St. Patrick’s Seminary, Menlo Park, California
Catholic Institute
of Sacred Music
A Momentous Summer 2026
Spectacularly Beautiful Music, Enriching Graduate Coursework,
and a Shower of God’s Graces
From the Director’s Desk
August 3, 2026
Summer Ferial Day
Deo gratias, this summer at the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music was truly momentous. We welcomed to campus nearly eighty graduate students, including eighteen students enrolled in the new Master of Sacred Music degree and Post-Baccalaureate Certificates. Our students came from a wide geographic range, united by their Catholic faith and their desire to grow as Christians, musicians, teachers, conductors, players, and program directors. It was a privilege to meet and work with each person, unique in the eyes of God, and seeking to offer all that they have and are to the service of the worship of God.
Each day was framed by sung Mass in the morning and sung Vespers in the evening, along with shared meals and time for fellowship in the evenings and on weekends.
Week one featured History and Principles of Sacred Music. The students prepared extensive readings and lecture videos before arriving on campus to read Church documents together and discuss the lived application of the Church’s teachings with Dr. Donelson-Nowicka. Students of Gregorian semiology studied repertoire and neumes with Dr. Edward Schaefer and vocal technique with Dr. Rosemary Heredos.
During week two, participants in the Liturgical Theology course discussed various themes with Fr. Nicholas Schneider, including: Logos, symbol, sacrament, Scripture, sacred time, sacred place, the altar, images, gestures, participation, and inculturation. Students in Teaching Gregorian Chant to Children took a deep dive into the first level of Ward Method music instruction, giving teaching demonstrations each day, and heading home to prepare further demonstrations for their final exam.
The third week emphasized the native musical language of the Roman rite, Gregorian chant. Students studied the fundamentals of chant through solfèging, singing, and conducting according to the method of Dom André Mocquereau in class with Dr. Donelson-Nowicka, and at the organ, pupils of Organ Accompaniment of Chant worked with Dr. Christopher Berry to create well-voiced and supportive sounds on the organ for singing. The week opened with a Mass preached by Archbishop Cordileone, who reminded students about the need for spiritual growth and a strong prayer life in order to become holy and truly to serve God and His Holy Church.
During week four we welcomed our twelve McInnes Fellows, alongside twenty Choral Fellows and other students for our fourty-four-voice Choral Institute which sang daily Lauds, Mass, and Vespers, including the Anerio Requiem and the Rheinberger Cantus Missæ, alongside 2 daily motets, chant ordinaries, and chant propers. Five composers formed a collective, studying counterpoint under the tutelage of Dr. Frank La Rocca and Mark Nowakowski. Their compositions on Marian Advent and Christmas texts were recorded on Friday evening by the McInnes Fellows. Six students grew in their skills of organ improvisation under the fantastic improviser and former master of music at Westminster Cathedral, Martin Baker. Their improvisations adorned the beginning and end of Masses and Vespers, as well as provided intonatios for the chant antiphons of Vespers. During the week, we welcomed Dr. Bissera Pentcheva (Stanford) to campus for a lecture about music and ritual surrounding Sainte-Foy at the Camino church of Conques, and Dr. Daniel Kuehler, assistant professor of piano at Hillsdale College and student in the Counterpoint class, played an all-Brahms recital for the entire student body.
Week five wrapped up with foundational conducting and rehearsal skills with Dr. Berry in Choral Preparation. Students in the advanced seminars in Gregorian chant studied 10th- to 13th-century manuscripts, along with their different orthographies and implications for style with Dr. Alison Altstatt. On Friday, they sang from original manuscripts at the Stanford music library. Students in the Cantare super librum class with Dr. Charles Weaver improvised polyphony from chant scores, including a hymn at Vespers, with a different style each evening.
This week we welcome to campus nearly eighty young singers, ages eight to eighteen, for Chant Camp, including a sung Mass on Friday, with a pizza and ice cream party to follow!
We can’t wait until next summer! In the meantime, check out the course line-up, available on our “Summer Courses” page. Applications for the MSM degree, certificate programs in Gregorian Chant or Sacred Choral Music, and for non-degree-seeking students seeking just to take a class or few open in October. Our new semester begins in just a few weeks, and students in our MSM and certificate programs will begin voice lessons and weekly online meetings.
We have a LOT planned for the upcoming academic year, including many online offerings, and in-person events throughout the United States. Check out the “Calendar” page for some save-the-dates, with registration pages to follow within the next two weeks.
Our Lady keep you as you strive with God’s grace to become a “Praise of His Glory”!
Dr. Jennifer Donelson-Nowicka
Director, Catholic Institute of Sacred Music
Missed an Event?
Check out a video archive of our previous events.
Our Mission
Founded in 2022, the mission of the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music is to draw souls to Jesus Christ through the beauty of sacred music and the liturgy.
The Institute offers a 36-credit, summers-based Master of Sacred Music degree, as well as Post-Baccalaureate Certificates in Gregorian Chant and Sacred Choral Music. The public outreach of the Institute encompasses online and in-person workshops and events designed for musicians of all skill levels, as well as Catholics simply interested in learning more about the Church’s sacred music. All of the Institute’s coursework and public outreach are 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
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