St. Patrick’s Seminary, Menlo Park, California
Catholic Institute
of Sacred Music
Summer Classes
Graduate-level study structured for busy schedules
Online, in-person, intensive, or term-length course formats
FREE tuition in Summer 2023
Affordable room & board

Our Classes
History & Principles of Sacred Music
May 30 to July 30:
online, asynchronous
July 31 and August 1:
online, synchronous
Latin for Church Musicians: Terminology, Grammar, & Poetry of the Psalms
Tuesday & Thursday Evenings
June 1 to July 27
Public Lecture & Concert Series
The Beauty of the Sung Mass
Sancta Maria Hall at St. Patrick’s Seminary
The Mass: Essence & Foundation of Western Civilization
Sancta Maria Hall at St. Patrick’s Seminary
The Marriage of Heaven and Earth: Medieval Reflections Music of St. Hildegard of Bingen, Pérotin, & St. Martial Ms.
Jonathan Dimmock, organ/organetto, baritone
Main Chapel at St. Patrick’s Seminary


A Public Lecture by His Excellency Salvatore J. Cordileone, Archbishop of San Francisco
Public Lecture and Concert Series of the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music
Sunday, March 19 at 5:00 p.m. PDT (8 p.m. EDT)
St. Patrick’s Seminary – Sancta Maria Hall
320 Middlefield Rd.
Menlo Park, California
The in-person event will be followed by a reception. Live-streaming of the event is also available.
The inaugural Public Lecture and Concert series continues with a lecture by our Ordinary entitled “The Mass: Essence & Foundation of Western Civilization.”
Truth, beauty, and goodness come together in the Mass to proclaim the good news of Christ, and reveal to us a plan for our lives.
The in-person event will be followed by a reception. Ample guest parking is available on-site. Live-streaming and archived viewing of the event are also available. Please visit http://catholicinstituteofsacredmusic.org or http://beautyofthesungmass.eventbrite.com to RSVP. An RSVP is appreciated, but not required. This free event is open to the public.
Workshops
Our Mission
The Institute offers a substantial program of accredited, graduate-level coursework designed to help church musicians and clergy better to know and love the Church’s treasury of sacred music and her teachings on sacred music. Our goal is to equip students with the theological, philosophical, and historical knowledge, as well as the practical skills (singing, playing, conducting, composing, organizing, fundraising) necessary to build excellent sacred music programs in parishes and schools. We aim to help others revitalize the faith of Catholics and instill vitality in parish and school life through a vibrant sacred music program.
We are committed to a faithful and generous service of the Church. We cultivate fidelity, resiliency, a healthy sense of creativity, and selflessness within our student body and faculty as characteristics of our service as we labor together in the vineyard of the Lord to bring in a rich harvest.
St. Patrick’s Seminary, in Menlo Park, California



News

Archived Access to “Discover the Ward Method”
If you missed our recent information session about the Ward Method of teaching Gregorian chant to children, you can access it here.
Archived Access to “The Mass: Essence & Foundation of Western Civilization”
We are pleased to offer you archived access to the second lecture in our inaugural Public Lecture and Concert Series.
Discover the Ward Method! Free Online Info Session March 21, 2023
Developed in the early part of the 20th century for use as a Catholic school music curriculum, the Ward Method is a comprehensive music education system designed to promote the active participation of children in the sacred liturgy through the singing of Gregorian...
Interview with Faculty Member Prof. Charles Weaver about the “Solesmes School” of Singing Chant
A member of the Institute's faculty, Prof. Charles Weaver (Juilliard, CUNY) was recently interviewed on Square Notes: The Sacred Music Podcast about the topic of his upcoming summer course. Professor Weaver's course will cover Mocquereau's "classical Solesmes"...
Archived Access to “The Beauty of the Sung Mass”
We are happy to offer you archived access to a recording of the first lecture on our public lecture and concert series.