Heavy Crosses Borne by Choirmasters
In my 25 years as a choirmaster, I’ve witnessed hypocrisy and mistreatment that would make your head spin.
Jesus said to them: “I have come into this world so that a sentence may fall upon it, that those who are blind should see, and those who see should become blind. If you were blind, you would not be guilty. It is because you protest, ‘We can see clearly,’ that you cannot be rid of your guilt.”
A theorist, organist, and conductor, Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas (2004). He completed studies in Education and Musicology at the graduate level. Having worked as a church musician in Los Angeles for ten years, in 2024 he accepted a position as choirmaster for Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Michigan, where he resides with his wife and children. —Read full biography (with photographs).
In my 25 years as a choirmaster, I’ve witnessed hypocrisy and mistreatment that would make your head spin.
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Using this coming Sunday (12th Sunday after Pentecost) as an example.
I consider this my best organ accompaniment … I hope you like it!
A wonderful way to get volunteers singing SATB polyphony immediately!
Today’s release will go down in history!
In graduate school, one is taught a valuable lesson: if you emphasize everything, nothing is emphasized. In other words, putting every other word in bold or italic (or both) wrecks your paper. I never to use the word “best”—but today I make an exception. The book of organ interludes released today by my colleague is […]
Kyrie “Missa de Angelis”—recorded yesterday by a volunteer choir.
Does this sound like a “hymn” to you? Or does it sound like a “chant” composition?
In this article, I examine the elusive provenance of what some have called “the most popular piece of plainsong.”
Last week, I posted an SATB choral setting of the SANCTUS in a ‘contemporary’ style. You might want to consider this piece for two reasons: (1) It’s extremely brief; (2) Free rehearsal videos are available for each individual part. The piece is by Father Lhoumeau.
Dr. Luca Ricossa has made a YouTube recording of this Sequence!
“I guess we didn’t know what we had until we lost it…” —Special assistant to Nixon, Ford, and Reagan
This SATB setting by Father Lhoumeau—although contemporary—certainly adheres to the “rule” of Pope Saint John Paul II.
The answer surprised me!
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