Upcoming Chant Education Events

This is not intended to be an exhaustive list. If you know of any others, mention away in the comments.

• As she does every year, Kathy will be attending the CMAA's annual colloquium, this time in Philadelphia the week of July 1-6 (how appropriate! Independence National Historical Park is worth the visit, as is the Ben Franklin Institute. But watch where you park!).
• Kathy asked me to make mention of two chant courses at the western end of the Keystone State occurring just before the colloquium. Pittsburgh's Duquesne University, a previous colloquium site, will offer both Chant Intensive and Laus in Ecclesia during the week of June 24-28. Read more about them here after scrolling past the colloquium info.
• That same week, and closer to home, Corpus Christi Watershed and the FSSP are hosting their annual symposium (what's the difference between a colloquium and a symposium? The symposium is intended for choir directors or those who want to become directors, but others are welcome.) in Los Angeles. Unfortunately, registration appears to have ended as of March 31. Our new friends from St. Bridget's in Las Vegas say they intend to be there, but it's a much shorter drive for them than us.

(Related: CCW is holding a fundraiser to keep its site operating past Good Friday (April 19). It has been quite a useful site for me over the years, especially with its sound files and PDFs of chants.)

The Passing Of Another RPCer

Kathy has informed us that Art Hakes, a former choir member, has died. She learned of that via Jan Walker, a friend of Art's and a former member herself.

Please pray for the repose of Art's soul. His funeral will be at the Carmelite Monastery in Reno on April 12 at 10:30 AM.

For him and his soul I post Psalm 130:

Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD; LORD, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive to my voice in supplication.
If you, O LORD, mark iniquities, LORD, who can stand?
But with you is forgiveness, that you may be revered.
I trust in the LORD; my soul trusts in his word.
My soul waits for the LORD more than the sentinels wait for the dawn.
More than the sentinels wait for the dawn, let Israel wait for the LORD,
For with the LORD is kindness and with him is plenteous redemption.
And he will redeem Israel from all their iniquities.

Making the Most of a Tough Situation

Kathy put a good deal of miles on her Honda in the last week, driving from Reno to Henderson and back to see to her daughter Marli (between her parents above), who broke both bones of her forearm last week. It's going to be a long recovery for her, and her violin playing will have to wait a while. Please keep her in your prayers.

I mentioned last year that Las Vegas had a single Catholic church that offered Extraordinary Form Masses, namely St. Bridget. While tending to Marli, Kathy went to their 10 AM Sunday Mass and got to hear their teen Schola Cantorum Sancta Brigida, directed by Andrea Leaf. Kathy said their music was relatively basic but done quite well. Take a listen to them yourself, either on the web site above or on their Facebook page.

Could a road trip to Las Vegas be in our future? You never know. In any event, it's always good to make the acquaintance of another chant and polyphony choir in the Silver State. God was able to bring this opportunity out of Kathy and Marli's difficult situation; again, please pray for her.

Father, May We?

Why was Summorum Pontificum so necessary? As people have been sharing with New Liturgical Movement, not so long ago the faithful had to not only ask permission, but in some instances complete a permission slip, to have an EF Mass said. Check out this one from the diocese of Buffalo, NY, circa 1985 (click to enlarge, credit: Amy Elisabet and Una Voce Buffalo):

Wow. It could just as well read, "Are you now, or have you ever been, someone who doesn't like how the liturgy was changed, as opposed to how Vatican II said it was going to be changed?" If you know of or have any similar documents, NLM would love to see them. I for one am glad Summorum Pontificum transfers the burden to the diocese or archdiocese who must show why an EF Mass may not be said.

Now, I cannot repeat this enough: the purpose of Regina Pacis Cantorum is not to eliminate the Novus Ordo Mass. We have by far sung for more NO Masses than we have EF Masses, and will continue to do so at Assumption in Truckee and elsewhere. We just want to ensure the opportunity to experience the EF and all the sacred music opportunities in its timeless liturgy are not denied to those who want it, and Pope Emeritus Benedict happily opened the door via Summorum Pontificum.

How Does It Feel To Be One Of The Beautiful People?

In rehearsals, we (and by "we," I mean the tenors) had our struggles with the short Introibo motet that we mixed with the Introibo chant for Communio. I saw Kathy offer up a short prayer to Our Lady Queen of Peace and St. Cecelia just before we started singing it today for Sexagesima at Holy Spirit Mission.

We did pretty well with it, avoiding major stumbles and causing Kathy to offer up a prayer of thanksgiving when we were done. Then, loud and clear, came a review from a little girl critic across the aisle from us:

"That music was beautiful!"

I mentioned earlier that it's inappropriate to applaud in church, but I never said anything about such a comment. We all chuckled, and Kathy gave the girl a hug. Unfortunately, she and her mother left before we could ask if she could sing soprano with us.

That, however, is our purpose: to sing beautiful, sacred music worthy of, and reaching for, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

Sunday Looks Iffy, But Stay Tuned

Click to enlarge this timeline for the rest of this week from bass Mark Deutschendorf and his band of merry National Weather Service Reno meteorologists:

We've managed to avoid snow cancelling our "gigs" at Assumption in Truckee so far, but it looks like this Sunday may--emphasis on may--be the first time. Kathy will make the decision and let you know, and I'll keep you posted as well.

Here's a tip: If you want to get an idea of what the NWS Reno brain trust thinks will happen, the most useful portion of their website (IMO) is their Area Forecast Discussion. It's updated at least a couple times a day. From their discussion of 2/13/19, 15:21 PST (I'm glad they don't put it in ALL CAPS anymore, but the caps you see below are from the report itself):

This weekend through the middle of next week, northeast CA and western NV will remain under a large-scale upper trough. This brings high confidence that afternoon temperatures will remain below average through the period, with 20s and 30s for most areas Sunday through Tuesday. At the higher elevations (above 8000 feet), widespread single digits and teens can be expected with deep cold air entrenched over the region. 
 
 As far as precipitation, confidence is high that any showers will be in the form of snow. There will be three waves moving into the upper trough: one Saturday, one Sunday, with a third possible around next Wednesday. As far as snowfall amounts, there are of low confidence as it will depend on the exact track of the waves. Also, with snow being of a convective nature, localized areas could have burst [sic] of heavier snow showers that are unpredictable given their small-scale nature. Keep in mind that while we have light snowfall accumulations forecast for the valleys over the weekend this is for non-paved areas. If snow is not persistently moderate to heavy, or falling between the evening and mid-morning hours, it will have a hard time sticking to roads in areas where the air temperatures are in the ~mid 20s or higher (roads can heat 15-30 degrees above air temperatures in the afternoon this time of year). 
 
BOTTOM LINE FOR THIS WEEKEND: be prepared for slick, snow-covered roads in the higher elevations (pass level) of the Sierra and northeast CA with LENGTHY TRAVEL DELAYS QUITE POSSIBLE. For valleys, periodic slick travel conditions are also possible, mainly between the evening and mid-morning hours. -[Shane] Snyder 

What this amateur meteorologist gleans from this is that we might be able to sing if the snow levels stay high enough, say 7,000 feet or more. But things could change before then, and often do. If we can get there, it will be interesting to see how much snow has been piled up around the Assumption parking lot.

The NWS Reno Facebook and Twitter feeds are worth following also. I-80 California road condition info can be obtained from the CHP Truckee barracks (Facebook, Twitter) or via Caltrans.

Meanwhile, In The Land of OCP...

...a.k.a. Portlandia, comes this pleasantly surprising development:

Archbishop Sample’s pastoral letter encourages worship music that is truly sacred — and he gives objective criteria (Catholic Sentinel)

Archbishop Alexander Sample on Jan. 25 released a pastoral letter to the Archdiocese of Portland on sacred music for Mass, seeking to highlight “perennial truths”: sanctity, beauty and universality. 

“Only music which possesses all three of these qualities is worthy of Holy Mass,” Archbishop Sample writes, explaining that ancient or modern music can qualify but that Gregorian chant is the preferred music for Roman Catholic worship. [...]

“The beauty, dignity and prayerfulness of the Mass depend to a large extent on the music that accompanies the liturgical action,” the archbishop writes.  

And from the letter itself (HT: Corpus Christi Watershed):

Every parish is asked to learn English plainchant settings found in the Roman Missal and should establish a least a small repertoire of Latin Gregorian chants for Mass parts.

Wow. Just wow. It doesn't get more direct than that, and yet it appears His Exellency has done a fine job of not browbeating it into his flock. That Abp. Sample is doing this is not surprising, since he laid the groundwork for a similar occurrence in the Diocese of Marquette, MI when he was bishop there.

We're not supposed to applaud in Church, so let's give His Excellency applause here:

Exit question: Does this new emphasis on sacred music make Portland more weird or less weird?