Today would have been the opening of the 30th CMAA Colloquium in Tampa, Florida. It is so sad that we cannot get together in person and celebrate sacred music, learn so very much, renew old friendships, meet new friends and go home, after a very intense week, exhausted with joy and renewed in spirit.
We want to thank Father Richard Hermes and the staff at Jesuit High School, Tampa, for their enthusiastic and heartfelt welcome. They were so good and generous in helping us plan. We were eager to use their beautiful facilities and to worship and sing in the new and stunning Chapel of the Holy Cross. They want us to come back and we want to come back as soon as possible.
The CMAA, however, was forged in difficult situations, and has not thrown in the towel. From Monday, July 6 through Friday, July 10, therefore, we will offer our very first virtual colloquium! Each evening will start with a short spiritual conference, followed by faculty sponsored events. On Thursday, July 9, at 2:00PM Eastern time, we will celebrate a Requiem Mass for all the deceased members of the CMAA. The Requiem will be broadcast live on the CMAA YouTube channel, from Mater Ecclesiae in Berlin, New Jersey. (I will be the celebrant, and Mr Peter Carter will direct the Sacred Music.) We will also end each night with sung Compline according to the 1960 rubrics. As announced on the CMAA website:
The Church Music Association of America is proud to invite you to join us in our first Virtual Sacred Music Colloquium. As the world contends with the effects of the worldwide pandemic, the CMAA’s Sacred Music Virtual Colloquium will be designed to provide sessions that will be useful to you during these times of musical restrictions, as well as moving forward toward the future. Our virtual program offers opportunities for learning, singing, listening, and interacting with some of the best minds and musicians in the Catholic world today!It has been a very bad year, filled with disease and social unrest. It is so wonderful, however, that we have this chance to continue to be engaged in the Sacred Music we so love. Please stop by musicasacra.com and register. Praised be Jesus Christ!
The CMAA Virtual Colloquium will be primarily focused on instruction in topics related to chant, polyphony and the Catholic sacred music tradition, lectures and daily night prayer. During the week, you’ll be able to participate in all these sessions via your home computer using the Zoom app. At the end of each breakout session there will be a question and answer session.
Virtual Colloquium Highlights
Breakout sessions during the week on a variety of topics, from directing, organ improvisation, Catholic Music in Time of Pandemic, children’s programs, vocal pedagogy and Ward Method, Spanish Musical Resources (in Spanish), Programming for your Choir, Rehearsing the Choir, Medieval Analysis, and The Jubilus of the Alleluia, among others.
Daily Spiritual Reflections provided by our chaplain, Rev. Robert Pasley.
Night Prayer – Roman Rite, Extraordinary Form
Evening Panel Discussions and opportunities to share experiences.
