YRNA KEOUGH is a conductor, composer, and educator dedicated to the renewal of sacred music and the cultivation of beauty in the liturgical music of the Catholic Church. She serves as Associate Professor of Sacred Music and Director of Liturgy at Mount Angel Seminary, a Benedictine seminary in Mount Angel, Oregon, where she also founded and directs the Mount Angel Chamber Choir. Dr. Keough holds a Doctorate of Sacred Music with a focus on liturgical music and Gregorian chant, and a Doctorate of Ministry from Mount Angel Seminary, with a concentration in liturgical theology. She also earned a master’s degree in theology from Mount Angel Seminary, a bachelor’s degree in music education from the University of Regina (Canada), and an Associate Diploma in Piano Performance from the Royal Conservatory of Canada. Her professional leadership reflects a particular interest in the recovery of Gregorian chant, polyphony, and other sacred repertoire that embody the Church’s vision of the sung liturgy. She offers workshops and consultations for clergy, musicians, and parish communities, fostering a deeper understanding and love for the Church’s musical tradition as a means of evangelization and sanctification.
Her musical compositions are primarily sacred music for the liturgy, which is simple, singable, and beautiful; music which reflects the simplicity of Gregorian chant, the beauty of polyphony, and texts which reflect the richest parts of our Catholic tradition in a style worthy of the solemnity and dignity of the Mass. Born in Canada and raised in Germany, Dr. Keough began her career as a high school teacher of music and English before serving as Director of Liturgical Music at the American College of the Immaculate Conception in Louvain, Belgium. She continues to serve weekly in parish music ministry while raising five children with her husband, Shawn.
