Views from the Choir Loft

Andrew Leung • Article Archive

Andrew Leung graduated from the sacred music program of Franciscan University of Steubenville, majored in vocal performance. He has also studied organ, choral conducting and Gregorian chant with world-class musicians. Prior to returning to Hong Kong, he served as a parish music director in Atlanta, and later as the organist and choirmaster at the Cathedral of Macau, China. Andrew is currently the music director of Vox Antiqua, conductor of the Cecilian Singers and music director at Our Lady of China Church. He is also an artist and vocal coach at the Paul Phoenix Academy.—Read full biography (with photographs).

Andrew Leung · December 21, 2015

Sing Like the Angels

We can learn from the best choir, the Holy Angels!

Andrew Leung · December 17, 2015

The “O Antiphons” Begin Tonight

Starting tonight, the “O Antiphons” are prayed at Vespers. A recording of James MacMillan’s “Veni, Veni, Emmanuel” is also included in this post.

Andrew Leung · December 10, 2015

Videos • Popes open the Holy Door

Two old videos of the Opening of the Holy Door

Andrew Leung · December 10, 2015

Understanding the Sacred

Reflection on “Understanding the Sacred” based on two events happened in Vatican this week

Andrew Leung · December 3, 2015

Video • The Voice of St. John Paul the Great

Two videos of John Paul II’s singing

Andrew Leung · December 3, 2015

CMAA Winter Sacred Music Workshop

Registration is now open for the CMAA Winter Sacred Music Workshop in Houston

Andrew Leung · November 19, 2015

What can Men Do Against such Reckless Hate?

“This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before.” —Leonard Bernstein

Andrew Leung · November 12, 2015

Sistine Chapel Choir has made Great Improvement

The Sistine Chapel Choir is sounding like a British Boys’ Choir in their new CD

Andrew Leung · November 5, 2015

Active Participation in the Traditional Latin Mass

2 Churches demonstrate active participation in the Tridentine Mass.

Andrew Leung · October 28, 2015

An American Requiem

A Funeral Guide for helping Catholic pastors, choirmasters and families in America honor our beloved dead.

Andrew Leung · October 22, 2015

4 Choral Combinations that would Help Develop You Music Program

4 combinations of voices that would help develop your parish music program.

Andrew Leung · October 15, 2015

My New Assignment—Part 2

An update on my new assignment.

Andrew Leung · October 1, 2015

Mass in the Ancient Form at a Basilica

The Traditional Latin Mass is being offered regularly at the Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul in Chattanooga.

Andrew Leung · September 28, 2015

Papal Liturgies – Day 6 of the Papal Visit

Pope Francis celebrated the Closing Mass for the World Meeting of Families on the last day of his visit.

Andrew Leung · September 26, 2015

Papal Liturgies – Day 4 & 5 of the Papal Visit

2 Papal Masses in New York and Philadelphia.

Year’s End Appeal • “Asking for Help”

We’re a tiny 501(c)3 public charity. We exist solely by the generosity of small donors. We have no endowment; we have no major donors; we run no advertisements; we have no savings. As 2024 comes to a close, we could really use your financial support—especially if you have never donated before. Click here to securely donate with any major credit card. Thank you very much!

—Jeff Ostrowski

“Music List” (4th Sunday of Advent, Year C)

This coming Sunday—22 December 2024—is the 4th Sunday of Advent (Year C). Some have expressed interest in perusing my “ORDER OF MUSIC.” If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. The English version of “Roráte Cæli” we’re singing for the ENTRANCE CHANT is magnificent.

—Jeff Ostrowski

“Entrance Chant” • 4th Sunday of Advent

Download the ENTRANCE ANTIPHON in English for the 4th Sunday of Advent (22 December 2024). Set in the first mode—just like the authentic version—this setting manages to capture the “essence” of the Gregorian setting in quite an admirable way. Corresponding to the vocalist score is this free organ accompaniment. If you’re someone who enjoys rehearsal videos, this morning I attempted to sing it while simultaneously accompanying my voice on the pipe organ.

—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

Had the Church never spoken on this matter, it would still be repugnant to our Catholic people’s sense of what is fit and proper in the holiest of places, that a priest should have to struggle through the prayers of the Holy Mass, because of such tunes as “Alice, where art thou?” the “Vacant Chair,” and others of more vulgar title, which, through the carelessness or bad judgment of organists, sometimes find their way into our choirs.

— Preface to a Roman Catholic Hymnal (1896)