Author Archives: SacredMusic

Perhaps you are wondering why you should attend a Chant Intensive course.

Here is the goal of the course:

To develop the theoretical and practical skills necessary for Gregorian chant performance. As a participant in the Chant Intensive course, you will understand basic Gregorian chant theory according to the Solesmes and other methods, and be able to transfer this knowledge from the written page to live performance as a singer or conductor in liturgy.

This course is where you can learn how to be an effective singer and/or conductor of chant for your own program wherever you live. Since Vatican II, it is not so easy to find a chant expert in your hometown. Learning the finer points of singing and/or directing chant is a lonely goal if you don’t happen to be lucky enough to have a teacher near you. This course allows you to gain the knowledge you need to either sing in a schola or start your own chant group as a director. Whether you just want to be able to sing the new English Missal chants effectively or you want to work toward the goal of singing the Latin propers from the Graduale, this course is for you.

While offering much information about the theoretical concepts, the course is geared toward live performance of chant. You will learn:

1. Reading the four-­line staff ● Clefs ● Principles of Solfege ● Basic Neumes ● More complex neumes ● Bar lines

2. Introduction to Chant Rhythm ● Solesmes Method­ history and application ● Principles of Arsis and Thesis ● The Ictus ● Counting ● Alternative approaches ­ Semiology overview

3. The Gregorian Modes ● Basic Modal structure: Finals, Dominants, Ranges ● The Major Modes ● The Minor Modes

4. Mass Ordinaries ● The Kyriale ● Mass settings in English

5. Mass Propers ● The Gregorian Propers ● English Alternatives

6. The Art of Psalmody ● Antiphonal singing ● Pointing the Psalms

7. Chant Hymns ● Singing the Divine Office

8. Mass preparation for June 12, 2014 (Duquesne University Chapel, 5:00pm) ● Ordinary of the Mass (Mass TBD) ● Propers for the Solemnity of Pentecost

Textbooks include the Gregorian Missal (Solesmes) and the Parish Book of Chant (CMAA).

If you have put off making the trip to take this course in the past, make this the year for intensively studying chant. Registration for Summer Chant Intensive is still open, so register today. The dates for this year’s Summer Chant Intensive are June 9-12, 2014. The course will be held again at Duquesne University, in Pittsburgh. For more information about the instructors and details regarding registration, visit this page.

Details about college credit through Duquesne University’s music department are available here. If you have other questions, write to us.

Registration for this event is now closed. For more information, write to us.

The CMAA Chant Intensive, now in its seventh year, is intended for beginning and continuing students and all who love and appreciate the central role that chant plays as the prayerful song of the Roman Rite – not only at cathedrals and Basilicas but also in every parish. The conference will both train and inspire toward the goal of continuing the renaissance of sacred music in our time, both in the ordinary and extraordinary forms of the Mass.

The Chant Intensive lives up to its name: though no previous experience with chant is required, attendees should be prepared for full immersion from the get go. You will learn or review how to read and fully navigate all aspects of traditional Gregorian notation (square notes). The course will also address correct Latin pronunciation, the sound and mystery of the eight Church modes; Psalm tones and their applications; questions concerning the rhythm of plainsong, and more.

Summer Chant Intensive 2014 will return to the Mary Pappert School of Music at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA. Sessions begin on Monday afternoon, June 9, 2014, and will conclude with sung Mass in the University chapel on Thursday evening, June 12th.

The course will be taught by David J. Hughes (Men), St. Mary, Norwalk, CT and Arlene Oost-Zinner (Women).

DAVID J. HUGHES is Organist & Choirmaster at St. Mary Church in Norwalk, Connecticut, where he directs a professional choir for a weekly Solemn Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite (Missal of 1962), a volunteer choir for the Latin Mass according to the Roman Missal of 2002, and several children’s choirs.

He led the St. Mary’s Student Schola to sing chant and Renaissance polyphony for the primary English-speaking Masses in August 2011 at World Youth Day in Madrid; the students also sang for pontifical Masses at the Cathedral of Toledo, Extraordinary Form Missae cantatae at the Carmelite monasteries in Avila and Madrid, and for the Latin Masses sponsored by Juventutem.

Mr. Hughes is a member of the board of the Church Music Association of America, and has served as a chant instructor and the director of new music at the CMAA’s annual Summer Music Colloquium. He is director of music for the annual Roman Forum Summer Symposium at Lake Garda in the north of Italy.

A native of Stamford, Connecticut, Mr. Hughes is a graduate of Yale College. Photo courtesy: Society of St. Hugh of Cluny.

ARLENE OOST-ZINNER is the director of the St. Cecilia Schola at St. Michaels Catholic Church in Auburn, Alabama, composer of the Parish Book of Psalms (CMAA, 2012); editor of Words with Wings (CMAA, 2012); and currently serves as director of programs for the Church Music Association of America.

Ms. Oost-Zinner has taught chant at all levels for the CMAA’s Sacred Music Colloquium and at workshops around the country, and has trained under several chant masters in a variety of traditions of thought and practice. She is also an accomplished pianist and translator, and has written for the Catholic Answer, Homiletic and Pastoral Review, Inside Catholic, among other publications.

• Summer Chant Intensive 2014 Schedule
• Course Description
• Make your hotel reservation at the Marriott
• Maps of downtown Pittsburgh
• Map of Duquesne University
• Course Registration for Credit at Duquesne University
• Downtown Made Easy in Pittsburgh
• Transportation to and from the Pittsburgh airport
• Instructions for Priests and Seminarians

Late Tuition is $370, and includes all course materials, a continental breakfast and catered lunch on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday; and dinner on Monday, June 9 and Wednesday, June 11.

Accommodations will be available in the dormitories at Duquesne University. The price for a single occupancy room is $50 per night; double occupancy, $40 per night, per person. A one time fee of $7.50 per person is required for a set of linens.

If you’d prefer to stay in a hotel, a special price of $134 plus tax is being offered by the Pittsburgh Marriott City Center hotel, which is just adjacent to campus. You must make your reservation before May 19. Click here to book a room at the conference rate.

On-campus parking is available in the Forbes Avenue Parking garage. The garage is covered and centrally located on campus. Guests may park in the garage on a cash basis or a parking permit may be purchased on the day of arrival. Weekday Parking: $12.00 per day; Evening and Weekend Parking (after 5 p.m.): $6

Duquesne University Campus Map

Public transportation from the Pittsburgh airport is available. Click here for details. Alternatively, a twenty-five minute cab ride from the airport runs about $30

Regular Registration has closed.