MusicaSacra

Church Music Association of America

Sacred Music Colloquium XIX

“Seven Days of Musical Heaven”

June 22-28, 2009 (Monday noon through Sunday morning)
Loyola University, Chicago, Illinois
Sponsored by the Church Music Association of America

You are invited to sing with and experience the Sacred Music Colloquium, the largest and most in-depth teaching conference and retreat on sacred music in the world.

Gregorian Chant has been called the most beautiful music this side of Heaven. But as Pope Benedict XVI and the Second Vatican Council have emphasized, it is also integral to Catholic liturgical life and should be heard and experienced with wide participation in every parish. The Church Music Association of America is working to bring about this ideal with its Sacred Music Colloquium.

The primary focus of the Colloquium is instruction and experience in chant and the Catholic sacred music tradition, participation in chant and polyphonic choirs, nightly lectures and performances, along with daily celebrations of liturgies in both English and Latin. You are there not merely as an attendee but as a singer in some of the greatest choirs you will ever experience, singing music that will touch your heart and thrill your artistic imagination — music that is integral to the Catholic faith.

Attendance is open to anyone interested in improving the quality of music in Catholic worship. Professional musicians will appreciate the rigor, while enthusiastic volunteer singers and beginners new to the chant tradition will enjoy the opportunity to study under an expert faculty.

Attendees will also benefit from camaraderie with like-minded musicians who share their love of the liturgy of the Church. Growing awareness and appreciation of chant and its solemnity has generated particular excitement about the conference this year.

THE COLLOQUIUM OFFERS:

  • Extensive training in Gregorian chant and the sacred choral tradition under a world-class faculty;
  • Choices of a chant class for beginners, and two intermediate and two advanced chant classes;
  • Choral experience with one of four large choirs singing sacred music of the masters such as Palestrina, Isaac, Bruckner, Victoria, Byrd, Tallis, Josquin, and many others;
  • Daily liturgy with careful attention to officially prescribed musical settings;
  • Residency in new dormitories or optional hotels;
  • Breakfast, lunch, and dinner from a fantastically varied menu ;
  • Training in vocal production and technique;
  • Conducting practicum;
  • Training for Priests in the sung Mass;
  • Pedagogy demonstrations;
  • Composers’ Forum;
  • Coffeehouse Polyphony night;
  • Seminars on parish music management, the role of the cantor, integrating sung parts of the liturgy, polyphonic repertoire for beginning and more established choirs;
  • All music, including prepared packets of chant and polyphony, as part of registration.

You will participate in the liturgical highlights of the week including an English Mass, two successive Masses with Gregorian ordinary chants, a vespers service, sung holy hour and Benediction, nightly Compline, and three Masses with motets by the masters and polyphonic ordinary settings by Morales, Victoria, Monteverdi, and many other composers old and new in both the ordinary and extraordinary forms. The music packet, included as part of registration, exceeds 200 pages, but divided between five different choirs, assembled so that you can choose a choir that matches your experience needs.

LOCATION

Loyola University was founded as a Jesuit college in 1870. Its lush campus is located in the Rogers Park area of Chicago and sits right on Lake Michigan: in fact, the chapel in which you sing at Mass daily opens to the lake. A large university with 25,000 students and modernized facilities, it retains a retreat-like environment. The rehearsal rooms are spacious and the dining hall is modern and bright with an huge menu to choose from. Every type of food, including a fantastic selection of fresh fruits and vegetables, is available cafeteria-style every day. The newly renovated chapel features soaring lines and live acoustics. Dorms are new and feature wireless access.

See the sound files from 2007.

DIRECTORS, PRESENTERS, AND STAFF

Horst Buchholz
Scott Turkington
William Mahrt
Wilko Brouwers
Kevin Allen
Kurt Poterack
Arlene Oost-Zinner
Fr. Scott Haynes
MeeAe Cecilia Nam
David Hughes
Fr. Robert Pasley
Susan Treacy
Jeffrey Tucker

Horst Buchholz
Cathedral Choirmaster
Conductor, Denver Philharmonic Orchestra Denver, Colorado

Wilko Brouwers
Conductor, Monteverdi Chamber Choir Utrecht, Cantiere Vocale Utrecht, Strijps Chamber Choir, the Netherlands,
and the Schola Cantorum of the Cistercian Abbey in Achel, Belgium

William Mahrt
CMAA President, Lecturer, and Editor of Sacred Music
Stanford University
Palo Alto, California

Scott Turkington
Organist & Choirmaster
St. John the Evangelist Roman
Catholic Church
Stamford, Connecticut

Kurt Poterack
Composer, Master of the Choristers
Christendom College
Front Royal, Virginia

Kevin Allen
Composer and Choirmaster
Monastery of the Holy Cross, Chicago

Arlene Oost-Zinner
Chant Director, St. Cecilia Schola
Auburn, Alabama

David J. Hughes
Organist & Choirmaster
St. Mary Church
Norwalk, Connecticut

Fr. C. Frank Phillips
Pastor and musician
St. John Cantius, Chicago
Washington, D.C.

MeeAe Cecilia Nam
Professor of Voice, Metropolitan State College of Denver

Fr. Robert Pasley
Pastor and Musician
Mater Ecclesia

Catholic University of America

Susan Treacy
Professor of Music
Ave Maria University
Naples, Florida

Fr. Scott Haynes
Priest-Musician
St. John Cantius
Chicago, Illinois

Michael Lawrence
Organist and Composer
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Jeffrey Tucker
Managing Editor
Sacred Music
CMAA

A FEW COMMENTS FROM HUNDREDS:

  • “I still can’t get over the unforgettable experience of attending the Colloquium. It was a real eye-opener and has enriched me musically, spiritually and intellectually. The instructors were excellent! The food and entertainment were great! The Masses were heavenly! I am already looking forward to the next one and hope I could bring along more people to help in restoring the Church’s musical and liturgical treasures.” Edwin Fernandez
  • “Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the wonderful work you all put into the Colloquium. This was my second year attending and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. The information was great, the conducting was amazing and the organization was fabulous. I had tears in my eyes several times during the Masses… I attended the colloquium last year as a volunteer musician at our parish and this year I attended as music director for our parish. I was hired three months ago and since then we have completely revamped our 11:30 Mass. Our pastor and I did a ton of education through bulletin inserts and preaching. I immediately formed a schola….”
  • “It was a wonderful experience for me, truly six days of heaven, and I will never forget it. I particularly enjoyed the conducting class, and the polyphony rehearsals, the lectures and organ performances and improvisations, all the Masses, of course. In short, everything that I attended. I know that this success did not come without a tremendous amount of work on everyone’s part…” Dove Pierce
  • “The CMAA Colloquium has now indisputably claimed a place among prestigious and well-run music conferences. You will certainly want to attend next year’s event – this was my first time, and the experience was overwhelmingly positive!” Gary Penkala, Cantica Nova Publications

LODGING AND FOOD: Housing will be in the Simpson dorms at Loyola University - with everyone in the colloquim in the same large and modern building. They are designed in an apartment style and each room or set of two rooms has a restroom (so no walking down the hall). Loyola will provide linens, pillows, towels, soap, and shampoo. The dining hall is located downstairs, and features a wide variety of American, foreign and vegan cuisine, prepared with care. For those who choose the day rate, you can stay in one of many retreat houses or hotels in the Chicago area, and pay for whatever meals you choose to eat on a per meal basis (at extremely reasonable prices).

See also this page on Chicago’s Catholic past and present

REGISTRATION COST: We are still working on prices, but they will be broken up as a very affordable price for tuition and materials, while housing and food will be separate and reflect Loyola’s direct costs. You can secure your place with a non-refundable $75 deposit, payable through the registration page.

You can also mail this registration form that includes your check or credit card number to: CMAA Colloquium Registration, 920 Sanders St., Auburn, AL, 36830.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

INFORMATION FOR PRIESTS

  • All priests are invited to concelebrate on the days that we use the Ordinary Form.
  • On the days we celebrate the Extraordinary Form, there will be a concelebrated Mass at 6:45AM in the Madonna De La Strada Chapel for all the priests since they do not concelebrate during the EF.
  • If you wish to say private Mass, there are altars available in the lower crypt of the chapel.
  • If you are going to concelebrate each day, you will need at minimum an alb, and a white, purple and green stole. If you wish to attend the EF in choir, you will need a cassock, surplice and if you like, a biretta.
  • Finally, if you are going to say private Mass, you will need a kit and vestments that will fulfill the proper regulations, including vessels, wine and water, bread, altar cards, altar cloths, etc.

We hope you enjoy these images from last year’s event.

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