Category Archives: Music

Animators

Posted on 7 January 2020 by

Pope Francis speaking to the Third International Meeting of Choirs this past Saturday: You are the musical animators of the whole congregation. Don’t take its place, depriving the people of God of the chance to sing with you and bear … Continue reading →

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La Guadalupana

Posted on 11 December 2019 by

One of my favorite story songs for this week’s feast. Plus, “Arrest and Separation” by Arturo Cambron:

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Scramble For Christmas Programming

Posted on 9 December 2019 by

I don’t usually gossip about current parishes. But it’s going to be an interesting one this year, halfway through construction with lots of distractions on the side. It’s hard to believe that tomorrow night will be the second-last full rehearsal … Continue reading →

Posted in Christmas, Liturgy, Music, Parish Life | 1 Comment

Choir Road Trip

Posted on 27 November 2019 by

My singers like to hit the road for musical events. The archdiocesan NPM chapter hosted parishes at a Seattle parish last week. Our two pieces are here. Hopefully the social media link is working. One of my people pointed out … Continue reading →

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Ang Katawan Ni Kristo

Posted on 27 November 2019 by

Thanksgiving programming is often fun for a music director. One trap missalette publishers and the USCCB fall into is their same set of readings year after year. Over a decade ago, I promoted cycling through a different set of readings … Continue reading →

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Singing The Mass: What Does It Mean?

Posted on 4 October 2019 by

In the good ol’ days (the 1980s), singing the Mass was something of a movement. Church musicians were encouraged to look beyond our pre-conciliar inheritance, the four-hymn sandwich. More parishes were singing the Psalm after the first reading. Mass settings … Continue reading →

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Derision

Posted on 16 September 2019 by

One of the last music reading sessions I attended a couple seated next to me punctuated sight-singing with comments of ridicule and not-so-stifled laughter. Most octavos had “NIMP” scribbled in big letters. In two hours, I found one or two … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Music | Tagged | 3 Comments