by admin | Jan 3, 2026 | News
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
by admin | Dec 14, 2025 | News
The Catholic Institute of Sacred Music invites you to an online conference, February 6 and 7, 2026, on the singing of the Divine Office. Featuring 13 talks from 12 top scholars from around the country, topics range from theological and historical to practical and biblical.
Register here.
Speakers and Topics:
- The Spirituality of the Divine Office – Fr. Mark Bachmann, OSB, Choirmaster of Our Lady of Clear Creek Abbey
- The Spirituality and Place of the Divine Office in the Lives of the Laity – Dr. Anthony Lilles, St. Patrick’s Seminary, Avila Institute
- The Spirituality of the Sung Office for the Diocesan Priest – Fr. Robert Pasley, Church Music Association of America
- Accompaniment & Accentuation: The Role of the Organ in the Divine Office- Prof. Christopher Berry, Catholic Institute of Sacred Music
- The Hymns of the Divine Office- Sr. Maria Kiely, OSB, Dominican House of Studies, ICEL
- Vocal Technique for Singing the Office – Dr. Jennifer Donelson-Nowicka, Catholic Institute of Sacred Music
- Officium Divinum: The Role of Latin in the Celebration of the Divine Office – Gregory DiPippo, Veterum Sapientia Institute
- Progressive Solemnity in the Dominican Office – Fr. Innocent Smith, OP, University of Notre Dame
- The Old Testament Canticles of Lauds: Songs of the New Creation- Dr. Nina Heereman, St. Patrick’s Seminary
- Nihil operi Dei præponatur: The Centrality of the Divine Office in Monastic LifeAbbot Marc Crilly, OSB, St. Benedict’s Abbey
- The Divine Office for the Canons Regular of Prémontré: A Changing Expression of a Perennial Vocation – Fr. Chrysostom Baer, O.Praem., St. Michael’s Abbey, Silverado, CA
- Challenges in Preparing Editions for and Singing the Liturgy of the Hours in Parish Life – Dr. Richard Skirpan, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Harrisburg, PA
- Psalmody Workshop: Pointing, Pacing, and Developing a Community Sound – Dr. Jennifer Donelson-Nowicka, Catholic Institute of Sacred Music
Whether you’re a cleric, religious, choir director, or lay faithful seeking to deepen your prayer life through sacred music, this conference will inspire you to make the Church’s universal prayer a vibrant part of your daily rhythm.
Register now and join Catholics from around the world in praising God through the timeless treasure of the Divine Office!
by admin | Nov 25, 2025 | News
A happy (belated) feast of St. Cecilia to the friends of the Catholic institute of Sacred Music!
Here at CISM we celebrated with a Mass offered by Archbishop Cordileone here at the Seminary that was part of our first “Jornada de Estudio de Música Sacra” (Sacred Music Study Day in Spanish). We welcomed 225 participants and nearly 400 Mass attendees from as far away as Santa Rosa, CA down to Bakersfield, CA.
The archbishop offered a beautiful reflection on the nature of sacred music as fitting for the nuptial feast of the Lamb of God. Participants learned a Gregorian ordinary (Mass XII), a few new hymns in Spanish, and the congregational responses in the Misal Romano with Fernando Gil and Christian Cortés. A professional choir aided the singers by supplying Gregorian and Spanish-language proper chants and some polyphony, alongside wonderful accompaniments and improvisations by CISM professor Christoph Berry. They heard a talk about the nature of sacred music and active participation by CISM director Dr. Jennifer Donelson-Nowicka, and attended an extensive session on vocal technique by CISM professor Sandra Bengochea.
Thanks to all who came to our first-ever Sacred Music Study Day entirely in Spanish! We are especially grateful to parish-level coordinators who worked to bring their choir members to the event.
Many thanks also to Fr. Emmanuel Gutierrez for his work in bringing pilgrims from St. Anthony’s in Redwood City, Mrs. Martha Sheridan and Sr. Mary Vianney for their assistance with day’s logistics, and to our donors who made the day possible.
We look forward to more Spanish-language events in the future!
by admin | Nov 24, 2025 | News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Catholic Institute of Sacred Music Announces the Inaugural John A. McInnes Choral Fellowship for Summer 2026
Menlo Park, CA – November 24, 2025 – Feast of St. John of the Cross – The Catholic Institute of Sacred Music (CISM) is pleased to announce the establishment of the John A. McInnes Choral Fellowship, a new initiative that will support twelve outstanding singers in the summer of 2026. Beginning in 2026, twelve John A. McInnes Choral Fellows will be selected to serve as section leaders for the CISM Choral Institute, an intensive week-long graduate course held July 20–24, 2026, under the direction of CISM faculty Prof. Christopher Berry and Dr. Jennifer Donelson-Nowicka. During the Institute, participants sing daily Lauds, Mass, and Vespers, immersing themselves in the Church’s living tradition of sacred music. Each Fellow will receive:
- A $1,000 stipend
- Up to $600 in travel allowance
- Room and board for the duration of the program
In addition to their liturgical leadership, the 2026 Choral Fellows will participate in a professional recording session featuring one new work from each of the five composers enrolled in the concurrent Composition Seminar under the direction of Dr. Frank La Rocca.
Eligibility and Application Requirements
The fellowship is open to practicing Catholics of all experience levels, aged 25 years and older, including current and prospective CISM graduate students. Applicants must submit:
- Video recordings of themselves singing their voice part in two a cappella Renaissance motets of their choice
- Video recordings of themselves singing two Gregorian chants of their choice
Applications are due by February 15, 2026, with decisions announced on March 20, 2026.
Selected Fellows must arrive on campus no later than the morning of Saturday, July 18, 2026, and remain on or commute to campus through 7:00 p.m. on Friday, July 24, 2026; singers are free to stay on campus through Saturday morning (July 25th). Fellows are expected to prepare all the music for the Choral Institute on their own in advance of coming to campus. The daily repertoire includes two motets, five Gregorian propers, and Gregorian vespers, as well as three Gregorian and two polyphonic masses throughout the week.
“We are deeply grateful for the visionary generosity that has made the John A. McInnes Choral Fellowship possible,” said Dr. Jennifer Donelson-Nowicka, founding director of the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music. “This fellowship will enable twelve talented singers to lead one of the most intensive liturgical singing experiences available anywhere, while removing financial barriers that often prevent talented musicians from participating. Singers will have a chance to deepen their own formation and contribute to a landmark recording of new sacred music. We are profoundly grateful to the donor for his vision and trust in our mission.”
“Today, which is both the dies natalis of St. John of the Cross and the date of birth of John McInnes in 1931, the McInnes family wishes to thank Dr. Jennifer Donelson-Nowicka and the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music for inaugurating this unique scholarship program to prepare the next generation of sacred music practitioners for a life of service to the Church. We look forward to returning each July to spend time at St. Patrick’s Seminary enjoying the choral preparation and singing.”
A longer, more detailed obituary for John McInnes will follow in 2026 in time for the inaugural class to commence. In brief, John grew up in an age rapidly fading from our memory—a Great Depression era existence in which life-long frugality became a bulwark against uncertainty. John lost both his father and mother to cancer, his father in 1934, his mother in 1955, shortly before his civil marriage to his wife, Joan McInnes, who passed way December 25th, 2020. An only child, John maintained a reflexive reticence to speak about his family and personal life to all but his closest confidantes. Combined with his depression-era moderation, he was able to leave behind enough for posterity to enable this scholarship program to be created.
In his corporate career, he had seen the perishability of buildings and legacies. His final verbal wishes were to “make it something that endures.” Received into the Catholic Church on July 16th, 2020, John would endure declining health and the loss of control over his faculties common to many who enter their ninth decade. His late father, Archibald McInnes, served on World War I ships until his discharge. John would never return to his father’s homeland in Scotland but would finish his days watched over by the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer in the Orkney Islands and the Discalced Hermits of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
St. John of the Cross’s commentary on the Spiritual Canticle, Stanza 39 includes this prescient passage:
“The ears of God signify the desire He hath that the soul should sing in perfect joy. And that this song may be perfect, the Bridegroom bids the soul to send it forth, and to let it sound in the clefts of the rock, that is in the transformation which is the fruit of the mysteries of Christ, of which I spoke just now.”
The donor added, “May this gift give voice to the aspirations of continuing generations in their service and a reminder to all of us that ‘The world is thy ship and not thy home.’”
For the application and full details, please visit https://catholicinstituteofsacredmusic.org/ensembles/mcinnes-fellowship/.
Media Contact: Sr. Mary Vianney Program Associate Catholic Institute of Sacred Music mary.vianney@stpsu.edu (650) 353-7153
by admin | Nov 12, 2025 | News
The Catholic Institute of Sacred Music is thrilled to announce the summer 2026 launch of its summer-based 36-credit Master of Sacred Music degree, and two 20-credit Post-Baccalaureate Certificates in Gregorian Chant and Sacred Choral Music, pending approval from WSCUC. Applications open November 15th, 2025.
https://catholicinstituteofsacredmusic.org/graduate-study/
The MSM and Certificates are completable in three to five summers, depending on how many weeks you can be on campus during the summer. During the regular fall and spring semesters, you’ll work with a voice teacher in your area, and take a 1-hour online (live via Zoom) colloquium with other graduate students.
Our affordable tuition ($250 per credit hour) and compact format mean that you can keep your job at a parish or school while completing graduate studies.
Courses will also remain open to students wishing just to take a graduate class or two, without matriculating into a degree/certificate program.
Check out this summer’s classes here: https://catholicinstituteofsacredmusic.org/summer-courses/.
Our curriculum prepares you with the theological, philosophical, and historical knowledge—as well as the practical skills (singing, playing, conducting, teaching, composing, organizing, fundraising)—necessary to build excellent sacred music programs in parishes and schools.
Our world-class faculty of dedicated Catholic scholars and practitioners delivers a curriculum that is robust, and focused on musical excellence and fidelity to the Catholic faith and tradition. Summer classes are buttressed by an horarium that allows time for sung daily Mass and vespers, access to confessions, and time for private prayer, study, relaxation, and fellowship.
Interested in learning more?
We have two digital open houses this week. Sign up here to learn more.
Summer 2026 Courses:
– History and Principles of Sacred Music
– Advanced Seminar in Gregorian Chant: Manuscript Sources, Semiology, and Interpretation
– Advanced Seminar in Gregorian Chant: Vocal Technique and Semiological Performance Practice
– Teaching Gregorian Chant to Children
– Liturgical Theology
– Introduction to Gregorian Chant
– Organ Accompaniment of Chant
– Choral Institute
– Composition Seminar
– Organ Improvisation
– Choral Preparation: Choral Conducting, Rehearsal Techniques, and Group Vocal Pedagogy
– Advanced Seminar in Gregorian Chant: Notation and Practice in the Tenth through Fourteenth Centuries
– Advanced Seminar in Gregorian Chant: Cantare super librum
Program faculty:
– Dr. Jennifer Donelson-Nowicka, Music History and Gregorian Chant
– Prof. Christopher Berry, Choral Music and Organ
– Dr. Frank La Rocca, Composition
– Dr. Charles Weaver, Gregorian Chant
– Dr. Alison Altstatt, Gregorian Chant
– Prof. Sandra Raquel Bengochea, Vocal Pedagogy
– Dr. Joseph Dyer, Gregorian and Old Roman Chant
– Dr. Rosemary Heredos, Gregorian Chant
– Fr. Joshua Neu, Liturgy and Scripture
– Dr. Edward Schaefer, Gregorian Chant
– Dr. Christopher Tietze, Organ
– Fr. Nicholas Schneider, Liturgy
– Dr. Adrian Walker, Philosophy
– Fr. Vincent Wood, Canon Law and Liturgy
Contact us for more information at info@catholicinstituteofsacredmusic.org
by admin | Aug 18, 2025 | News
It was a wonderful beginning of August here at CISM as we welcomed nearly 80 young singers to campus for a 5-day chant camp. Students sang morning prayer, had intensive rehearsals preparing 5 days of sung Masses, and sharpened their vocal technique and solfège skills in rehearsals. Snack breaks and lunchtime games punctuated the days, and afternoons were spent learning about the pipe organ, the names of neumes, key signatures, and doing some composition.
We can’t wait to welcome students back to campus for camp again next summer!
In the meantime, CISM is launching a MAJOR NEW initiative: a comprehensive cathedral-style Chorister Program, training students in the Catholic faith and the Church’s treasury of sacred music, especially Gregorian chant and sacred polyphony.
Scholarships are available for families in need. The registration deadline is Friday, August 29th. Classes start Tuesday, September 9th and meet each Tuesday at St. Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park from 4:15-6:15 p.m.
More information and registration are available here.
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