The Catholic Institute of Sacred Music is pleased to announce that the WASC Senior College and University Commission has given final approval for our new Master of Sacred Music degree program! This approval reflects years of planning and institutional support for our Institute and our students, as well as that of generous donors who make tuition, room, and board affordable for students.
Applications are now closed for the inaugural Summer 2026 MSM cohort, but students can still apply to take courses as non-degree-seeking students. Applications for the MSM will reopen in November 2026.
The first annual Oregon Sacred Music Colloquium, January 30–31, 2026, drew over 100 singers to Mt Angel Abbey for two beautiful days of singing, learning, and praying. Participants learned a Gregorian ordinary, propers of the Mass in English and Latin, and a few motets as Dr. Donelson-Nowicka directed rehearsals and gave spiritual talks. She covered the basics of Gregorian chant notation and the modes, as well as the role of sacred music in the Church’s liturgy and the spiritual life. Participants attended Byzantine vespers and sang a final Mass with Bishop Thomas Hennen, the youngest ordinary in the U.S. recently ordained for the see of Baker. The event, sponsored by the Mt. Angel Institute, was organized by Dr. Myrna Keough and Fr. Anselm Flores and aims to continue to drawing singers together in response to Archbishop Alexander K. Sample’s fantastic pastoral letter on sacred music.
The Catholic Institute of Sacred Music is pleased to announce that Martin Baker is joining its faculty and will serve as instructor for the Institute’s Organ Improvisation course this summer.
Martin Baker, formerly Master of Music at Westminster Cathedral (2000–2019) and President of the Royal College of Organists (2017–2019), is widely regarded as one of the foremost organists and improvisers of his generation. Winner of first prize in the Improvisation Competition at the St Albans International Organ Festival in 1997, he is renowned internationally for his command of extemporaneous playing in the service of liturgy and concert repertoire.
The course, held in person from July 20–24, 2026, is a graduate-level intensive seminar limited to six participants, competitively selected from among applicants. Designed for organists with a secure technical foundation seeking to develop a disciplined approach to improvisation, it emphasizes harmonic structure, formal coherence, and the elaboration of sacred melodies in liturgical contexts. Sessions include group instruction, assigned liturgical playing (Mass and Vespers) during the Institute’s Choral Institute, and individual lessons.
Further details, including application, are available here.
The Catholic Institute of Sacred Music offers advanced, intensive training in sacred music within a Catholic framework, welcoming both degree-seeking (MSM and post-baccalaureate certificates) and non-degree students.
Martin Baker – Biography
Born in Manchester in 1967, Martin Baker studied at the Royal Northern College of Music, Chetham’s School of Music and Downing College, Cambridge, then held positions at London’s Westminster and St Paul’s Cathedrals before being appointed to Westminster Abbey at the age of 24. In 2000 he returned to Westminster Cathedral as Master of Music, where for 20 years he was responsible for directing the world-renowned choir in its daily choral programme and busy schedule of concerts, tours and recordings.
Martin Baker is much sought after as an organist, playing frequent solo concerts in the UK and around the world. In addition to playing a wide repertoire he is known for his skill in improvisation, both liturgically and in concert, and was the winner of the Tournemire improvisation competition in St Albans in 1997. His first solo organ recording has just been released on the new Ad Fontes label from Buckfast Abbey, where he played the opening concert on the new Ruffatti organ in 2018. He teaches both repertoire and improvisation and has appeared on the juries of several international organ competitions.
He recently served as President of the Royal College of Organists and is an honorary Fellow of Downing College, Cambridge.
Seminary music directors from around the country gathered for a second annual meeting to discuss the role of music in formation. This year’s meeting was hosted by St. Mary’s Seminary in Houston, and involved a discussion of Josef Pieper’s Leisure, the Basis of Culture, as well as talks by Fr. Sean Kilcawley, Fr. Paul Bechter, and Bishop Steven J. Lopes. The faculty in the group bring a joyfully resilient attitude towards service in seminary formation, exhibiting a deep love for Christ and His Church, as well as for the seminarians, faculties, and institutions in which they serve. The future is bright for sacred music in America with seminarians formed by these faculty!