The Catholic Institute of Sacred Music at St. Patrick's Seminary in Menlo Park is proud to announce its co-sponsorship of a November 2023 conference celebrating the work of Dr. William Mahrt. The Institute has issued a call for participation, inviting proposals for academic papers, lecture recitals, and panel discussions. Details are available on the conference website, where the call for participation can also be downloaded. The deadline for the submission of proposals is April 24, 2023.

catholicinstituteofsacredmusic.org/conference

The Musical Shape of the Liturgy: Celebrating the Life and Work of William P. Mahrt

Call for Participation

November 7–9, 2023
St. Patrick’s Seminary, Menlo Park, California

Sponsored by:
The Catholic Institute of Sacred Music at St. Patrick’s Seminary
The Church Music Association of America
Stanford University
The St. Ann Choir

Having devoted his life and scholarly activity to the study and praxis of the Roman rite and its music, the work of Dr. William Mahrt has become a touchstone for countless scholars and active church musicians. Professor Mahrt’s insights into the characteristics of the various forms of Gregorian chant have elucidated the nature of the chant as integral to the sacred liturgy, and even explicated the nature of the sacred liturgy itself. Too, his exposition of the nature of beauty and its embodiment in Catholic sacred music, liturgical gestures and symbols, and architecture has served as an important guide in the Church’s understanding of the purpose of artistic beauty in Divine worship. His work with the polyphonic masters of the Renaissance has illuminated the performances and scholarship of many choirs and students, and his devoted direction of the St. Ann Choir and Stanford Early Music Singers remains a pillar in the practice of sacred music in the United States.

On the occasion of the 150th volume of Sacred Music, which Dr. Mahrt has edited since 2006, upon the establishment of a new chair in sacred music at St. Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park in his name, and on the occasion of the 125th anniversary of the founding of St. Patrick’s Seminary, the organizing committee announces a conference entitled “The Musical Shape of the Liturgy: Celebrating the Life and Work of William P. Mahrt.”

This two-and-a-half-day conference will feature:

- Keynote addresses (William Mahrt, Joseph Dyer, Kerry McCarthy, Sr. Maria Kiely, O.S.B.)
- Papers, lecture recitals, and panel discussions on topics related to the conference theme
- Masses and the sung Divine Office led by the St. Ann Choir and the Schola Cantorum of St. Patrick’s Seminary
- Opportunities for informal discussions over included receptions and lunches on November 7, 8, and 9
- Banquet on the evening of November 8