HE Sacred Music Symposium, held each year in Los Angeles, has taken the church music scene by storm—but this is by no means the only summer gathering worth considering.
Dr. Michael Alan Anderson, of the Eastman School of Music, who serves as artistic director of Schola Antiqua in Chicago, has asked us to alert our readers to the following:
Singing Gregorian Chant
and Renaissance Polyphony
in San Francisco(Details)
The course will balance exposure to the genres and styles of traditional Western plainchant with the study and execution of Renaissance vocal polyphony. Sessions will center not just on performance but also on historical background, notation, and contemporary theory and practice.
In a short concert at week’s end, students will present—as an SATB choir—an unpublished sixteenth-century polyphonic Vespers, which incorporates both chant and polyphony. This course is appropriate for church music directors, choral directors, and singers wishing to gain a stronger foundation in early music. The institute takes place in San Francisco’s historic and awe-inspiring St. Dominic’s Catholic Church.
Here is an excerpt of Dr. Anderson directing his group:
Hearing a beautiful choral sound like that, there really isn’t anything more to add. As Roger Wagner said constantly: “Never apologize for your choir, because they’re as good as you are!”
Dr. Anderson is clearly a superb director.