University will be offered in workshop format, beginning this weekend.

The Ward Method of Music Instruction is a progressive method of teaching elementary school children – through vocal instruction – music theory, composition and conducting. The Method was developed to teach American Catholic school children the fundamentals of music so that they would be able to sing the vast repertoire of sacred music which is a part of the Roman Catholic Church’s tradition. The Ward Method is unique in that it has a basis in Gregorian chant.


Session 1: Oct. 6-7
Session 2: Oct. 20-21
Session 3: Nov. 3-4
Session 4: Nov 17-18

Fridays - 6-10 pm
Saturdays - 8-4 pm

All sessions will be held at St. Michael's Catholic School in Annandale, VA. The instructor is Amy Zuberbueler, the director of the Ward Centre of San Antonio, TX. Space is limited. Contact Candy Bartoldus for more information.

AOZ on: Music workshop in South Carolina

Members of the St. Cecilia Schola Cantorum will be conducting a workshop in Bluffton, South Carolina this Labor Day weekend. In honor of its patron's feast day on Sunday, September 3rd, St. Gregory the Great Catholic Church in Bluffton, South Carolina will be hosting the three-day workshop intended to introduce parishioners and visitors to Gregorian chant and sacred polyphony in accordance with the directives of the GIRM and centuries of Vatican legislation. The workshop will begin on Friday, September 1st at 5:30 pm, and will run all day Saturday. It will culminate in a Novus Ordo Mass at 9:00 am on Sunday morning, September 3rd. The workshop schola will be singing the Latin propers and ordinary from the Graduale Romanum and works of renaissance polyphony by Thomas Tallis and Josquin Des Prez. The workshop is open to all.