SACRED MUSIC DIVISION
Formed in partnership with the St. Paul’s Choir School, the Harvard Catholic Forum’s Sacred Music Division invites participants into a deeper engagement with the soaring beauty of a long and rich musical tradition. Our programs integrate the experience, understanding, and performance of sacred music into the music’s grounding and purpose - in spirituality, theology, devotion and liturgy.
HARVARD CATHOLIC SCHOLA AT ST. PAUL'S
Offered in collaboration with the Harvard Catholic Center
Learn and sing repertoire from the Catholic tradition of sacred music, including chant, polyphony, and traditional hymnody, while supporting the regular choir for the 5pm Student Mass on Sundays at St. Paul’s/ Harvard Square during the academic year.
For undergraduate and graduate students, as well as recent graduates, from Harvard and other area universities or conservatories, drawn to Catholic music ministry.
OPEN TO BOSTON AREA UNDERGRAD/GRAD/YOUNG PROFESSIONAL
Offered in collaboration with the Harvard Catholic Center
CHORAL TUTORIAL WORKSHOP
Academic Year, Sundays 3:30-4:30 PM before the 5 PM Mass
Offered by HCF Graduate Fellow Adam Ziccardi
For those of any ability or skill level, including beginners. Because musical skills are learned. not innate, the workshop offers that learning in a way that is fun, rewarding, and community-building. Each week, learn techniques, drill fundamentals, and master one hymn or chant that can be sung with the choir and Schola at the 5pm Mass. Attend regularly and become a functional singer in less than one semester, and musically literate in one year - building a lifelong skill that is liturgically useful and personally edifying.
Co-presented with the St. Paul’s Choir School
HANDEL’S MESSIAH
THEOLOGICAL VISION AND MUSICAL EXPRESSION
Saturday, December 7, 10:00 AM – 12 Noon
Boles Conference Room, Harvard Catholic Center, Cambridge MA
Professor Michael Marissen
Swarthmore College
Handel’s Messiah is one of the most popular choral works of any composer and performed widely during the Advent season. In this 2-hour workshop, world-renowned musicology professor Michael Marissen leads participants in a deeper theological and cultural understanding of this masterpiece. Lecture with integrated Q&A. Refreshments & lunch provided.
Co-Presented by the St. Paul’s Choir School and St. Paul’s Parish, Harvard Square
FAURÉ'S REQUIEM:
DEATH IN THE LIGHT OF ETERNITY
Thursday, November 7
Lecture by Zen Kuriyama
Bates College
Followed by a Memorial Mass for the St. Paul’s Community
With the music of Fauré’s Requiem sung by the Boys and Schola of Saint Paul’s Choir, dir. Brandon Straub
St. Paul’s Church, Cambridge, MA and Livestreamed
Fauré’s beloved Requiem, usually heard in the concert hall, here provides the musical setting of the annual Memorial Mass for the St. Paul’s community in Harvard Square. Before the Mass, Professor Kuriyama delves into the theological, liturgical, and musical dimensions of Fauré’s unique engagement with the great tradition of the requiem Mass.
Co-presented with the St. Paul’s Choir School
HONORING THE VIRGIN MARY IN PRAYER AND MUSIC
Thursday, April 25
Elizabeth Lyon Hall
COLLIS/Cornell University
Music by the Saint Paul’s Boys Choir and soloists, dir. Richard Webster
St. Paul’s Church, Cambridge MA, and Livestreamed
Join us for a feast of music in honor of the Virgin Mary by William Byrd (1540-1623), sung by the Saint Paul’s Boys Choir, preceded by Dr. Lyon’s lecture with Q&A exploring the role of Mary in Christian devotion and the expression of Marian themes in Byrd’s music.
Co-sponsored by COLLIS Institute for Catholic Thought and Culture
Co-presented with the St. Paul’s Choir School
WORKSHOP: BACH’S ST. MATTHEW PASSION
WITH MICHAEL MARISSEN
Saturday, March 23
DiGiovanni Hall, St. Paul’s Campus
Michael Marissen
Swarthmore College
Co-Sponsored by Emmanuel Music and the Ratzinger Memorial Society
Michael Marissen, renowned authority on the music and spiritual vision of J.S. Bach, explores the text, musical rhetoric, theological framework, liturgical context, historical setting, and spiritual vision of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. Lecture with recorded music, study of the text (to be handed out), and Q&A. Refreshments and lunch provided.
Co-presented with the St. Paul’s Choir School
THE MISERERE (PSALM 51) IN PRAYER AND MUSIC
Thursday, March 7
Lecture - Dr. Matthew Hall
Music - Music by the Boys' Choir of St. Paul's and the Ferris Choral Fellows of Harvard University, dir. Richard Webster
St. Paul’s Church, Cambridge MA and Livestreamed
Psalm 51 is a profound prayer and meditation on repentance, conversion, and divine forgiveness. Dr. Matthew Hall explores the text of the psalm, its theological and spiritual vision, and its expression through music in works of Allegri, Josquin, and Byrd. This music then will be sung by the Saint Paul’s Boys Choir and soloists.
Co-sponsored by the Nova Forum
PREVIOUS SACRED MUSIC EVENTS
Other past events:
MANUSCRIPTS FOR PRAYER AND MUSIC IN HOUGHTON LIBRARY | THOMAS FORREST KELLY
VERDI'S REQUIEM: PRE-PERFORMANCE LECTURE AND DISCUSSION | THOMAS FORREST KELLY
