Blessed Christmas

Gloria in excelsis Deo, et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis.

We'll be singing Christmas morning at 11:30 AM Mass at St. Thomas Aquinas Cathedral, as well as Sunday morning at 11:30 AM (Feast of the Holy Family) and Sunday, January 2 (Epiphany - observed) at 11:30 AM.  We thank you for all your support of Regina Pacis Cantorum in 2010, and look forward to what Jesus and His Blessed Mother have in store for us in 2011.

Another chant site

Gregorian-Chant.info

Although this site is written in Polish, it contains audio versions of various chants for learning purposes.

HT: Sandy

Just for Fun

Perhaps we'll sing this for the Missa Cantata!
(Image from Historic LOLs on I Can Has Cheezburger.)

A Busy Season

As the previous post indicated, this will be a season with plenty of singing!  Here goes the schedule (all Sundays unless otherwise noted, and these are NOT choir call times):

• Sept. 19: 11:30 AM Mass, St. Thomas Aquinas Cathedral
• Oct. 10: 11:30 AM Mass, St. Thomas Aquinas Cathedral
• Oct. 24: 11:30 AM Mass, St. Thomas Aquinas Cathedral
• Nov. 5 (Fri): 8:45 PM Compline, Eucharistic and Marian Conference, Immaculate Conception
• Nov. 6 (Sat): 5 PM Mass, Eucharistic and Marian Conference, Immaculate Conception
• Nov. 14: 11:30 AM Mass, St. Thomas Aquinas Cathedral
• Nov. 21: 8:30 AM Mass, St. Peter Canisius
• Nov. 21: 11:30 AM Mass, St. Thomas Aquinas Cathedral (yes, two Masses on the Feast of Christ the King)
• Nov. 28: 11:30 AM Mass, St. Thomas Aquinas Cathedral (full Missa Cantata)
• Dec. 5: 11:30 AM Mass, St. Thomas Aquinas Cathedral
• Dec. 12: 11:30 AM Mass, St. Thomas Aquinas Cathedral
• Dec. 19: 11:30 AM Mass, St. Thomas Aquinas Cathedral
• Dec. 25 (Sat - Christmas): 11:30 AM Mass, St. Thomas Aquinas Cathedral
• Dec. 26: 11:30 AM Mass, St. Thomas Aquinas Cathedral
• Jan. 2: 11:30 AM Mass, St. Thomas Aquinas Cathedral
• Jan. 27 (Thu): 6:30 PM Benediction, St. Thomas Aquinas Cathedral
• Jan. 30: 8:30 AM Mass, St. Peter Canisius

And more will follow!

New Season To Start Early

The following is from director Kathy Reinheimer. 

Dear Choir Family:

[...]

Most of you have heard me say that someday God would send us a priest who would be trained in the preferred liturgical music of the Church and would want our choir. He is here.

Last June, I was contacted by a priest who thought he was going to be transferred to Reno and was interested in the choir. I did not know until later that he was to be the new rector at the Cathedral. [...]

Father Francisco Nahoe, OFM, is highly trained liturgically and musically. Interestingly, we have had two of the same chant teachers, one of whom is a current teacher and mentor of mine. We are absolutely on the same page. Father wants everything we have to offer; singing the Propers, Gregorian chant Masses, the Pater Noster, the responses in Latin - everything! And this means ALL the Propers including the Gradual and the Alleluia. This will be an incremental process because you can’t throw the entire thing at people in one go. I have agreed to sing for the first Mass on Sept. 19 at the 11:30 AM Mass. We will only sing one of the Propers that day, the Introit. But Father has set a goal of the First Sunday in Advent for a full Missa Cantata (i.e. sung Mass) in Latin. I am certain it will be the first one ever in the Diocese of Reno. And we will sing for it!

And we will be singing for Christmas at the Cathedral as well, although the Mass time has not be set. Polyphonic Masses for special occasions are definitely fine with Father Nahoe.

As a bonus, Father Nahoe is one of the kindest people it has been my privilege to know. As one of my teachers assured me, “He is the real deal.” I can scarcely believe it, yet I have spent enough time with him to know that he is serious about implementing true sacred music at the Cathedral. And what a beautiful voice he has!

[...]

We still have obligations to other parishes which have been good to us over the past several years [Holy Spirit Mission and St. Peter Canisius] and those must be honored. [...] We will sing for both Friday night and Saturday Nov. 5 & 6 for the conference at Immaculate Conception. And I hope to continue the tradition of Solemn Stations of the Cross at St. Rose of Lima.

[...]

I pray that your summer has been one of blessings and renewal. I am looking forward to being with you again very soon!

Pax Christi,
Kathy Reinheimer

I have changed the website accordingly.

New Link: Chant Cafe

A project of the Church Music Association of America, Chant Cafe is a blog by and for those who attend sacred music events around the world.  As I post this, they're commenting about the colloquium that's being held at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh.  And guess who's attending?  Yep, our very own Kathy Reinheimer!

Chant Cafe is also on Facebook.

Looking Ahead

According to director Kathy Reinheimer, we'll be singing once again at the Eucharistic and Marian Conference in November at Immaculate Conception in Sparks.  Also, there's a possibility of us singing for a wedding at the recently restored and retrofitted St. Mary's in the Mountains in Virginia City.  Stay tuned.

Ite, Missa Est

And another season of Regina Pacis Cantorum is in the books.  Thank you, Kathy, for your encouragement and guidance!  Thank all of you singers for making it possible.  And thank all our supporters from the churches to the families and friends for keeping us going.  Long live the music of the Church!

Reminder

Tomorrow (May 23) is Pentecost Sunday!  We'll be singing at St. Peter Canisius' 8:30 AM Mass, and then both the choir and the Schola will sing at the Ecumenical Choir Festival starting at 3 PM at Trinity Episcopal Church in downtown Reno.  See you there!

Gary Marks, Holy Family Cathedral, "Music of Prayer"

Another nice explanation of sacred music and the role of the organ.  (Ever notice how few Catholic churches use organists anymore, even if they have organs?)



HT: Katie Torvinen

What's a colloquium like?

This!


SACRED, BEAUTIFUL, & UNIVERSAL: Colloquium XIX from Corpus Christi Watershed on Vimeo.

HT: Chris Beasley

Sacred Vs. Secular Music

A video by Corpus Christi Watershed:


Can you tell the difference?? from Corpus Christi Watershed on Vimeo.

Many other videos are available at the CCW link on the right left.

HT: Chris Beasley

Audio editing

Courtesy of Aimee Deutschendorf:

The editing session for the Regina Pacis Cantorum demo CD was today. It went well! Thanks to Mr. Michael Eardley of Tanglewood Productions.

Stations of the Cross

We'll be singing this Friday night at St. Rose of Lima for Stations of the Cross, beginning at 6 PM. Then on Sunday night at 7:30 PM, we'll sing for Palm Sunday Mass at Holy Spirit Mission.

We're Secretly Auditioning A New Director

Iz teech colloquiumz qolocweumz colokwiems moozic 2!

No Singing This Sunday

Unfortunately, we will not be singing this Sunday at Corpus Christi in Carson City. That makes our next Mass next Sunday (the 21st) at St. Peter Canisius, 8:30 AM.

Recording Session Post Mortem

Thanks to St. Rose of Lima, Fr. Larry, and especially Tanglewood Productions for coping with the wind going through the roof, as well as the occasional Southwest flight to Las Vegas, Houston, and West Palm Beach.  Bet you didn't know William Byrd wrote pieces for SATB and B-737, eh?

We recorded four pieces Tuesday night:

• Intret Oratio
• Kyrie from Missa Sine Nomine, Byrd
• Ave Verum Corpus, Byrd
• Tollite Hostias, Saint-Saens

Stay tuned . . . at least some of these will show up here!

Recording: Ora pro nobis!

This Tuesday night, we'll be recording at St. Rose of Lima.  Eventually, some of the recordings will appear here.  St. Cecelia, patron saint of music, ora pro nobis!

(Is there a patron saint of recordings?  Sound boards?  Mixing?)

Schedule through May

Here's Regina Pacis Cantorum's latest schedule through Easter and beyond.  These are the Mass/service times, not the call times for the choir:

• Sunday, Feb. 21: St. Peter Canisius, Sun Valley, 8:30 AM
• Sunday, Mar. 14: Corpus Christi, Carson City, 9 AM
• Sunday, Mar. 21: St. Peter Canisius, Sun Valley, 8:30 AM
• Friday, Mar. 26: St. Rose of Lima, Reno, 6 PM (Stations of the Cross)
• Sunday, Mar. 28 (Palm Sunday): Holy Spirit Mission, Washoe Valley, 7:30 *PM* [1]
• Sunday, April 4 (Easter Sunday): Holy Spirit Mission, Washoe Valley, 7:30 *PM*
• Sunday, April 25: St. Peter Canisius, Sun Valley, 8:30 AM
• Sunday, May 23 (Pentecost Sunday): St. Peter Canisius, Sun Valley, 8:30 AM
• Sunday, May 23: Ecumenical Choir Festival, Trinity Episcopal Church, Reno, 3 PM

[1] 7:30 PM for the two Masses at Holy Spirit Mission is NOT a typo; that's when the wonderful visiting priest from Boise (!) can get there.

Next Mass

Our next Mass is Sunday, February 21 at St. Peter Canisius at 8:30 AM. Stay tuned for our Holy Week/Easter Masses and services.