Musica Sacra Florida Gregorian Chant Conference

Musica Sacra Florida -
Gregorian Chant Conference

Sponsored by the Florida Chapter of the Church Music
Association of America in conjunction with the Department of Music, Ave Maria
University, Ave Maria, Florida.

Friday, April 13th – Saturday, April 14th,
2012

Ave Maria University

www.musicasacra.com/florida

Brochure and tentative schedule available here: www.musicasacra.com/pdf/MusicaSacraConference.pdf


The conference includes:
Choice of Intensive Study Tracks in:
Gregorian Semiology– Gregorian Chironomy (Conducting)
Singing Gregorian Chant in English
Church Documents & Sacred Music History of the 20th and 21st centuries
Clergy Training

Choice of scholae for beginning/intermediate (men & women),
upper-level men, & upper-level women
Missa cantata in the Extraordinary Form on Friday evening
Closing Missa cantata in the Ordinary Form on Saturday evening

This two-day workshop will present beginning, intermediate, and advanced musicians with rehearsals and lectures that will enrich their knowledge of Gregorian chant and its use in the Roman Catholic liturgy. The theme of this year’s conference will be the call of Pope Benedict XVI for reform in continuity with Tradition and the mutual enrichment of the Ordinary and Extraordinary Forms of the Mass as described by the Holy Father in his 2007 motu proprio Summorum Pontificum.

Led by a faculty of chant specialists from around the state, attendees will have opportunities for in-depth study of single topics. There will be five intensive study tracks each for the study of Gregorian Chironomy (conducting), Gregorian Semiology, Gregorian Chant in English, Church Documents and History of Sacred Music in the 20th and 21st Century, and a Clergy Training Track.

Beginning chanters will be introduced to the basics of notation and rhythm according to the classic Solesmes method. Experienced chanters will learn new repertoire and advance their understanding of rhythmic and interpretive nuance. Resources and practical methods for the cultivation of Gregorian chant in the life of the parish will also be discussed, especially in
light of the new missal. This year there will be a special emphasis on Gregorian chant in English, along with Latin chant.

This workshop is ideal for choir members, parish music directors, music students, teachers, parents, seminarians, priests, deacons and anyone who is interested in learning about the heritage of sacred music within the Roman Catholic Church.

Registration fees are $60 ($15 for clergy and students with ID) and include the price of instructional materials and instruction.

Overnight accommodations will be available at AMU’s Xavier Conference Center. Participants can choose among various options for room and board. For prices and options, visit www.musicasacra.com/florida.

Carpools from Miami/Fort Lauderdale to the conference are also available. Visit the conference website for more details.

Pre-registration and payment are required.

Deadline: Friday, March 30th, 2012

Contact Information: 
 Susan Treacy(239) 280-1668 or susan.treacy@avemaria.edu


Faculty:
Keynote Speaker – Susan Treacy
Ave Maria University, Ave Maria, FL
Mary Jane Ballou
Director of the Schola Cantorae, St Augustine, FL
Jennifer Donelson
Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, FL
Jeffrey Herbert
Director of Music Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Church, Sarasota, FL
Rev. Fr. Christian Saenz, SJ
Chaplain, Belen Jesuit Prep, Miami, FL
Edward Schaefer
University of Florida, Gainesville, FL

To register, visit: www.musicasacra.com/florida

Follow us on the web! http://musicasacraflorida.wordpress.com/

Requiem Aeternam

This Saturday I have the honor of being invited to sing for a Requiem High Mass. I must say that this is some of the most beautiful music in the entirety of western history, let alone the Gregorian repertoire.

What strikes me most is the degree to which these chants offer the hope of eternal life, tracing the history of that promise through the covenant with Abraham all the way to the vision of the New Jerusalem found in Revelations...spanning the entirety of scripture in between to demonstrate God's love and mercy towards his chosen ones. In this one liturgy, the entirety of the Catholic faith is on display, and we find the reason we believe.

The Wind Beneath My Wings rather pales by comparison.

Heading towards Lent

As I finalized my liturgy preparations for Lent, I began to feel a real sense of how far we've come in a very short time as regards the integration of chant in parish liturgies.

For most of our parish's liturgies during the season of Lent, our parishioners will experience:

• The Gregorian Kyrie chanted by the cantor/choir
• A chanted Responsorial (three of the Sundays)
• The ICEL Chant Mass (all Sundays)
• SEP Communion Antiphon (all Sundays)

For a bread-and-butter suburban parish, this is really something, as I can attest to having been a director at several bread-and-butter suburban parishes for more than 30 years now!

It really gives one hope, doesn't it?

Propers from GIA

This came in my Inbox today. To begin with, I didn’t even know that GIA was working on a set of settings of the Introits. Dated 2010…Hmmm? It’s good to see that the major publishers are maybe getting the message, or at least covering all of the bases (after all, if it should ever happen that the Propers are once again required, you have to be ready!).

In the Shadow of God
Introits for Lent
by Paul Tate / Ken Macek

In the Shadow of God is the final edition in this series of contemporary settings of the proper introits, adapted from the Gregorian Missal. This edition includes seven musical selections including introits for Ash Wednesday, the five Sundays of Lent, and Holy Thursday. Each of the singable, short melodies includes the antiphon and appointed Psalm verse for each Sunday and will set a tone of reverence and awe for your Lenten celebrations. The mantra-like, repetitive structure also lends them to use in Communion processions without worship aids, or as variable-length post-Communion musical meditations.


You can go to the GIA page at http://www.giamusic.com/search_details.cfm?title_id=19590
and look at preview samples of the previous two editions, which are also obviously in the “best kept secrets at GIA” category. I do have a small problem with the suggestion made above that the Introit’s “mantra-like, repetitive structure also lends them to use in Communion processions without worship aids, or as variable-length post-Communion musical meditations.”

Really?

The Introit at the communion procession? You know…they actually have something else for that!

As they say…brick by brick!