ANY HAVE requested information about Sacred Music Symposium 2025. Over the next few weeks, we hope to open registration. It’s important to remember we have a new venue this year. In the past, it was always held in Los Angeles. This year, it will take place in Michigan. Moving to a new venue resulted in a few pesky details that needed to be ironed out. We thank you for your patience. You’re going to love what we have in store for you! I already mentioned (article entitled “Preliminary Details”) that the acoustics of the church we’ll be singing at this year are peerless.
Marvelous Acoustics • Allow me to give you a sample of its acoustics. Each week, I direct a choir of about 30 singers. I’ve been meaning to post some audio samples of how our Masses sound, but haven’t yet found the time. Sometimes, Mrs. Kaitrin Drost—who is on the Symposium faculty this year—sings for Mass with two of her daughters: Emilia and Helen.
Helen arranged a famous German carol (found in the Brébeuf Hymnal as #772), and Kaitrin and her daughters sang it on the 4th Sunday of Advent. You will hear babies crying, the clanging of thuribles, and pews slamming—because it’s a ‘live’ recording from the OFFERTORY:
* PDF Download • “Maria Walks” (for three voices)
—Another excellent translation of Maria Durch Ein’ Dornwald Ging is #772 in The Saint Jean de Brébeuf Hymnal.
Was I exaggerating when I bragged about our church’s acoustics? And those who sign up for Sacred Music Symposium 2025 will experience it in real life!
German Carol • There are innumerable carols that can be sung during ADVENT or during the season of CHRISTMAS. The German carol arranged by Helen—Maria Durch Ein’ Dornwald Ging—is an example. You can listen to an Mp3 of it in German sung by an unknown group. (I wish I knew who made that recording; I like it very much.) You can also hear that carol as sung by the VON TRAPP FAMILY SINGERS if you click here.
Renewal of Challenge • In many recent articles, I’ve been recommending the Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal. I believe this book is indispensable for any serious Catholic choirmaster. (I certainly couldn’t run my choral program without it.) I don’t use the “P-word” word lightly, but I’m comfortable calling the BRÉBEUF HYMNAL peerless. Indeed, one of the main authors for the Church Music Association of America weblog declared (6/10/2022) that the BRÉBEUF HYMNAL “has no parallel and not even any close competitor.” For years, I’ve been searching for a qualified partner willing to debate this assertion over zoom. Today—27 January 2025—I respectfully renew my challenge. Our website garners millions of hits, but so far nobody has accepted my challenge.
