Views from the Choir Loft

Keven Smith • Article Archive

Keven Smith is the music director at St. Stephen the First Martyr Catholic Church, an apostolate of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP) in Sacramento, California. He trains and directs a mixed choir that sings full Gregorian propers, ordinaries, and sacred polyphony at more than 100 traditional Latin Masses per year. Keven lives in Sacramento with his wife and five musical children.—Read full biography (with photographs).

Keven Smith · April 29, 2023

Conducting Tip: Use the Whole Body

Are you aware of your legs? And do you know why that matters for a choir conductor?

To access this post, you must purchase Monthly Subscription or Yearly Subscription.

Follow the Discussion on Facebook

Keven Smith · March 24, 2023

Hidden Gem: Ave Regina Caelorum (Steven Talley)

This sweet, simple SATB motet provides a contrast to heavier, darker Lenten repertoire. But it’s going out of season soon.

To access this post, you must purchase Monthly Subscription or Yearly Subscription.

Follow the Discussion on Facebook

Keven Smith · February 21, 2023

Lenten Reflection: Can We Enjoy What Lies Ahead?

Let St. Augustine’s wisdom guide you through the most important season for Church musicians.

To access this post, you must purchase Monthly Subscription or Yearly Subscription.

Follow the Discussion on Facebook

Keven Smith · January 19, 2023

Hidden Gem: Adoro Te Devote (Carlotta Ferrari)

Find out why this motet is simple enough for beginning choirs yet demanding enough to challenge seasoned singers.

To access this post, you must purchase Monthly Subscription or Yearly Subscription.

Follow the Discussion on Facebook

Keven Smith · December 22, 2022

Five Tips for Saving Your Body During Christmas Liturgies

These easy techniques will help you eliminate tension so you can be at your best.

To access this post, you must purchase Monthly Subscription or Yearly Subscription.

Follow the Discussion on Facebook

Keven Smith · October 20, 2022

Hidden Gem: Dormi Jesu (Luc Jakobs)

This striking Christmas motet puts Latin text atop jazzy harmonies to lull Our Infant Lord to sleep.

To access this post, you must purchase Monthly Subscription or Yearly Subscription.

Follow the Discussion on Facebook

Keven Smith · September 9, 2022

The Decaffeinated Choir Director: Yes, It’s Possible

Reflections on one year with no caffeine. Find out what to expect if you try it.

To access this post, you must purchase Monthly Subscription or Yearly Subscription.

Follow the Discussion on Facebook

Keven Smith · August 2, 2022

Need Easy Organ Pieces? Try This Little-Known Composer

Add these fuguettes and trios to your repertoire with minimal practice time.

To access this post, you must purchase Monthly Subscription or Yearly Subscription.

Follow the Discussion on Facebook

Keven Smith · May 27, 2022

On Mistakes (Part II of II)

How we all respond to mistakes can have a huge effect on the cohesiveness and sound of our choirs.

To access this post, you must purchase Monthly Subscription or Yearly Subscription.

Follow the Discussion on Facebook

Keven Smith · May 21, 2022

On Mistakes (Part I of II)

We choir directors can’t eliminate mistakes entirely. But here’s what we can do to minimize them.

To access this post, you must purchase Monthly Subscription or Yearly Subscription.

Follow the Discussion on Facebook

Keven Smith · August 24, 2021

Hidden Gem: Salve Regina (Barkoskie)

Salve Regina is still in season for another three months. You have plenty of time to learn this simple yet satisfying piece.

To access this post, you must purchase Monthly Subscription or Yearly Subscription.

Follow the Discussion on Facebook

Keven Smith · July 19, 2021

7 Keys to Success with Graduale Renovatum

Here’s how to get the most out of this fantastic new resource for interpreting chant rhythm.

To access this post, you must purchase Monthly Subscription or Yearly Subscription.

Follow the Discussion on Facebook

Keven Smith · June 28, 2021

Organ Improvisation: To Record, or Not to Record?

If you missed it, you can hear my iPhone recording on YouTube. But will it be quite the same?

To access this post, you must purchase Monthly Subscription or Yearly Subscription.

Follow the Discussion on Facebook

Keven Smith · June 21, 2021

Hidden Gem: Tantum Ergo II (Kwasniewski)

If you enjoy juicy dissonances and hearing the sun dart in and out of the clouds, you’ll love this modern setting of an ancient text.

To access this post, you must purchase Monthly Subscription or Yearly Subscription.

Follow the Discussion on Facebook

Keven Smith · May 31, 2021

Charles Tournemire: An Organist’s Best Friend

Tournemire’s L’Orgue Mystique is an indispensable resource—especially for organists who are feeling “stuck” in their improvisation.

To access this post, you must purchase Monthly Subscription or Yearly Subscription.

Follow the Discussion on Facebook

PDF Download • “Our Father” (1 page)

Dutch organist, teacher, and conductor HERMAN STRATEGIER (d. 1988) studied under Hendrik Andriessen. He composed this unison setting with organ accompaniment for the LORD’S PRAYER (“Our Father”) which a children’s choir would find both within reach and worthy of the effort. The whole thing fits neatly on a single page. Strategier eventually became organist of Saint Catherine’s Cathedral in Utrecht. He also taught at the “Dutch Institute for Catholic Church Music” (Nederlands Instituut voor Katholieke Kerkmuziek).

—Jeff Ostrowski

PDF • “Organ Interlude” (Manuals Only)

Monsignor Franciszek Walczyński (d. 1937) was a Polish composer. If you play the pipe organ, I encourage you to try out this ORGAN INTERLUDE FOR MANUALS ONLY (1-page PDF) which he composed. Walczyński taught plainsong at the seminary in Tarnów (about 50 miles east of Kraków). With his brother Stanisław—also a Catholic priest—he initiated the Saint Adalbert Society for the Support of Church Music, which ran annual workshops for their diocese. In July of 1894 (more than a decade before the appearance of the Editio Vaticana) Walczyński lectured on “congregational singing and Gregorian Chant.” On top of all that, Monsignor Walczyński founded an organists’ school in Tarnów and the SAINT ADALBERT CHOIR at the cathedral.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Eucharistic Prayer No. 2 on Sundays?

Highlighted in yellow (on this single-page PDF file) is documentation concerning whether the 2nd Eucharistic prayer may be used on Sundays.

To access this post, you must purchase Monthly Subscription or Yearly Subscription.

—Jeff Ostrowski

“Predictable Rhymes?” • A Follow Up

We received considerable correspondence regarding my article, Two Ways to Defile a Hymn. More specifically, what really raised certain people’s hackles was its follow-up article dealing with the keyboard accompaniment for the CHRIST THE KING HYMNAL. But to quote Eliza Doolittle: “Have I said anything I oughtn’t?” Please examine this PDF file and see whether you agree. Were the editors of the BRÉBEUF HYMNAL incorrect to insist upon sophisticated and clever rhymes, rather than mind-numbingly predictable rhymes?

—Jeff Ostrowski

‘Ould’ But Not Good

Dom Samuel Gregory Ould (note the spelling) was a Benedictine monk at FORT AUGUSTUS ABBEY in Scotland. As musician, organist, and composer, Dom Ould was highly regarded. Moreover, he was considered an authority on Gregorian Chant. But not everything found in an old book—or, in this case, an “Ould” book—is necessarily praiseworthy. Consider this page from Dom Ould’s hymnal. Do you see the rhymes? They offend severely by ABR (“Abuse By Reuse”) and are utterly predictable. In my recent article—Two Ways to Defile a Hymn—I addressed this topic.

—Jeff Ostrowski

“Reader Feedback” • 22 June 2026

A reader wrote to us from Virginia: “I really appreciate the 23 harmonizations that you posted on CORPUS CHRISTI WATERSHED for the Daily, Daily, Sing to Mary hymn. I hope to find willing voices in our small Schola Cantorum to try the three-voice version. Carry on, sir! You’re doing the Lord’s work.” While we don’t know this gentleman personally, we note that he earned a Ph.D. (which demonstrates that our blog has something for everybody). 😊

—Corpus Christi Watershed