Views from the Choir Loft

Biographies

Julie Huebner · January 10, 2013

Biography • Julie Huebner

Before her official work with the Church began, she pursued a career on the operatic and musical theater stage in Milwaukee and Chicago…

Adam Raha · January 10, 2013

Biography • Adam Raha

Adam and his family live a life close to nature, allowing their children to swim in rivers, climb trees, and spend ample time on trails in the woods.

Dr. Samuel Backman · January 10, 2013

Biography • Dr. Samuel Backman

Samuel earned degrees from Saint Olaf College, Yale University, and the University of Oklahoma…

Fr. David Friel · January 10, 2013

Biography • Father David M. Friel

Father Friel was ordained to the Catholic Priesthood in May 2011 . . .

Veronica Moreno · January 10, 2013

Biography • Veronica Moreno

While at UCLA, Veronica earned an undergraduate degree in Ethnomusicology and went on to study special education at Cal State LA.

Gwyneth Holston · January 9, 2013

Gwyneth Holston

Gwyneth is a sacred artist who works to provide and promote good quality Catholic art…

David J. Hughes · January 8, 2013

David J. Hughes

David is Organist & Choirmaster at St. Mary Church in Norwalk . . .

Dr. Peter Kwasniewski · January 6, 2013

Peter Kwasniewski

Peter has held posts with the International Theological Institute in Austria . . .

Andrew R. Motyka · January 4, 2013

Biography • Andrew R. Motyka

Andrew is Director of Liturgical Music for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis . . .

Andrew Leung · January 4, 2013

Biography • Andrew Leung

Andrew holds a degree in Sacred music from the Franciscan University of Steubenville…

Andrea Leal · January 3, 2013

Andrea Leal • Biography

While studying for her Peace and Conflict Studies degree at UC Berkeley, a chance encounter with some Dominican seminarians led to an invitation to attend Mass.

Christopher Mueller · January 3, 2013

Biography • Christopher Mueller

Christopher is a church musician, conductor, and composer…

Cynthia Ostrowski · January 2, 2013

Biography • Cynthia Ostrowski

Cynthia holds a bachelor’s degree in Geographic Information Science . . .

Jeff Ostrowski · December 24, 2012

Biography • Jeffrey M. Ostrowski

Jeff holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas . . .

Aurelio Porfiri · December 22, 2012

Aurelio Porfiri

Aurelio is renowned as a conductor, theorist, organist, author …

Urgent! • We Desperately Need Funds!

A few days ago, the president of Corpus Christi Watershed posted this urgent appeal for funds. Please help us make sure we’re never forced to place our content behind a paywall. We feel it’s crucial that 100% of our content remains free to everyone. We’re a tiny 501(c)3 public charity, entirely dependent upon the generosity of small donors. We have no endowment and no major donors. We run no advertisements and have no savings. We beg you to consider donating $4.00 per month. Thank you!

—Jeff Ostrowski

“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

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