January 3, 2026
Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus
Dear friends of the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music,
Fall 2025 wrapped up a banner year for the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music. Thank you for being a part of our mission by attending our events, learning in our classes and workshops, and supporting us with your prayers and donations! We pray in a particular way each Tuesday at our staff meetings for all those we serve, as well as our benefactors.
2025 was marked by tremendous growth here at CISM. The late spring and summer saw the hiring of two new additions to CISM – Prof. Christopher Berry, who now serves full-time on our faculty and as director of our Chorister Program, and our Program Associate and Assistant to the Director, Sr. Mary Vianney Owens.
The summer was extremely busy for us, from our landmark Fons et Culmen Liturgy Summit with Cardinals Sarah, O’Malley, and Ranjith, through our three weeks of summer classes, we welcomed hundreds of guests and students onto our campus for beautiful liturgies, talks, graduate study, and fellowship. The summer concluded with our first-ever Chant Camp (coming again August 3–7, 2026 – mark your calendars!) and the launch of our Chorister Program for young singers.
The fall semester was marked by two wonderful lectures in our Public Concert and Lecture Series. Gregory Glenn of the Madeleine Choir School (Salt Lake City) shared with us a small bit of his accumulated knowledge after decades of working with young singers and building solid structures dedicated to their training. Fr. Innocent Smith, OP (University of Notre Dame) marked the month of November with a lecture on the Office of the Dead, with a special emphasis on Vespers as well as on the sources and peculiarities of the Dominican usage.
Our fall online Monday workshop series saw record engagement for an extended series I taught on the modes, as well as a 3-part series with Dr. Geoffrey Williams (New York Polyphony) on vocal technique for changing voices.
Our Chorister Program got off to a solid start with weekly rehearsals on Tuesdays. We marked the Feast of the Most Holy Rosary with a sung rosary procession. About half of our choristers were installed as on the feast of St. Nicholas, marking their progress through the Voice for Life series and dedication to weekly homework and rehearsals. They sang for their first Mass on Rorate Sunday (4th Sunday of Advent) at Church of the Nativity in Menlo Park, rendering the Gregorian propers and ordinary, as well as anthems by Darke and Willcocks.
We held our first event entirely in Spanish on St. Cecilia’s Day – a sacred music study day. We weren’t sure how many would attend this event (I had hoped for 50), but thanks to the dedication of many choirs and pastors throughout the state (from Santa Rosa down to Bakersfield!), we had 225 people register in time for the deadline! At that point we had to hold the deadline firm because the final Mass of the event was also welcoming a group of local pilgrims to pass through the seminary’s designated holy doors, and we had absolutely no more room in the chapel for the closing sung Mass with Archbishop Cordileone. It was a wonderful event, and we look forward to offering two Saturday online workshop series entirely in Spanish in the spring semester, as well as to this becoming an annual event.
Also this fall we submitted all of our materials for approval of our new Master of Sacred Music degree program and look forward to concluding the process for the degree, as well as our Post-Baccalaureate Certificates in Gregorian Chant and Sacred Choral Music very soon. We have opened applications, and announced our 13 classes for this summer. We look forward to welcoming students on campus this summer! The deadline to apply for the degree or certificates is February 15 and for non-degree-seeking students wishing just to take a few classes the deadline is May 1.
Thanks to a generous donation of the McInnes family, we are delighted to have announced summer paid choral fellows, the John A. McInnes Choral Fellowship. Aimed at encouraging outstanding Catholic singers aged 25+, we are accepting applications for 12 spots. Choral Fellows will serve as section leaders in the Choral Institute, and lead a recording project for the 5 composers in Dr. Frank LaRocca’s Composition Seminar.
We also offered several local workshops, each drawing over 100 singers to each. Attendees learned some of the basic of Church teaching on sacred music and singing Gregorian chant, concluding the events with a fully-sung Mass. We look forward to several more such events in the spring at Mt Angel Abbey in Oregon, St. Vitus (FSSP) in Northridge, CA, New Orleans, and Spokane. If you are interested in having CISM faculty give a workshop in your area, please contact us at info @ catholicinstituteofsacredmusic.org.
What’s on tap for spring 2026? Lectures by Sir James MacMillan, Dr. Margaret Hughes, and the Duruflé Messe cum jubilo sung by the Schola Cantorum of St. Patrick’s Seminary for the feast of the Annunciation mark our Public Lecture and Concert Series. In February our annual conference features 13 talks on theological and practical topics by top scholars on the sung Divine Office. Our Monday Online Workshop Series features 4 topics—singing the readings of the Mass (Dr. Donelson-Nowicka), the history of the Requiem (Dr. Erick Arenas), a guided discussion group on the GIRM (Dr. D-N), and playing the organ music of Bach liturgically (Prof. Christopher Berry). Our online continuing education series for current graduate students features 5 sessions from a panel discussion on musician health to a Lenten retreat with Archbishop Cordileone. We will expand our offerings in Spanish with two online workshops, in vocal technique and Church teachings on sacred music (a registration link coming soon!). April 18th is our spring semester Sacred Music Study Day (in English) here at the Seminary. Our Choristers will bury the Alleluia just before Ash Wednesday, have a blessing of throats for St. Blaise’s feast, and sing for both Holy Thursday and Pentecost at Church of the Nativity. CISM faculty will return from teaching at the CMAA sacred music colloquium to teach our summer courses from June 29th through July 31st. The summer will conclude with our Chant Camp August 3 to 7.
Finally, we marked the one-year anniversary of the passing of our beloved faculty member, Dr. William Mahrt on January 1, 2026. We continue to pray for the repose of his soul, and in gratitude to God for all he taught us during his time on this earth.
We hope you can join us for an event upcoming! Please continue to keep us in your prayers. If you would like to donate to support our work, please select “Sacred Music” under “Please direct my support:” at this link.
Our help is in the name of the Lord! May our newborn Lord be first in your heart during this Christmas season!
Our Lady keep you,
Dr. Jennifer Donelson-Nowicka
William P. Mahrt Chair in Sacred Music, St. Patrick’s Seminary
Director, Catholic Institute of Sacred Music