Want to learn how to chant? Head to Loyola University in Chicago, June to 16-22, 2008, for the Sacred Music Colloquium XVIII. They've got something for everybody, from beginners to advanced. Schedule here, cost is $575 (shared room) or $675 (single room). The days are packed, from 7 AM (eeeks) to 9 PM.
"The primary focus of the Colloquium is instruction 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."
Be part of the comeback in chant!
Nice article here about the Clear Creek Monastery in Hulbert, Oklahoma. Clear Creek is the only contemplative Benedictine monastery in the United States, and they're in the process of building "a monastery to last a thousand years." I love big goals! Their website is here, they've got great CDs of chant for sale.
"As Western civilization slid into the Dark Ages, monasteries became repositories of culture. Indeed, many scholars suggest that the Dark Ages weren’t dark at all, considering the art, literature and philosophy that flourished around the Benedictines, the Augustinians and the Carthusians."
"The Renaissance would’ve been impossible without monks, and now some people see the need for another Renaissance.....Monasteries have saved civilization before, and monasteries might do it again."
They are needed. Society has to relearn a whole lot of things.
Those Clear Creek boys could use a little professional advice on website design, though. :-)
Posted by: Sissy Willis | March 25, 2008 at 09:59 AM
After the video game Halo sold over 16 million copies and part of its soundtrack was a plainchant, Universal Music went looking to record men of the cloth singing Gregorian chant.
The cistercians won in Austria after blowing away the music execs with their YouTube audition
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=12135
Posted by: Jill | March 25, 2008 at 05:10 PM