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Views from the Choir Loft

“Prelim. Details” • Sacred Music Symposium 2025

Corpus Christi Watershed · January 8, 2025

HAT IS IT that distinguishes our Sacred Music Symposium from other conferences? One thing would be the heartfelt and powerful testimonies—hundreds of them—written by those who have attended. We encourage everyone to read those testimonies, posted at this website. Many participants traveled more than 6,000 miles to attend. Another thing that distinguishes our event is its purpose. Our conference is laser-focused on providing “hands-on” instruction for Catholic musicians.

This Year’s Theme • Indeed, the theme selected for 2025 is: “HOW TO AVOID COMMON PITFALLS FOR PARISH CHOIRS.” Too many parish choirs don’t sound as nice as they could (partially due to paltry and unjust salaries paid to choirmasters). We’re here to help! This year we provide practical tips to survive & thrive in an extremely challenging vocation. We know of no other church music conference attempting anything like what we have planned this year. You’re going to love it!

Four (4) Items To Remember:

(1) Confirmed Dates • Our conference will take place 23 June 2025 through 29 June 2025. Most participants will probably arrive on Sunday evening (22 June) or Monday morning (23 June). All the Monday events—which take place in the evening—aren’t required. That’s because we understand unforeseen delays sometimes occur when it comes to travel.

(2) Masses We Will Sing • As always, our conference is designed for both forms. We will sing for Mass in the EXTRAORDINARY FORM on Saturday (28 June 2025) in Grand Rapids, Michigan. We will sing for Mass in the ORDINARY FORM on Sunday (29 June 2025) in Muskegon, Michigan.

(3) Location • The training sessions will take place in Muskegon, Michigan. It is less than a 3 hours’ drive from Detroit. It is a 4 hours’ drive from Indianapolis. It is less than a 3 hours’ drive from Chicago. The church hosting us has world-class acoustics.

(4) Further Details • Further details are forthcoming. Very soon, you will be able to sign up! We released the dates on 2 December 2024, but today we are reminding you—in case you haven’t marked them on your calendar.

If you have special requests—in terms
of courses you’d like us to offer—
now is your last chance! Send your
ideas to: dom.mocquereau@gmail.com

This film explains our conference:

Direct URL to the promo video.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Sacred Music Symposium, Sacred Music Symposium 2025 Last Updated: January 8, 2025

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    “Booklet of Eucharistic Hymns” (16 pages)
    I was asked to create a booklet for my parish to use during our CORPUS CHRISTI PROCESSION on 22 June 2025. Would you be willing to look over the DRAFT BOOKLET (16 pages) I came up with? I tried to include a variety of hymns: some have a refrain; some are in major, others in minor; some are metered, others are plainsong; some are in Spanish, some are in Latin, but most are in English. Normally, we’d use the Brébeuf Hymnal—but we can’t risk having our congregation carry those heavy books all over the city to various churches.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Yahweh” in church songs?
    My pastor asked me to write a weekly column for our parish bulletin. The one scheduled to run on 22 June 2025 is called “Three Words in a Psalm” and speaks of translating the TETRAGRAMMATON. You can read the article at this column repository. All of them are quite brief because I was asked to keep within a certain word limit.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Music List” • Pentecost Sunday
    Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I prepared for Pentecost Sunday (8 June 2025). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. Because our choir is on break this week, the music is relatively simple.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Antiphons Don’t Match?
    A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    When to Sit, Stand and Kneel like it’s 1962
    There are lots of different guides to postures for Mass, but I couldn’t find one which matched our local Latin Mass, so I made this one: sit-stand-kneel-crop
    —Veronica Brandt
    The Funeral Rites of the Graduale Romanum
    Lately I have been paging through the 1974 Graduale Romanum (see p. 678 ff.) and have been fascinated by the funeral rites found therein, especially the simply-beautiful Psalmody that is appointed for all the different occasions before and after the funeral Mass: at the vigil/wake, at the house of the deceased, processing to the church, at the church, processing to the cemetery, and at the cemetery. Would that this “stational Psalmody” of the Novus Ordo funeral rites saw wider usage! If you or anyone you know have ever used it, please do let me know.
    —Daniel Tucker

Random Quote

The Sacrifice is celebrated with many solemn rites, none of which should be deemed useless or superfluous. On the contrary, all of them tend to display the majesty of this august sacrifice, and to excite the faithful, when beholding these saving mysteries, to contemplate the divine things which lie concealed in the Eucharistic Sacrifice.

— Catechism of the Council of Trent (1566)

Recent Posts

  • “Booklet of Eucharistic Hymns” (16 pages)
  • PDF Download • “Text by Saint Francis of Assisi” (choral setting w/ organ: Soprano & Alto)
  • “Yahweh” in church songs?
  • “Music List” • Pentecost Sunday
  • “Participation” • Recovering its Receptive Dimension

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Corpus Christi Watershed is a 501(c)3 public charity dedicated to exploring and embodying as our calling the relationship of religion, culture, and the arts. This non-profit organization employs the creative media in service of theology, the Church, and Christian culture for the enrichment and enjoyment of the public.

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