California Central Coast Chant Workshop
  • gregpgregp
    Posts: 632
    The 3rd Central Coast Chant Workshop will take place at the Mission San Juan Bautista the weekend of October 16 and 17, concluding with a sung High Mass in the Extraordinary Form in the Mission Church. It will run from 9 AM - 4 PM on Saturday, October 16th, and from 9 AM to the end of the Mass on Sunday, October 17th (approximately 3:30 PM).

    This year we will be offering a beginning track for those who are just starting out in Chant, and an advanced track for those who have some experience singing Chant.

    The beginners will learn chant notation, Latin pronunciation, and the basics of singing the parts of the Mass. Advanced singers will be concentrating on rhythm, tone, and expression.

    The Latin Mass community at the Mission is now over two years old, and we have been celebrating a weekly High Mass (Missa Cantata) since Advent of 2008. This would be a great opportunity to learn about the sacred music of the Church, which the second Vatican Council called, "a treasure of inestimable value, greater even than that of any other art."

    Kathy Reinheimer, who directed the workshop last year, will be teaching the advanced track. Kathy is Director of the "Regina Pacis Cantorum" choir and the "Sursum Corda" schola, which sing throughout the Diocese of Reno and the Sierra foothills of California. Kathy is well known for her knowledge, experience, and humor.

    Greg Plese, who will be instructing the beginners, is the director of the "Laudate Dominum" schola, which sings at Mission San Juan Bautista.

    Cost for the two day workshop, which includes lunch on Saturday, is $35 (only $20 if you already have a Parish Book of Chant), but reservations are required, so sign up soon by contacting Greg Plese at gaius_iulius@yahoo.com, or call 831-261-3010.
  • gregpgregp
    Posts: 632
    I thought I'd bump this up to see whether anyone else would be interested in coming to the chant workshop at Mission San Juan Bautista.

    The previous post happened to catch the eye of some folks at the Mission San Buenaventura, and about 10 of them will be coming. Besides just the chance to sing an Extraordinary Form HIgh Mass in the largest of the California missions, San Juan Bautista is also a genuine small town (1549 people according to the 2000 census), in which you have to watch out for the chickens which roam the streets.
  • mjballoumjballou
    Posts: 994
    If I were anywhere near San Juan Bautista, I'd be there in two shakes of a lamb's tail! This mission and the town are gems in one of the most beautiful parts of California. I don't know where to start - the mission chapel, the gardens, the view from the graveyard over a valley that speaks of abundance and peace, the state park with its 19th century buildings, the great Mexican restaurants, the chickens crossing the road...

    While you won't sing the proportional Medicean chant of the mission friars, you will be spending a day and a half in a place that speaks of their deep faith - and their conviction that anyone could learn to sing. (If you don't believe me, read Craig Russell's From Serra to Sancho.) The Mass at which you assist will be one they would recognize in a second.

    And while I don't know Kathy, I know Greg is a great chant-fanatic and the soul of focus and patience. So beginners will have nothing to fear and everything to gain.

    All this within driving distance of San Jose, the Bay Area, all of the Central Coast...if you can, get thee hither!
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