Ryan P. Murphy, CAGO, announces the formation of Sacrae Voces, a polyphonic choir for college students and young adults. The choir will be singing sacred music for Mass and probably in concert as well. Rehearsals will be on Wednesday nights (at least until mid-May) beginning on March 23. The ensemble will occasionally sing during the 6:00 PM Sunday Mass at the St. Paul Cathedral in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. While the focus of the choir will be on Renaissance polyphony, homophonic music in Latin and in English from the Baroque period and beyond will also be sung.

All choir members must audition. The audition will consist of exercises in matching pitch, imitation, sight reading, and an interview. Those auditioning should also prepare something sacred to sing - a chant, a hymn, a polyphonic part, etc. Anyone with interest and basic singing ability is encouraged to audition, even without choral singing experience. Contact the director at ryanmurphy525@gmail.com to schedule an audition.

Ryan Patrick Murphy is the organist and choirmaster of the Pittsburgh Oratory of St. Philip Neri and of St. John’s Lutheran Church of Highland in McCandless, Pennsylvania. He is also an organist and cantor at the St. Paul Cathedral in Pittsburgh and is the founder and director of the Schola Cantorum of the Pittsburgh Oratory, a liturgical choir which sings Gregorian chant on a weekly basis. He has studied chant with Scott Turkington and Dr. William Mahrt and with Dom Daniel Saulnier in Solesmes, France. Mr. Murphy graduated cum laude from Duquesne University, where he was a winner in the 2005 University Concerto Competition. A Colleague of the American Guild of Organists, he is currently a graduate student at Cleveland State University where he studies organ with Dr. Horst Buchholz.

The musical tradition of the universal Church is a treasure of inestimable value, greater even than that of any other art. The treasure of sacred music is to be preserved and fostered with great care.  --Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Second Vatican Council
For more information on sacred music, visit http://musicasacra.com/pdf/smfaq.pdf