July 2026: the Extraordinary Music Workshop in Kraków
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,101
    I attended this beautiful event in Kraków in 2022 and am happy to pass along the announcement of next summer's workshop. The sessions on contemporary choral music will be directed by Elena Bird-Zolnick (who was on the faculty for CMAA's Colloquium 2025) and Christopher Mueller (@CGM):



    7 days. 450 singers. Historic churches. Plainchant and polyphony. Each summer the Dominican Liturgical Center of Kraków organizes a week-long conference on liturgical music, with workshops, concerts, talks on spirituality and sacred art, etc. It is held at the medieval priory of Holy Trinity in the heart of the old town in Kraków and gathers over 450 music lovers from Poland and, in the last four years, from all over the world! In 2021 we successfully expanded our program by adding workshops, liturgies, and talks in English. The conference is called the Extraordinary Music Workshop (click here to watch the EMW 2023 recap video) and is designed to have participants experience the profound beauty of ancient musical traditions of the Church in their organic development and in the spirit of continuity, as envisioned by the Second Vatican Council. That is why we offer workshops in Gregorian and Byzantine chant, as well as in traditional and contemporary sacred polyphony. Here you can learn more about our program, watch videos and see pictures from previous editions and read testimonies of our participants: www.extraordinary.music.

    Our faculty in the past have included, among others, Fr. Robert Mehlhart, OP, PhD (President of Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music in Rome), Fr. James Moore, OP, DMA (Oakland, CA), Fr. Innocent Smith, OP, PhD (Washington, DC), Dr. Elena Bird-Zolnick (St. Paul, MN), Mr. Christopher Mueller (Louisville, KY), Ms. Grace Feltoe (Perth, Australia), Fr. Dawid Kusz, OP, DMA (Kraków, Poland), Fr. Lawrence Lew, OP (Oxford, UK), and Mr. Andriy Shkrabyuk (Lviv, Ukraine).


    The next edition will be held in Kraków July 6-12, 2026. You will be able to study choral music with Dr. Elena Bird-Zolnick and Mr. Christopher Mueller, learn Gregorian Chant with Prof. Susi Ferfoglia and Prof. Michal Slawecki and even dive into the mysterious beauty of Byzantine Chant with Mr. Andriy Shkrabyuk. Save the date now! Registration will open in mid-January and we hope you can join us this summer. Go to our website to learn more and sign up: www.extraordinary.music 


    We, the staff of the Dominican Liturgical Center of Kraków, would be overjoyed to be your hosts this summer. Let me know if you have any questions regarding the Workshop. 


    With gratitude and prayer for your important service to the Church,

    Fr. Łukasz Miśko, OP, & the Dominican Liturgical Center Staff

    email: l.misko@dlcenter.org
    image
    Thanked by 4wspinnen CHGiffen probe Bri
  • Xopheros
    Posts: 72
    The announcement mentions "contemporary Dominican Polyphony". Do you have an example for this style? I have only found this radio/video interview which -oddly- does not provide a single example of "Dominican Polyphony".
    Thanked by 2OMagnumMysterium CHGiffen
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,101
    Thanks for posting the video link with Fr. Łukasz, talking about sacred music in Poland.

    Several present-day Polish composers have been associated with the Dominican Liturgical Center, so here are a few links:

    Paweł Bębenek:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lT1ITjaOM7s
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOO4Eay14ck (conducted by CGM)

    Jacek Sykulski:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2y-xCj6A6M (though I wouldn't expect that something this elaborate could be done within the scope of the program)
    Thanked by 2Xopheros CHGiffen
  • probe
    Posts: 68
    Does the word 'Extraordinary' mean that it is focused on Traditional Latin Mass or Tridentine chant, or simply that they think it's great?
    Thanked by 1tomjaw
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,101
    At this event, the term "extraordinary" is meant to refer to the music.

    The program introduces participants to Gregorian chant, Byzantine chant, and simple contemporary choral music, And for a fair number of people, those are all new topics.

    When I attended the workshop, the liturgies for the English-speaking attendees were all in English.

    Incidentally, there are daily and Sunday TLMs in the city, provided by priests of the FSSP.
    Thanked by 2probe CHGiffen
  • CGM
    Posts: 782
    Here is a folio of scores we prepared and distributed at the 2017 Convocation for Catholic Leaders in Orlando. The first page has a detailed write-up on the Polish Dominican style.
    Thanked by 4chonak CHGiffen probe Xopheros
  • IanWIanW
    Posts: 795
    It would be interesting to know if the Dominican Rite will be celebrated. Fr. Jarvis is a regular attendee at Spode Music Week in England, where the Dominican Rite is always celebrated on one day of the week.
Add a Comment