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As a graduate of the class of 2012 from Franciscan University of Steubenville with a Bachelor of Arts in Sacred Music with a concentration in organ, I was recently asked to share a few words on the quality of the University's Sacred Music Program and how it has prepared me for the future. It was difficult to sum up my experiences within the Sacred Music Program in only a few words as these past four years within the program have been filled with invaluable, life-changing opportunities for me as a musician. Where do I even begin? And I am sure I will still receive numerous benefits and insights from my time here many years after my graduation. That being said, I have included my quote below in order that you might get an idea of the beautiful experiences and the excellent education which the Sacred Music Program has to offer.
"My formation within the Sacred Music Program has been a time of immense blessing, inspiration, and thorough immersion into the musical traditions of the Catholic Church.
It is a gift to be taught by faculty that are loyal to the teachings of the Catholic Church and possess a love and a zeal for the faith. This attribute is uncommon in the field of music. It is a substantial blessing to be taught by Catholic musicians who become just as enthused as their students over a stirring liturgical text as they elucidate the theological meaning behind the melodic setting of a word or phrase. I would not be the accomplished musician I am today if it were not for their artistry, dedication, and perseverance. I did not begin to study organ until I changed my major to sacred music at the end of my freshman year, yet under Dr. Paul Weber's careful guidance my skills as an organist have grown in leaps and bounds.The program's careful attention to the individual needs of the student, their encouragement of the pursuit of excellence, and their emphasis on beautiful music as an integral part of evangelization have nurtured a group of musicians who are armed with a double edged sword: the sword of truth and beauty. Truth speaks to the mind, but beauty speaks to the heart. Pope Benedict XVI calls sacred music 'an audible and perceptible rendering of the truth of our faith. In listening to sacred music - suddenly we feel: it is true!'
This program is forming musicians for the conversion of souls."
Below are a few videos from the Schola Cantorum Franciscana's concert at St. Elizabeth Seton parish in Carnegie, Pennsylvania this past semester of spring 2012. We were graciously invited to the parish to give a performance in the recently expanded space. The concert was a beautiful experience for both the members of the schola and the parishoners. One older woman approached me at the end of the concert and told me that her husband had passed away a few months ago. "Your music is helping me to heal," she said. "It was a gift." I counted her words as one the highest compliment one can ever receive as a musician. A true musician does not perform his art for himself but for others, to relieve pain and to heal souls. If one has accomplished this for even just one person, than he has succeeded in his art. May the glory of God be always at the center of this program.
Palestrina's Missa Tu Es Petrus: Gloria
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jorcs9…
Michael Haydn's Vespers of the Holy Innocents: IV. De Profundis
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZW3h9…
"My formation within the Sacred Music Program has been a time of immense blessing, inspiration, and thorough immersion into the musical traditions of the Catholic Church.
It is a gift to be taught by faculty that are loyal to the teachings of the Catholic Church and possess a love and a zeal for the faith. This attribute is uncommon in the field of music. It is a substantial blessing to be taught by Catholic musicians who become just as enthused as their students over a stirring liturgical text as they elucidate the theological meaning behind the melodic setting of a word or phrase. I would not be the accomplished musician I am today if it were not for their artistry, dedication, and perseverance. I did not begin to study organ until I changed my major to sacred music at the end of my freshman year, yet under Dr. Paul Weber's careful guidance my skills as an organist have grown in leaps and bounds.The program's careful attention to the individual needs of the student, their encouragement of the pursuit of excellence, and their emphasis on beautiful music as an integral part of evangelization have nurtured a group of musicians who are armed with a double edged sword: the sword of truth and beauty. Truth speaks to the mind, but beauty speaks to the heart. Pope Benedict XVI calls sacred music 'an audible and perceptible rendering of the truth of our faith. In listening to sacred music - suddenly we feel: it is true!'
This program is forming musicians for the conversion of souls."
Below are a few videos from the Schola Cantorum Franciscana's concert at St. Elizabeth Seton parish in Carnegie, Pennsylvania this past semester of spring 2012. We were graciously invited to the parish to give a performance in the recently expanded space. The concert was a beautiful experience for both the members of the schola and the parishoners. One older woman approached me at the end of the concert and told me that her husband had passed away a few months ago. "Your music is helping me to heal," she said. "It was a gift." I counted her words as one the highest compliment one can ever receive as a musician. A true musician does not perform his art for himself but for others, to relieve pain and to heal souls. If one has accomplished this for even just one person, than he has succeeded in his art. May the glory of God be always at the center of this program.
Palestrina's Missa Tu Es Petrus: Gloria
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jorcs9…
Michael Haydn's Vespers of the Holy Innocents: IV. De Profundis
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZW3h9…
Saying Goodbye to a Papal Kindred Spirit
Have you ever had a day where you acted upon an impulse, uncertain if maybe it was the smartest or the most sensible thing to do, only to have it actually turn out even better than you thought? I definitely had one of those days today!
After my sacred choral repertoire class today, I decided I wanted to do some window shopping. As you might expect, it turned into the usual female shopping excursion where the woman begins with no particular inclination to buy anything, but she returns home with less money in her pocket than when she left. I started by going to a couple boutiques, but not needing anything in particular clothing-wise, I decided
Where Hitchens Went Right
This is a passage adapted from a blog entry I recently wrote on the passing of Christopher Hitchens.
Christopher Hitchens, an adamant atheist who passed away on December 15th (although I suppose I should say former atheist, as atheism doesn't exist in the after life) said once that one of his "big quarrels with the Anglican church, the one in which I was baptized, is that it got rid of the King James Bible for the most part and the old hymnbook."
"They now sing and read these banal versions of [liturgy], which I used to enjoy," he said.
"I now go to an Anglican or Episcopalian ceremony, and I'm just horrified by what they've lost," he said
Letter to Artists from Bl. John Paul II
To all who are passionately dedicated to the search for new "epiphanies" of beauty so that through their creative work as artists
they may offer these as gifts to the world.
"God saw all that he had made, and it was very good" (Gn 1:31)
The artist, image of God the Creator
1. None can sense more deeply than you artists, ingenious creators of beauty that you are, something of the pathos with which God at the dawn of creation looked upon the work of his hands. A glimmer of that feeling has shone so often in your eyes whenlike the artists of every agecaptivated by the hidden power of sounds and words, colours and shapes, you hav
© 2012 - 2024 Cecilia37
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Three cheers for all of you!