Last night at the NLM "blognic" meetup at the Open Baladin -- attended by some 40 people all crammed into a pretty small space -- Gregory DiPippo said to me: "I assume you will be making regular posting on the blog about the conference." I sort of gulp a bit.
For one thing, I've yet to figure out a stable solution to the internet issue. You know how it is when you travel. There are all sorts of issues with international roaming, 3-G, data connections from your hotspots, local tricks with the wireless, blank spots, time limits, posting issues over time zones, and so much else. It takes days to figure it all out. I'm right now typing from my hotel room, listening to the bird song outside my window and wondering why the birds in Rome never sleep, and just grateful that I have (for now) and connection that will allow me to post at all.
In sum, here is my brief report: this conference is more successful than the organizers expected. I saw 300 plus people at the Vespers last night and probably 50 people were standing in the back. This service was not even open to the public. So a success so far? I would say so. The mood is at once serious and exuberant.
Dom Alcuin Reid has accomplished something extraordinary here. The liturgy book itself is a feat: a large hardback volume with all the music and words plus translations in four languages. It is a marvel unto itself. The liturgy was beautifully sung as the schola that sings at a local extraordinary form Mass led us in some very tricky Mode III Psalm singing that certainly kept me on my toes.
The schedule of speakers is so spectacular that it tempts anyone who came here as an excuse to sightsee to skip the sights and stay closely connected to this conference. It all begins again at 9:00am today.
I'm truly not sure how much I can really blog this event but I will try to post a few more items as the week progresses.
Fr. Z has has excellent images from the Vespers, and here are some more scenes from last night's blognic.
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| William Mahrt, president CMAA |
