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Views from the Choir Loft

Chant Workshop for Clergy

Andrew Leung · December 31, 2015

CTL Clergy Workshop AINT AMBROSE SCHOOL OF CHANT is organizing a Music Workshop for Clergy entitled, Finding your Voice: The Role of the Priest and Deacon and How to Sing with Confidence. The workshop will be held at Our Lady of the Mountains Roman Catholic Church in Jasper, GA. The event will be from 10am to 2pm on January 16. The deadline for registration is January 5.

Fr. Charles Byrd and Bridget Scott will serve as the faculty members for this workshop. I have worked with both of them in the past; they both have great visions and knowledge of the Liturgy and Sacred Music. Fr. Byrd is the current pastor of Our Lady of the Mountains. Before that, he has taught in seminaries and served on Diocesan Liturgy Committee. Bridget Scott has been working as music director for many years, and she is currently serving as the music director of Our Lady of the Mountains and the chant instructor at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, GA. Here is how she describe this upcoming workshop:

Singing the dialogue prayers and chants of the Mass can be so intimidating for some priests and deacons that they are reluctant to do so. Others, may find themselves needing a few vocal tips or pointers to make their sung parts a bit more musical and polished. Still others may just desire to become more proficient in singing the Mass by practicing with others. The purpose of this workshop is to help priests and deacons (and deacons-to-be) to feel confident and comfortable chanting the parts of the Mass that are specifically theirs. Singing or chanting the Mass elevates the texts above mere speech and adds to the solemnity and nobility of our worship. It is a worthy endeavor. Please bring a Roman Missal if you have one.

A lot of people are making their new year resolutions right now. Would chanting the Mass be one of those? If you are not a priest, deacon or seminarian, please forward this to your pastors and friends who might find it interesting.

There will be a $25 fee for this workshop that will cover a lunch and the music packet. More information and the registration form can be found on the website of St. Ambrose School of Chant.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Andrew Leung

Andrew Leung currently serves the music director of Vox Antiqua, conductor of the Cecilian Singers, and music director at Our Lady of China Church.—(Read full biography).

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Alabama Assessment!

We received this evaluation of Symposium 2022 from an Alabama participant:

“Oh, how the Symposium echoed the words of Cardinal Merry Del Val: …choosing only what is most conformed to Thy glory, which is my final aim. In one short and fast paced week, the faculty and attendees showed me the hand of God and our Lady working in our lives. The wide range of education—from Gregorian Chant, jazz modes in organ improvisation, to ‘staying sane’ while leading a choir—were certainly first-class knowledge from the best teachers of the art. However, the most powerful lesson was learning how to pray as a choir. The sacrifice of putting songs together, taking time to learn the sacred text, meditating on the church teaching through the chants, and gaining the virtues required to persevere in these duties were not only qualities of a choir but of a saint. The sanctification of the lives of the attendees was a beautiful outcome of this event … and that in itself is worth more than a beautifully-sung Solesmes style chant!”

—Jeff Ostrowski
PDF Download • Trinity Sunday (22 pages)

Feel free to download this Organ Accompaniment Booklet for Trinity Sunday (Second Vespers). Notice how the modes progress by number. Psalm 1 is mode 1; Psalm 2 is mode 2; Psalm 3 is mode 3; Psalm 4 is mode 4; Psalm 5 is mode 5. I am told by an expert that other feasts (such as Corpus Christi) are likewise organized by mode, and it’s called a “numerical office.”

—Jeff Ostrowski
10 June 2022 • “Official” rhythm of plainsong

I continue to search for the most beautiful way to present the “pure” Editio Vaticana scores. (Technically, the “pure” rhythm of the official edition is what everyone is supposed to use.) You can download my latest attempt, which is the Introit for this coming Sunday: Feast of the Most Holy Trinity. Because this is not an ancient feast, the Introit had to be adapted (perhaps around 750AD). Prior Johner says the adaptation is “not an entirely happy one.”

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“Iconographic tradition has theologically interpreted the manger and the swaddling cloths in terms of the theology of the Fathers. The child stiffly wrapped in bandages is seen as prefiguring the hour of his death: from the outset, he is the sacrificial victim, as we shall see more closely when we examine the reference to the first-born. The manger, then, was seen as a kind of altar.”

— Pope Benedict XVI (2012)

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