Hello all,

I hope you are considering attendance at the second annual MusicaSacra St. Louis Conference, taking place from Thursday, February 16, until Saturday, February 18, in St. Louis, MO. A couple highlights about the conference, in case you need a little convincing:

1) Registration is "church-budget-friendly"! $75 covers the whole weekend! The conference timing (from Thursday evening until Saturday afternoon) is also friendly, especially if you are in the Midwest: you can even get back for Sunday Masses!

2) This event is taking place at a metropolitan cathedral! A conference very seldom takes place in a such a location AND with the support of the
diocesan music department, in this case that of Horst Buchholz, our very own VP of the CMAA and the Director of Music for the Archdiocese of St. Louis.

3) Speaking of location: the Cathedral-Basilica of St. Louis is one of the most beautiful edifices in North America, and perhaps in the world. Its Byzantine-Romanesque architecture will even feel "homey" to the Eastern Rite-ers among us here! The Kilgen/Moller/Wicks organ is also notable for its size and variety of color. This trip is worth it for the building alone!

4) Faculty includes names familiar to many here: Dr. Horst Buchholz, mentioned above; Scott Turkington, Organist and Choirmaster, Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, Charleston, SC; Nick Botkins, Organist and Master of Choirs at St. Francis de Sales Oratory (ICRSS; one of the largest EF apostolates in the country).

I'd also like to offer a couple personal bona fides: This is a perfect place for a weekend trip. One look at the website associated with the Cathedral Basilica photo link above will show you that you could stay occupied for weeks just visiting beautiful churches! Dr. Buchholz has done wonderful things with the cathedral music program, and Mr. Botkins' handling of the program at de Sales has made it into one of the finest EF programs in the country as well. The area surrounding the cathedral, the Central West End, has many wonderful options for eating and entertainment, as does the area surrounding the conference hotel. St. Louis also has one of the finest botanical gardens in the world, and numerous other fine museums and public attractions. In short (spoken as a West Virginian who misses home and his "second home" in Texas), it's a lovely place to live or visit. If you have questions, just message me on here or email and I will be happy to help. I hope many of you will join us this year. We had a great conference last year despite somewhat cramped quarters. This year, we have the "run of the house", so to speak, so I hope that will lead many of you to sign on. Thanks! The conference website can be found at: http://musicasacrasaintlouis.drupalgardens.com.