I am new to the Tampa/St.Pete area and wanted to know if anyone knows of congregations which have choirs or chorale societies singing exclusively traditional Catholic music and Gregorian chant. I am aware of chorale groups in the Sarasota and Orlando areas, but so far have found none in this area?
It is encouraging that Gregorian Chant seminars were offered to teenagers this year, as this is one of the many reasons young men today are drawn to the Church, the monastic life and the priesthood. Any thoughts on such groups, or whether any musical directors in this genre would be interested in starting a chorale group in the St. Pete area, similar to the mission in Orlando/Sanford area. John
Epiphany of the Lord in Tampa is the Diocese of St. Petersburg's home of the Traditional Latin Mass and has a schola that sings primarily Gregorian chant and polyphony with some occasional English anthems (!). The director is a friend of mine; we worked together when the TLM was at another parish in the diocese and I was parish music director (long story about that parish situation, don't get me started - but he's there and I'm at another parish not far from there now and have sung with them a few times since). I'm not sure if that's what you're looking for, but that's the best I know of - the diocese has been a valley of tears for traditional Catholic music for quite some time, but there are a few of us here trying our best.
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