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
Seeking new Schola members now for the second semester!
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
Join us for the second semester!
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 COLLIS Institute for Catholic Thought, and the Harvard Catholic Center
AN INVITATION TO SPIRITUAL LISTENING:
THE BEAUTY OF MUSIC
Saturday, February 15, 2025
3:00 PM EST introductory talk; followed by music
St. Paul’s Church, Cambridge MA, and Livestreamed
Talk: Elizabeth Lyon Hall
COLLIS/Cornell University
Performance: A Varied Selection Including Music by Handel, Byrd, Gallus, and Anthems from American Hymnody by the Harvard Catholic Schola (dir. William Endicott) and the COLLIS/Cornell Chant Choir (dir. Elizabeth Lyon Hall)
Join us for a combined sacred music performance by the Harvard Catholic Schola and the COLLIS/Cornell Chant Choir student singers, with an introductory talk by Dr. Hall on spiritual listening as a form of prayer and religious expression. Reception to follow.
Co-sponsored by the St. Paul’s Choir School, St. Anselm Institute and Harvard Christian Alumni Society
WHEN NOTRE DAME WAS NEW
MUSIC AND LITURGY IN PARIS C. 1200
Thursday, March 20, 7:00 PM EST
St. Paul’s Harvard Square, Arrow Street, Cambridge & Livestreamed
Presentation: Thomas Forest Kelly (Harvard)
Demonstration and Performance: The Boys and Schola of Saint Paul’s Choir with Soloists; Brandon Straub, Music Director
Pre-register for this event on the origins and flowering of polyphony in the liturgical life of the cathedral c. 1200. More details to follow!
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.
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
