We have just wrapped up an amazing series of summer 2024 courses and are ready to dive into the regular academic year. We’ve got over 20 events coming up during the 2024–25 academic year, including:
Our fall workshop topics are taught by three faculty members: Dr. Jennifer Donelson-Nowicka, Dr. William Mahrt, and Prof. Christopher Berry. The topics include:
Blueprint for Building a Parish Sacred Music Program: Foundations, Structures, Personnel, and Resources
Chant Modality at the Keyboard and Chant Accompaniment
The Cantiones Sacræ, Masses, and Gradualia of William Byrd
The Catholic Institute of Sacred Music was happy to collaborate with the Benedict XVI Institute in an evening of prayer and learning about the situation of Christians persecuted for their faith in China and Hong Kong.
The evening began with Exposition and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, led by Archbishop Cordileone. Special music for the Holy Hour included the premiere of a new composition by Dr. Frank La Rocca (a CISM faculty member) on a text by James Matthew Wilson, “Stanzas for the Chinese Martyrs,” commissioned by the Benedict XVI Institute for Sacred Music and Divine Worship. Other compositions by Diana Corliss, Kevin Allen, and Paul Jernberg will also be sung by the choir, directed by CISM Director, Dr. Jennifer Donelson-Nowicka. Read more about the event and Dr. La Rocca’s piece at this article in National Catholic Register.
The Holy Hour was followed by the second and final event of the 2023–2024 St. Patrick’s Seminary Lecture Series. The lecture by William McGurn, opinion columnist for The Wall Street Journal and godfather of Jimmy Lai, is entitled “The Prison Witness of Jimmy Lai.” Jimmy Lai is the founder of the popular Hong Kong paper Apple Daily, who has now been imprisoned in solitary confinement for organizing pro-democracy protests.
The last event of our 2023–2024 Public Lecture and Concert Series was a wonderful lecture by Fr. Cassian Folsom, O.S.B., a foremost historian of books of the Roman rite, and is a preview of some content in his forthcoming book about books of the Roman rite that he is writing while on sabbatical from San Anselmo in Rome.
As he writes:
The history of the Graduale Romanum is long, complex and full of surprises. Knowing some of that history is a great help in understanding the status of liturgical music today. This conference will be limited to a history of chant books used for the Mass. (Chant books used for the Divine Office is another story for another time.) The period of time we’re dealing with extends from the Council of Trent to the post-Vatican II era. We will briefly describe six books: 1) the Medicea edition of the Graduale Romanum (1614–1615), 2) the Solesmes movement and the Liber Usualis (1896), 3) the Graduale Romanum commissioned by Pope Pius X (1908), 4) the Vatican II document on the sacred liturgy and the Graduale Simplex (1967), 5) the Graduale Romanum of 1974/1979 and the Graduale Triplex (1979) and finally, 6) the Graduale Novum (2011/2018).
Because there is so much material, an in-depth study is not possible in this conference. Rather, we will focus on the highlights, and try to trace the ever-present tensions between tradition and reform.
Archbishop Cordileone’s Talk at our first Sacred Music Study Day on April 20, 2024 was splendid – a great overview of the basics of sacred music from the Church’s perspective.
Unfortunately we didn’t capture a file with great sound quality of the talk, which was given in a large lecture hall, in front of a large audience. Nevertheless we’re posting the audio of it so that you don’t miss out on the important and helpful things he said.
We held our first annual Sacred Music Study Day yesterday, April 20th. 110 singers from the area joined us, along with a few visitors from Sacramento, Stockton, L.A., and Mexico. Archbishop Cordileone gave a talk on some fundamental principles of sacred music and celebrated the closing Marian votive Mass for us. Stay tuned for audio of his talk, and in the meantime enjoy some photos of the day. Photography by Karolina Zapolska.
We have just wrapped up an amazing series of summer 2024 courses and are ready to dive into the regular academic year. We’ve got over 20 events coming up during the 2024–25 academic year, including:
The last event of our 2023–2024 Public Lecture and Concert Series was a wonderful lecture by Fr. Cassian Folsom, O.S.B., a foremost historian of books of the Roman rite, and is a preview of some content in his forthcoming book about books of the Roman rite that he is writing while on sabbatical from San Anselmo in Rome.
Archbishop Cordileone’s Talk at our first Sacred Music Study Day on April 20, 2024 was splendid – a great overview of the basics of sacred music from the Church’s perspective.
