From a reader:
Seven Days of Musical Heaven”
June 22-28, 2009 (Monday noon through Sunday morning)
Loyola University, Chicago, Illinois
Sponsored by the Church Music Association of AmericaYou are invited to sing with and experience the Sacred Music Colloquium, the largest and most in-depth teaching conference and retreat on sacred music in the world.
Gregorian Chant has been called the most beautiful music this side of Heaven. But as Pope Benedict XVI and the Second Vatican Council have emphasized, it is also integral to Catholic liturgical life and should be heard and experienced with wide participation in every parish. The Church Music Association of America is working to bring about this ideal with its Sacred Music Colloquium.
The primary focus of the Colloquium is instruction and experience in chant and the Catholic sacred music tradition, participation in chant and polyphonic choirs, nightly lectures and performances and daily celebrations of liturgies in both English and Latin. You are there not merely as an attendee but as a singer in some of the greatest choirs you will ever experience, singing music that will touch your heart and thrill your artistic imagination — music that is integral to the Catholic faith.
Attendance is open to anyone interested in improving the quality of music in Catholic worship. Professional musicians will appreciate the rigor, while enthusiastic volunteer singers and beginners new to the chant tradition will enjoy the opportunity to study under an expert faculty.
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Father,
Do you have any recommendations for Gregorian chant recordings, for those of us who can’t be there?
Be sure to watch this stupendous trailer about the colloquium:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5emKd8ajSc
Does anyone know of new parishes that are promoting the Novus Ordo in Latin?
“Does anyone know of new parishes that are promoting the Novus Ordo in Latin?”
I think they are very few, sadly. I pray that changes… soon! Perhaps His Eminence Cardinal Cañizares Llovera will have some ideas about that!
Thanks for posting, Father.
I’m torn between attending this or the week-long chant intensive the week before this.
But I honestly can’t imagine, even a year ago, facing such a dilemma. And some say SP has borne no fruit. Ha!
This is a wonderful opportunity for learning, coupled with what is essentially a retureat, and takes place in the heart of a big city and university, by the shores of Lake Michigan (bring some warm clothes against the obligatory few cold windy days! Also, there is a
nice public swimming beach about a block north of the university.)
The only problem with it is that there’s tons to do and only a week to do it in.
And when they say all levels, they do mean it. (Admittedly, it’s a lot harder if you don’t know how to sightread music… but I don’t, and I’ve survived.) The physical and mental tiredness is the real hazard; but I guess people who’ve survived band camp can survive a
week of classes and practices in air conditioning! (You’ll sleep well….)
The food at Loyola is really good, and there’s plenty of it. You’re also in the middle of a residential neighborhood, with some pretty good restaurants and bars in easy walking distance.
I happily attended this Colloquium two years ago when it was held at Catholic U in D.C. This was one of the best life experiences ever. You can’t encourage those enough to attend this. The attendees run the gambit from the uninitiated, to choir members, organists and instrumentalists, parish directors, school teachers as well as all levels of clergy. You’ll have a chance to learn at great depth and share camaraderie at meals with people from all over the world.
I really, really hope even more clergy attend because without a musically and dedicated educated clergy, the laity cannot succeed in restoring what is taught here.
A great chant learning resource is “A Gregorian Chant Master Class” by Dr. Theodore Marier, K.C.S.G. The book provides careful and detailed instruction [tho not overwhelmingly] and has a demonstration CD. For other resources and recordings go to the organization’s website http://www.musicasacra.com/
There are conflicting methods of singing chant so I’d recommend taking the advice of what’s on the musica sacra site.
On recommendations for Gregorian Chant, as well as the delightful polyphony of combined male and female voices, all religious, you will be well served by
“In Paradisum,”
available from the Sisters of Carmel website. The recording quality is excellent and the voices and interweaving polyphonic prayers are very powerful. This recording taught me what such music is really about and what it can do for us, in terms of liturgy and prayer life.
please ignore the last post
Yes, this shows you all about it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5emKd8ajSc