Views from the Choir Loft

Sacred Music Symposium (2018)

Corpus Christi Watershed · June 3, 2018

HE SUCCESS of the Symposium has exceeded anything its founders could have hoped for. With great excitement and gratitude to God, we announce our third annual event, designed especially for (but certainly not limited to) choir directors. ¹

* * PDF Download • Testimonials from 2017|
* * PDF Download • OFFICIAL SCHEDULE for 2018

Read about what happened in 2018, and watch videos!

Not to be missed is marker 59:47 of the final Mass.

Each year we retain familiar faces while adding fresh faculty and events:

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Full Resolution Poster : (PNG) • (PDF)

Excited about this 2018 event?

To receive your application, kindly email dom.mocquereau@gmail.com before the 31 March deadline. Space is limited. Thanks to a generous grant, the conference fee is just $85.00—in addition to the mandatory application fee. Purchasing the meal plan ($145) is recommended, so that you can enjoy a week of catered meals. During the same week, at the same location, the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter will be conducting an Altar Server training camp and private instruction for priests. (Information on these will be released soon.)

From the 2016 Symposium :

2016 • TESTIMONIALS from 2016|
2016 • REHEARSAL the first day|
2016 • REHEARSAL in the Church|
2016 • FINAL CEREMONY with Archbishop Gomez|
2016 • VIDEO PRESENATION explaining the goals

From the 2017 Symposium :

2017 • SLIDE SHOW|
2017 • REHEARSAL FOOTAGE|
2017 • ALLELUIA & IMPROVISATION|
2017 • HOSANNA “Live”

90283 • Los Angeles • Sacred Music Symposium 2017

90282 • Los Angeles • Sacred Music Symposium 2017

90281 • Los Angeles • Sacred Music Symposium 2017

Examples of faculty in past years: Dr. Alfred Calabrese, Dr. Lucas Tappan, Pete Avendaño, and Dr. Meaghan King.

All Symposium events will take place at St. Therese in Alhambra (1100 E Alhambra Rd, Alhambra, CA 91801) with its magnificent organ.

NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1 Those who aren’t professional musicians (but love singing) will take delight in learning from friendly conductors who are the world’s experts. Don’t let fear prevent you from attending!

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

“Music List” • Midnight Mass (Christmas)

Some have expressed interest in perusing the “ORDER OF MUSIC” we followed for our Christmas Midnight Mass. If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. The English version of “In Splendóribus” we’re singing for the COMMUNION CHANT is short but striking.

—Jeff Ostrowski

“Silent Night” • Easy Organ Arrangement

Here’s an organ accompaniment (PDF) in three different key signatures: MIDDLE, HIGH, and LOW. The Latin lyrics (“Silens Nox”) are courtesy of Father Valentine Young, OFM (d. 2020). The organ harmonies are very simple, yet beautiful. Those who desire such a thing may also download a Singer’s Version. Choirs will ‘pick up’ this piece up with minimal rehearsal time. Here’s a live recording from Midnight Mass from a few years ago: LIVE RECORDING.

—Jeff Ostrowski

PDF Download • “Chart For Each Mode”

On 13 December, Dr. Weaver posted an article about the EIGHT CHURCH MODES. I thought it might be helpful to create this mode chart (PDF) which gives the various names for each mode of Gregorian Chant. If you notice any errors, please let me know!

—Jeff Ostrowski

“Lessons and Carols”

Seen online! Dr. Samuel Backman conducted a “Lessons and Carols” service with his choir, and someone produced this lovely vignette.

—Corpus Christi Watershed

Epiphany Proclamation 2025

Each year, without fail, someone asks me to typeset the Epiphany Proclamation, an announcement of moveable feasts chanted each year on the feast of the Epiphany. As a result, you may now find an archive of 23 such proclamations in PDF ready to print HERE.

—Veronica Brandt

The Breviary in the Life of the Laity

Recently I have been enjoying looking through the inaugural (1927) edition of a 20th-century liturgical magazine called Orate Fratres. The July 1927 issue included an excellent article by a Chicago laywoman named Ellen Gates Starr entitled “The Delights of the Breviary: From the Point of View of a Lay Woman.” As we in the 21st century have recently undergone a (blessed!) re-translation of the missal into English, and as we await with joyful hope (please God, before Jesus comes back!) a similar re-translation of the breviary, the opening of her article reminded me of that old saying, “the more things change, the more they stay the same.” Nearly a hundred years ago, she penned words that could just as easily have been written today: “It is indeed a privilege to be allowed any participation, however slight, in the liturgical movement in the Church – the movement to bring back the classics of devotion, the Missal and the Breviary, into general use by the laity. The wonder is that they should ever have fallen into disuse. Nothing can take the place of these great universal prayers of the Church, the prayers of the Mass and the divine Office. One has only to know them to find them indispensable. And alas, how few of the laity know them!” I know that I have been tremendously nourished by regular praying of the breviary as of late, and my wish is that you and I, dear reader, may continue to nourish our interior lives with the official prayer of the Church, which present to us (in the Mass) and extend (in the Office) the fullness of Christ’s greatest gift to us – the gift of Himself – in the Most Holy Eucharist.

—Daniel Tucker