Thursday, August 30, 2007

Chant workshop in Central Wisconsin

I just wrote up the following short for the next Catholic Times:

St. Peter’s to host Gregorian chant workshop
STEVENS POINT, Wis. – In his Feb. 22, 2007, post-synodal apostolic exhortation “Sacramentum Caritatis,” Pope Benedict XVI wrote, “I desire, in accordance with the request advanced by the synod fathers, that Gregorian chant be suitably esteemed and employed as the chant proper to the Roman liturgy” (n. 42).
Stepping up to the plate to fulfill the pope’s request is St. Peter’s Parish in Stevens Point, where a first-ever Gregorian Chant and Polyphony Sacred Music Workshop will be held Oct. 26-27. Intended for “music directors, choir members, clergy, teachers, parents or anyone interested in experiencing our rich heritage of sacred music,” the workshop will teach participants to read chant notation and to sing polyphonic music.
The two-day workshop, which begins at 3 p.m. Oct. 26 and concludes with an Italian dinner following the 4 p.m. Vigil Mass Oct. 27, will be conducted by Father Robert Skeris. Currently director of the Center for Ward Method Studies at the Catholic University of America, Father Skeris previously taught as a professor at the Pontifical Institute for Sacred Music in Rome. He was ordained as a priest of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee in 1961.
Participants will spend a large portion of the workshop preparing a repertoire of Gregorian chant Mass parts and polyphony pieces, which they will sing during the 4 p.m. Vigil Mass at St. Peter’s.
Cost for the workshop is $75 and includes a text, music and some meals. Lodging and other information is available at www.saintpetercatholic.com. For more information, contact Darcy Bunn at 715-343-9007 or jdbunn@charter.net.

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