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Corpus Christi Watershed

“A much greater source of anxiety to Us is the style of action of those who maintain that liturgical worship should shed its sacred character, who foolishly say we should substitute for sacred items & furnishings ordinary common things in daily use.” —Pope Saint Paul VI (14 Oct 1968)

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Views from the Choir Loft

Biography • Dr. Alfred Calabrese

Dr. Alfred Calabrese · January 15, 2013

ALLED “one of the finest conductors of his generation” by maestro Robert Shaw, Alfred Calabrese enjoys a diverse career as conductor, educator, composer, scholar, and church musician. He has been director of choral activities at Southern Methodist University, Emory University, and Brevard College, Visiting Professor at Indiana University, and guest lecturer at the University of Notre Dame, the University of South Carolina, and the Conservatoire de Versailles. Since 2007 he has been Director of Music at Saint Rita Catholic Church in Dallas, TX, where he oversees a music program with six choirs including the newly established St. Rita Choral Academy, professional singers and organists, and six full and part-time staff members. Calabrese holds the Master of Music and Doctor of Music degrees in Conducting from the prestigious Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. He has prepared choirs for several prominent conductors including John Nelson and Sir David Willcocks, and in the early 1990’s was an assistant conductor to Robert Shaw and the Grammy © Award winning Atlanta Symphony Chorus.  He worked in close collaboration with Maestro Shaw for three years, rehearsing the ASOC in works as diverse as Mahler Symphony #2, #3, and #8; Berlioz Romeo et Juliette; Janáček Glagolitic Mass, Verdi Quattro Pezzi Sacri, and the annual Christmas with Robert Shaw concerts.

*  DR. ALFRED CALABRESE • Publicity Photo (A)

*  DR. ALFRED CALABRESE • Publicity Photo (B)

Possessing an affinity for compositions for orchestra and choir, his repertoire includes, among others, major works of Bach, Brahms, Britten, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Schubert, Handel, Haydn, Stravinsky, Fauré, Duruflé, Poulenc, and Pärt, and well over 500 smaller pieces for choir alone. In 2005 he led performances of I Pagliacci and Cavalleria Rusticanafor the Atlantic Coast Opera Company. His orchestral repertoire includes symphonies and concerti of Beethoven, Mozart, Poulenc, Handel, Weber, Dvorak among others. Calabrese has been a guest conductor and clinician in America and abroad. As a clinician, he has conducted All-State and honor choirs and has participated in numerous festivals and clinics throughout the United States.  He was a guest conductor at the Conservatoire de Versailles in both 2013 and 2019 and in concerts with l’Ensemble Polyphonique de Versailles. He is presently a guest conductor with the festivals of the American Federation Pueri Cantores.

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Dr. Calabrese has been composing and arranging intermittently since 1990 and self publishes. His compositions since 2007 are primarily for the liturgy, including a nearly completed three-year cycle of Responsorial Psalms for the church year. These have been performed across the country in recent years. Presently, he is at work setting the ad libitum Communion propers as Latin motets for SAB Choir. Dr. Calabrese was born and raised in upstate New York, in the small town of Waterford. A cradle Catholic, his youth was colored and influenced by his strong Italian-American heritage, the Catholic culture of his family and the upstate area, and the beauty of his boyhood parish, St. Mary of the Assumption, Waterford, known affectionately as “the little Cathedral on the hill,” where he sang in the choir beginning at age 15. He is married to Cynthia Calabrese, a musician and development executive. They have two grown children who both work for Catholic-based organizations.

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

Filed Under: Articles, Biographies Last Updated: August 27, 2020

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About Dr. Alfred Calabrese

Dr. Alfred Calabrese is Director of Music and Liturgy at St. Rita Catholic Church in Dallas, TX. He and his wife have two children.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    This coming Sunday—13 July 2025—is the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). All the chants have been conveniently assembled and posted at the feasts website. The OFFERTORY, Ad Te Levávi, is particularly beautiful.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Music Director Job • $80,000 per year
    Our readers will be interested in this job offering for Music Director at Saint Adalbert’s Basilica, located 40 minutes from where I live. My pastor was recently elevated to this basilica. He is offering $80,000 per year, plus benefits. I’m told Saint Adalbert’s Basilica is utterly gorgeous and contains one of America’s most magnificent pipe organs. It would be fantastic to have a colleague nearby!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Simplest “Agnus Dei” Ever Published
    Our choir is on break during the month of July. I needed a relatively simple “Agnus Dei,” so I composed this setting for organ & voice in honor of Saint René Goupil. It has been called the simplest setting ever composed. I love CARMEN GREGORIANUM (“Gregorian Chant”), especially the ALLELUIAS, INTROITS, and COMMUNION ANTIPHONS. That being said, some have pointed out that certain sections of the Kyriale aren’t as strong as the Graduale or Vesperale. There’s a reason for this—but it would be too complicated to explain at this moment.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Pope Pius XII Hymnal?
    Have you ever heard of the Pope Pius XII Hymnal? It’s a real book, published in the United States in 1959. Here’s a sample page so you can verify with your own eyes it existed.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    “Hybrid” Chant Notation?
    Over the years, many have tried to ‘simplify’ plainsong notation. The O’Fallon Propers attempted to simplify the notation—but ended up making matters worse. Dr. Karl Weinmann tried to do the same in the time of Pope Saint Pius X by replacing each porrectus. You can examine a specimen from his edition and see whether you agree he complicated matters. In particular, look at what he did with éxsules fílii Hévae.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    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

Random Quote

“After the Second Vatican Council, the impression arose that the pope really could do anything in liturgical matters, especially if he were acting on the mandate of an ecumenical council. Eventually, the idea of the givenness of the liturgy, the fact that one cannot do with it what one will, faded from the public consciousness of the West.”

— Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger

Recent Posts

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