Our second annual Advent & Christmas concert, part of our Public Lecture & Concert Series, and sung by the Schola Cantorum of St. Patrick’s Seminary will be lovely. Along with this new concert tradition is another tradition: all the RSVPs are gone within just over a week! To those friends of the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music and St. Patrick’s Seminary who wanted to come but didn’t get a ticket, we’re sorry! We hope you’ll be able to join us next year!
On October 18–19, 2024, we hosted an online conference for music educators on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Jubilate Deo and Voluntati Obsequens. Twelve speakers from around the world shared their stories of successes in handing on the Catholic faith and sacred music in programs for youth. The talks are a testament to the success to be found in accepting the invitation of Paul VI to hand on at least a minimum repertoire of Gregorian chant. When the Church’s sacred music forms the core of a music curriculum, students are able to set down deep roots in their Catholic faith and to find their own voices in the symphony of praise in the cosmic liturgy.
Take a listen to what Archbishop Cordileone had to say about the role of sacred music in Catholic education!
Our founding director, Dr. Jennifer Donelson-Nowicka, has made some recent appearances on podcasts.
Have a listen to the Cardinal Newman Society’s podcast (part 1, part 2) or Five Books for Catholics.
In 1974, Pope Paul VI sent every bishop and head of a religious order in the world a small collection of Gregorian chants entitledJubilate Deo. This booklet contained a “minimum repertoire” of plainchant that he wished every Catholic in the world to know, withthe aim of fulfilling the mandate of par. 54 of Sacrosanctum Concilium: “…steps must be taken to ensure that the faithful are able tochant together in Latin those parts of the Ordinary of the Mass which pertain to them.”
50 years later, the handing on of this treasury of sacred music remains largely unrealized.
Will you join us in making it a reality?
Learn what, how, when, and why to do it in an online conference for music educators, featuring talks by 12 Catholics who will inspireyou and equip you with tools you can use to hand on our Catholic faith by teaching young people to sing the Gregorian chants of theChurch.
More information and registration.
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:
Check them out by clicking here! Or see a calendar view here.
Our fall workshop topics are taught by three faculty members: Dr. Jennifer Donelson-Nowicka, Dr. William Mahrt, and Prof. Christopher Berry. The topics include:
You can register or find out more information by clicking here.
We hope to see you there!
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.