Musicam Sacram (1967) – Directed Reading Group Topic #1 of Spring 2025 Workshop Series Mondays, February 10 & 17, March 3 – 5:30 – 6:30 p.m., PST
Join Dr. Jennifer Donelson-Nowicka as we read the 1967 Instruction from the Sacred Congregation of Rites on the implementation of Sacrosanctum Concilium in the realm of sacred music. In addition to the content of the document, we’ll discuss the background for the document, its current legislative status, and its implications for the practice and understanding of sacred music today.
Instructor: Dr. Jennifer Donelson-Nowicka Live via Zoom
Vocal Technique for Aging Voices Topic #2 of Spring 2025 Workshop Series Mondays, March 10, 24, and 31 – 5:30 – 6:30 p.m., PDT
Do you have older choir members in your parish music program who need assistance in tackling vocal technique challenges that arise later in life?
Are you an older singer looking for technical advice to develop or maintain your sound?
In this 3-part workshop, singer, voice teacher, and Feldenkrais instructor, Karen R. Clark presents lessons to both older singers and teachers of older singers on how aging voices can improve consistency and stamina in their singing of chant and the choral repertory. In each session, Karen will present brief awareness lessons and offer vocal exercises to bring greater ease to enhance the joy we experience in singing.
Session 1 – Monday, March 10, 2025 – How to organize “dynamic posture” for singing, exercises for sustainable and balanced muscular engagement
Session 2 – Monday, March 24, 2025 – Breath awareness and pure tone singing
Session 3 – Monday, March 31, 2025 – The speech articulators: jaw, tongue, teeth, and palate, and how these interrelate to shape sounds for optimal tone production
Instructor: Karen R. Clark Live via Zoom
Clergy Chants of Holy Week - Spanish Topic #3 of Spring 2025 Workshop Series Monday, March 31 – 3:00 – 5:00 p.m., PDT
Are you ready for Holy Week? Are you a priest, deacon, or musician who trains clergy and who would benefit from understanding the chants of the clergy? Join us for this well-timed session to head into Holy Week well prepared to sing the sacred liturgies of this most holy time of the year. The chants covered will be in Spanish, according to the settings in the 2018 Misal Romano (USCCB) and the Passion narrative settings in Spanish by José Ballón according to the traditional chant tone, including the concluding planctus tone. Workshop instruction will be given in English, while the chants will be in Spanish.
The chants included in the workshop are: -The gospels of Palm Sunday (before the procession), Holy Thursday, and Easter Sunday -A short review of the “solemn tone” for presidential prayers -The prefaces of Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday (Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper), and Preface I of Easter -Good Friday petitions -The Exsultet -Easter Vigil blessing of water -Easter dismissal -Passion narratives, according to St. Luke and St. John
Instructors: Dr. Jennifer Donelson-Nowicka & José Ballón Live via Zoom
Clergy Chants of Holy Week - English Topic #4 of Spring 2025 Workshop Series Monday, April 7 – 4:30 – 6:30 p.m., PDT
Are you ready for Holy Week? Are you a priest, deacon, or musician who trains clergy and who would benefit from understanding the chants of the clergy? Join us for this timely session to head into Holy Week well prepared to sing the sacred liturgies of this most holy time of the year. The chants covered will be in English, according to the settings in the 2011 Roman Missal (ICEL) and the Passion narrative settings in English by Jennifer Donelson-Nowicka according to the traditional chant tone, including the concluding planctus tone.
The chants included in the workshop are: -The gospels of Palm Sunday (before the procession), Holy Thursday, and Easter Sunday -A short review of the “solemn tone” for presidential prayers -The prefaces of Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday (Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper), and Preface I of Easter -Good Friday petitions -The Exsultet -Easter Vigil blessing of water -Easter dismissal -Passion narratives, according to St. Luke and St. John
Instructor: Dr. Jennifer Donelson-Nowicka Live via Zoom
Pricing: $20 for 1 topic - live access via Zoom $70 for all 4 topics in the series - live access via Zoom $10 optional per topic add-on for archived access.
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