St. Richard Youth Choir

Things Are Different

2012-01-09T06:43:00.002-06:00

Choir members should tool around the schedule and Calendar for important different information as needed.
-the mgmt.

ACDA 2012 Full Recordings

2011-09-01T09:10:00.006-05:00

THERE WILL BE CD'S AS SOON AS THE REHEARSAL TRACKS ARE POSTED

In the meantime, you should listen to these until you can hum along independently with them without music.

On a Personal Note: Trying to Find the Big Picture

2011-08-29T10:41:00.001-05:00

I would like to thank everyone who has been so kind as to keep up with this blog. Though I will not take it offline, I am taking a hiatus from posting. Probably a quite long one. I will update the Choir Calendar and Mass Schedule tabs as needed for the use of the choir families. It has been a wonderful experience blogging about the Youth Choir, and I will miss it, but I must re-work my time and talents to better suit my family's needs for a while.

Thank you again for your kind support of the St. Richard Youth Choir and this blog.

Mrs. Carleigh

Choir Season 2011-2012 starts SOON!

2011-07-31T10:43:00.001-05:00

After a whole summer's hiatus from blogging, it's time to quit hanging around and start us looking forward to our Fall Season!

Choir Season Begins at Registration!!!! We will hold a MANDATORY parent meeting from 2:00-2:30 PM on Sunday, August 21st for registration of ALL choir members, new and returning. We will discuss rules, the schedule for the year, and the possibility of a Pueri Cantores Festival somewhere driveable. Choir rehearsal will follow from 2:30-4:00 PM.

I wanted to again thank all the choir members who helped sing at the Cathedral. I keep hearing good things from Cathedral staff about how we did. It's always good to hear that hard work really does pay off.

See you all on Sunday, August 21st, parents AND choir members, in the choir room at 2:00 PM! Later's....

Mrs. Carleigh

Out of the Ordinary

2011-06-27T10:30:00.001-05:00

Corpus Christi Mass 2011, St. Peter's Cathedral, Bishop Joseph Latino, presider

I am lifting my blog hiatus briefly to share our wonderful experience singing for the Cathedral this past weekend. We sang with the Cathedral Choir under the direction of Jimmy Scoggins, and we brought our chant skills to bear singing the Lauda Sion salvatorem, O Salutaris Hostia, and the Pange Lingra gloriosi. It was a fantastic opportunity to put such outstanding music of the Church in its rightful place at what was certainly a beautiful Mass.

I'd like to thank Fr. Jeffrey Waldrep, Mary Woodward, Bishop Latino, Jimmy Scoggins and the Cathedral Choir for their kind welcome and support. We appreciated the chance to join all of you for this Mass.

Below are two of the highlights from Mass, the Sequence for Corpus Christi, Lauda Sion salvatorem, and the O Salutaris Hostia. Our chant skills are still in the formative stages, so bear with us as we continue to grow and work!

Easter 2011 at St. Richard Catholic Church, Jackson, MS

2011-04-25T18:58:00.000-05:00

Easter morning came very very very early for us. I got up at 5:00 AM to make goo for the choir (goo is our special concoction to heal all things that ail voices at 8:00 in the morning). We got to the church by 6:30 AM, and started setting up for Mass.

The choir started arriving at 6:45 AM or so and put on their robes and grabbed their books, ate the last of the bananas from Saturday's rehearsal and settled in to warm up and get serious about this Easter thing.

Our organist, the ever-amazing and wonderful Christopher Ray arrived, got the organ warm, and helped us run through psalm and acclamation and anthem and ordinary before heading over to the church to start the prelude.

We downed some more goo, sang through the sequence (which is by necessity here sung after communion, which makes me a little sad), and did the yearly "how do we line up for a procession" dance (with about the same results as usual---cat herding and lots-o-confusion), and then realized we had our binders AND our Worship III hymnals to manage while walking and no time left to fix that, so things were a bit awkward as we processed, but still good.

Claire sang the psalm and it was lovely. Below, there's a video clip from the psalm, but I did not include it in its entirety because it is marred somewhat by me TRYING to get my darling little slugs to SING the parts we had gone over so many times in rehearsal (or sing ANYTHING for that matter) on the refrain and the little tag bit in the verses and one thing I've discovered about myself is that I do not sing well when I'm trying to communicate vociferously to a choir of people who are ignoring me WHILE I'm also trying to song lead. (This is why song leading FAILS---it's a dual role and you end up doing neither thing well. You neither sing well NOR conduct well. HATE HATE HATE song leading. Let's start a petition to abolish THAT, why don't we?)

We sang our anthems, sang the ordinary, and sang the sequence. Not too shabby for the little choir that could. I am proud of the work we've done these past seven years. I think back on how far we've come and I wonder...how far CAN we go? How will we serve God next year and in the years to come?

In the meantime...here is Sunday's full choir rendition of Exsultate Justi, Regina Caeli, and that snidbit of a psalm I promised you.

Donkeys, Palms, In Monte Oliveti, and New Friends

2011-04-18T10:32:00.000-05:00

Goodness, what a busy weekend for the choir. We sang at the Palm Sunday Vigil Mass here at home at St. R's, and then hit the road early Sunday morning to head north to Yazoo City and sing Palm Sunday at St. Mary Catholic Church "up there".

We really enjoyed our time in Yazoo City. The youth were especially hospitable, cooking and serving lunch for us and generally showing us a GREAT time! It was good, too, to see Fr. Lincoln Dall again and celebrate Mass in the lovely community he now shepherds. We'd like to especially thank Mrs. Rosemary, our accompanist, for doing such a fantastic job.

So, in order:

St. Richard's Vigil Mass included the dramatic reading of the Gospel which is a standard here, and Greg Mitchell was the percussionist. James' mom is up there helping the lectors give this reading it's special punch.

CLICK HERE to see an excerpt video from the reading.

James closed our Lenten Experience this year, just as he began, singing the psalm, only this time, the text was "My God, My God, Why Have You Abandoned Me?"

For our anthem at both Masses, we sang Battastini's In Monte Oliveti, which has as it's text, Jesus's words in the Garden.

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Sunday brought cooler temperatures, and we were blessed with a bright beautiful sunny blue-green world in Yazoo City. For our Communion Meditation we sang Billings' When Jesus Wept, and I'd like to point out that the camera is in the loft and we are unamplified. Acoustics, when designed properly, WORK. Amplification distorts voices. I really appreciated the space we sang in here, as it was really a pleasure to sing without microphones and have such a nice result::

And Finally..... The after Mass luncheon with the Youth of St. Mary's. Thanks guys for the food, the great service, and the AWESOME playing of Ninja and big blue ball...

On the Road Again, With EXCITEMENT

2011-04-14T08:35:00.000-05:00

On Saturday, we'll sing at Mass at St. Richard's, but on SUNDAY MORNING, Palm Sunday 2011, we have the distinct privilege of singing in Yazoo City at St. Mary's Catholic Church with family and dear friends of the choir. Fr. Lincoln Dall is the pastor now at St. Mary's and Trey, Chantele, and Kayla have LOTS of family that live "up there" in the Delta, so there is much excitement around town that we are coming.

Yesterday, I drove up there to get a feel for the place, check logistics, meet Mrs. Rosemary who I found to be a great accompanist, and really nice soul, and figure out all the how's and where's of Mass for Sunday. I took some photos of this beautiful little church, and wanted to share them with you guys. Something to note, that is a tin ceiling, and the steel beams are a later addition because it had serious structural problems at some point. I think it is a beautiful church. When they moved the altar forward, they dropped the head piece which had been sitting on the altar and put it, with the tabernacle, on the floor with it's angels. I sense that there was a reluctance to destroy anything, and make it easy to put back should history and time make that possible. One can only pray and hope. At least the Tabernacle is where it belongs.

I apologize for not taking exterior pictures. I will do so Sunday when we are there. Honestly, I just forgot because the interior was so beautiful and Catholic. I'd like to lift this little church WITH its friendly and amazing community, off its foundations and drop it by helicopter near my house so I could go to church there, but Fr. Lincoln thought maybe that'd be a bit difficult. :) So, we'll visit instead. Here are the pictures:

From Their Perspective: Crazy Sale 2011

2011-04-11T21:16:00.001-05:00

I let them take their own pictures this time. So...below you can peruse the 166 pictures that I found on my camera when I got it back from them...

They include some pricelessly beautiful candid shots of individual choir members, and a whole ream of what they are calling "creeper pictures" (I have no idea what that means to them exactly, but to me it looks like they are practicing to be amateur private detectives. **note to self: maybe murder dinner theatres weren't such a good idea!

So, in their original form, uncut and uncaptioned...here are the SRYC, in all their quirky glory, as seen from their very own perspective:

Crazy Bake 2011

2011-04-07T08:15:00.002-05:00

UPDATE: Apparently, our little friends in the choir took 166 pictures of themselves when I let them play with my camera. I'm out of town right now, so uploading would be EXPENSIVE, but I'll put them ALL up when I get home. For now, I'll share just one picture and add just one question for the guys...."So, you found the "sports" setting on the camera, eh?" I am wondering whose less than brilliant idea jumping off of things during Mass was, but we'll all agree to love them anyway because they are cute:

It begins again. The crazyness of Spring. The seventh annual Spring Bead N' Bake is upon us, and we are hard at work making products for sale this weekend at Mass. Again, we'll have our Chocolate/Candy coated brownie pops, the "normal" brownies, and we'll also have our wire crosses for sale. We'll be on the sidewalks this year because we don't want to clog up the bridge so much. Please do take a moment to look at the display boards on your way into Church. They tell the story of our trip to Rome and all the other work we do here at the SRYC.

ACDA All State High School Honor Choir 2011 with Dr. William H. Caldwell, Clinician

2011-04-04T10:25:00.003-05:00

I hear from the four SRYC members privileged to attend the three days' hard work of the audition-only All State Honor Choir that Dr. Caldwell was an amazing clinician. I heard it myself at the concert. I've been doing this Honor Choir thing with the SRYC and with Claire for almost ten years now, all over the country, and I can ASSURE you that this was the finest work done by a clinician I've ever seen. No nonsense, no movements (which I abhor and secretly believe indicate that a clinician doesn't have enough will to nuance the music itself and resorts to killing time teaching a bunch of junk instead of properly working the music), and a directness in the concert pieces that was astonishing.

He wrangled out of 126 or so High School students who were talented and well taught to begin with a sound that was unified, nuanced and powerful. He did so across genre lines and presented a balanced repertoire of music which I really appreciated.

Claire and I took pictures along the way...me of the SRYC members (and two Junior Youth Choir members who were attending the MMEA Elementary School Honor choir from St. Richards' School) and Claire from within the closed rehearsals. There are also videos from the concert. If you have an older computer, do not despair, these will load, you just might want to grab a cup of coffee and let them load fully before trying to explore and listen and watch.

Photoblogging the experience:

The Concert

This concert is the fruit of almost a years' worth of work, and the last of its kind for our seniors. I look forward to many more years of taking the best of the SRYC to the best of the Honor Choirs.

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Consecrate the Place and Day, by Lloyd Pfautsch, available through Alfred Press # 1367739

(St. Cecilia is the patron saint of music, which identifies this piece as yet more music created for Catholic Liturgy, presented as excellent repertoire to teach with):

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Der Abend, by Johannes Brahms, ed. by Drew Collins, available through CPDL # 50

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When Allen-a-Dale went a-Hunting, by Robert Lucas Pearsall, available through CPDL # 4990

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Laudate Pueri, by Mozart, ed. Gabor Kukin, available through CPDL # 809

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Pilgrim's Hymn, by Stephen Paulus, available through http://www.stephenpaulus.com

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Walk Him Up the Stairs, by Gary Geld and Peter Udell, arr. "Bugs" Bower

Emptiness: The First Sunday of Lent

2011-03-21T10:54:00.000-05:00

Emptiness

It is really the only way to make space for something new.

That is the stark reality of Lent. We seek out the vast emptinesses of deserted space to honor the Sacrifice of Jesus by cleansing our own lives and hearts and finding out what it will take to let go of our sense of pride and self-achievement.

Our cantors served at the Vigil Mass for the first Sunday of Lent. There was a wedding to follow Mass, so things were a bit odd in a way...what with flowers in the aisles but none on the altar, photo-shoots during rehearsal and a bizarre confusion about Claire being the bride while she was standing in the confession line.

(The hat probably confused people, but she did have fun wearing it TO church, even if she did not wear it during Mass. It is, after all, Lent. I expect we'll see it again come Easter).

James is the frame for our Lenten journey in the SRYC. He has the privilege of singing two of the great psalms of the year and this year he will begin and end Lent for us. So, here is James, proclaiming from the ambo, our sorrow and need for God, while we the people reflect and respond:

With the silence of the desert around us, it is fitting that there is so little music in Lent. No opening hymn, no closing hymn, and the comfort of the English chant ordinary make for a stark but beautiful contrast to the flourishes to come Easter morning. For Communion meditation, Claire & Sean offered this duet, "Lord Have Mercy" (again, the text of Psalm 51) by Cesar Franck, arr. by Hal Hopson:

NEEDED: Some new people who like to "Come early, work hard, and stay late"

2011-02-24T09:49:00.001-06:00

Sean & Claire at their 1st Honor Choir

As I look ahead to the future of the SRYC as Claire and Sean hurtle towards adulthood, I can't help but look back fondly at the years...

I remember when the Junior Youth Choir began under Mrs. Helen. I was there from the very inception of the "family" choir. Claire started in First Grade, before there was a Cherub choir, and I remember sitting every morning in the freezing dark cold waiting on her school bus with a blue binder spread out in front of us memorizing the words to that months' Junior Youth Choir music.

I remember Sean in his karate gi hiding under the bell tables, pestering John Luc who was also in his gi, and then remember the exact moment that they each figured out that if you pestered girls there was a much much bigger reaction.

Back then, we served dinner each week for the kids. One of my favorite memories is my accidentally asking Kaitlyn if she'd like some "dead animal" as I handed her a hot dog (never gave it a second thought, frankly...pun intended) and she burst into tears and refused to eat hot dogs for three months. Ooops. I remember Claire's face as it happened...there was horror, embarrassment, amusement, and surprise at Kaitlyn's reaction. I think it was the first of a long string of "Mama?!?" from Claire in the choir.

As Sean & Claire got bigger, the choir grew around them. Eventually, they graduated from the JYC and joined the ranks of the Youth Choir. We have done SO much work together. Sean was one of those rare choir members who came early, worked hard, and left late. Every time. He wasn't a gifted craftsman, but made up for it in enthusiasm and wit and charm. I have treasured his attention to detail and thoughtful work ethic and though his sarcasm can be distracting and confusing at times, he is ever a source of funny and quirky.

Claire didn't really have a choice about "coming early, working hard and leaving late." She has done it all cheerfully through the years and been a great asset to me personally and more help to the choir itself than anyone will ever know.

We start next year without them. Though they will return at holidays and sing with us while they are in college, the choir must forge a new path now. I am frankly getting older, and am starting to feel the effects of chronic illness and fatigue more than ever before. This doesn't mean we slow down or give up, but it WILL mean that new leaders must arise out of the ranks of the choir if we want it continue. I will need a few people who believe in what we can accomplish together enough to replace the two we lose and become the new "come early, work hard, leave late's".

It's worth it. The skills you learn last a lifetime. In this choir, you learn not only music, vocal technique, repertoire, and liturgy, you also learn service, business administration, cash management, marketing, product development, event planning, acting, theatre craft, banquet serving, cooking, and cleaning. These are the activities which make it possible for the SRYC to travel, and to give back to the younger generation the fruits of what we have learned and experienced together.

I ask you to pray for the choir as we transition. I ask you to help me recruit young people to this organization. If you have a neice, a nephew, a son, a daughter, a grandchild, brother, sister, or friend who would like to serve God at His altar in song, sing excellent music, travel, laugh, and above all and serve God in humble work to earn our place in the parish, please contact me at the Church Office. We will be taking applications soon for new members. (601) 366-2335, ask to leave a message for Carleigh Bedell. Thank you.

AWWWW...Isn't it CUTE?!?

PS...if anyone has any embarrassing pictures of Sean doing choir things (hey...Sean's Mom, email me sumthin' sumthin' please?) do send them to me so I can add one to this post. Claire should not suffer alone the indignities of her youth. :) Thanks Mrs. Sean's Mom!!! :) :) :)

Treble Song Honor Choir 2011

2011-02-19T20:29:00.001-06:00

Claire, Emily & Ramsay sang with the Mississippi Girlchoir's Treble Song Honor choir today. That gentleman in the picture is their conductor, Mr. Steve Roddy.

It was a lovely afternoon for a concert, bright sunny skies, warm breezes, and the fruits of three days of intense rehearsals by the ladies of the Treble Song Honor Choir 2011. Here are some rehearsal pics, and then the videos from the concert are below. Enjoy! I know I did. :)

The program consisted of the following songs:

Psalm 100, with alternate lyrics and music by Rene Clausen, available through Shawnee Press, #MF0917

Wayfarin' Stranger, SSA, arr. by Barbara Vardanega, available through BriLee Music Publishing Co. # BL156

Away! All Sadness, words & music by Mark Hierholzer, 2 part treble, available through Colla Voce Music, Inc. #20-96290

Tecolote: Song of the Little Owl, trans. by Stephen O. Swanson, arr. Victoria Ebel-Sabo, available through Shawnee Press, YS0403

Birdsong, by Paul Read, available through Boosey and Hawkes, Inc., #OCTB6951

Children of Today, words by Saundra Berry Musser and Lon Beery, music by Lon Beery, available from Hal Leonard Publishing, Inc., #08551125

Go Where I Send Thee! arr. by Paul Caldwell & Sean Ivory for SSA/SAT, available through earthsongs

The Quartet, Saturday's Mass, and "The Quest for Loftiness"

2011-02-14T11:06:00.001-06:00

We'd like a loft, now please. A safe, secure, hidden above, acoustically perfect loft to serve God at Mass from. A place that we are not seen. It's hard to hide back here in the choir stalls, but we tried yesterday. We tried to keep the people's eyes on the altar and off of us by scooching (yeah, deal with it, it's my blog, I can make up words if I want to) off to the very side of the choir stall and working with the horrible sound system as best we could.

It was an important opportunity for these four young people. Though our alto, Ramsay, was not old enough last year to try out for All-State and was therefore unable to learn the Croce with the others under the fine direction of Mr. Fenton, she nevertheless picked up her music and did her very best to learn this quite difficult little piece. I'm standing next to her as mostly moral support, and some occasional tweaking of lines. Mostly, it's them. They brought this beautiful work of art back to St. Richard's and sang it for God.

The Exsulate Justi is our challenge piece for this year. The quartet has worked on it first, and we have begun rehearsals with the rest of the choir to offer it again at Mass when it comes around next as a Full Choir anthem at Offertory. With the people's eyes on the altar, all that remains is for me to convince my boss that our quest for loft sound and hidden from view singing is the best way to go with a choir comprised of teenagers. My hope is that it will catch on and people will again have mental and emotional space during a song to contemplate the mysteries Christ has wrought for all of us while engaging only ears and heart and mind.

So, for your contemplation, I offer you the quartet's hard work brought home:

NOTE: the song is only a minute & a half long, and then I kind of accidentally didn't clip the rest properly, so the video continues in silence. So, just press pause when the song is over and move along...no need to note the TEENAGERS who are TALKING behind my back DURING the rest of the offertory...

And at communion, we sang the Exsultate Justi in Domino by Viadana:

NOTE: this video is suffering from the same affliction as the other one. The song is only a couple of minutes, then there's silent video of the end of Mass. *sigh* I'm not sure what happened when I edited these. Maybe it wasn't my fault after all. Maybe my video software went nuts. Regardless, I'm not re-syncing the audio. That was hard and annoying.

FOUR OF A KIND!!!! All State LIVES...

2011-02-10T15:01:00.000-06:00

CONGRATULATIONS are in order. After a grueling fall of hard work and more hard work, and then Rome and then more hard work, we have some excitement around the old choir room.

JAMES
SEAN
CLAIRE
RAMSAY

Have all made it in the Mississippi ACDA All-State Honoe Choir!!!! We are very proud and look forward to hearing them sing on April 2nd at Galloway Methodist Church. I, personally, am waiting on pins and needles to hear Mozart's Laudate Pueri and the madrigal piece Allen-a-Dale.

Again, it made me cry to read the email. I was SERIOUSLY worried this year, and you guys have prevailed yet again. Congratulations, and get those CD's back out now, you have to MEMORIZE all of that music by March 30th.

Mrs. Carleigh

I just can't resist posting this

2011-02-08T11:10:00.001-06:00

H/T to DominiSumus for posting this on plurk. I HAVE to share it with you guys...it's amazing!

ACDA All-State Honor Choir Auditions 2011

2011-01-31T10:29:00.002-06:00

This time was especially difficult. Every year, we don't know quite what to expect at ACDA All-State Honor Choir Auditions, and this year was no exception. We arrived, waited, and went in to the room of doom. We had Ms. Donna McCommon herself as one of our judges. She's the retired director of Pearl High School's award-winning Choral program, who still runs the BEST Honor choir you can be in right here in Mississippi. We are very privileged to be able to try out every year.

This year, we learned that they ARE, in fact, looking for a blended ensemble sound in the quartet format we audition in. See, we'd assumed from previous years that they were looking to audition the individuals and so being sure you did your part very very well was more important than presenting a choral sound. So, they were nice enough to let us fix what they did not want to hear, and present our best blended choral sound. The kids did a fantastic job adjusting to the new task, and I was proud of them.

Singing for Catholic Charities was Interesting

2011-01-31T07:32:00.004-06:00

We sang before the Catholic Charities Journey for Hope program on Thursday. The choir took off from school, got there 45 minutes before we were due to sing, practiced, and sang. We were not introduced to the people, acknowledged or thanked. There was no where set aside for us to sing comfortably, and they would not even move the podium so we could stand on the tiny stage in any kind of way that made sense. We had no piano, though there was a baby grand in the hall across from the banquet room on a rolling base and everything. Our accompanist had hauled his keyboard and a PA system, which we discovered on arrival would not exactly work since they had a sound system, but were apparently not expecting to put microphones with a choir and there was much chaos and confusion about sound issues which continued right up to the minute we were to sing.

These things trouble me. As the director, I try to be accommodating with people who ask us to sing, and generous with the choir's time and talents, but this particular event stretched even my generosity. Though it is an honor to be asked to sing, the circumstances we had to put up with were not acceptable and it is difficult to discern if the fault lay with Catholic Charities personnel or the Marriott personnel. I'm not sure it matters. In the end, I am responsible for the choir, so it falls to me to choose our engagements wisely and well.

All that being said, we brought our Rome music home to Jackson and sang it. We were so pleased that we could offer that service and grateful for a venue in which to do it. There were a few people who were not talking so loudly that they could hear us, and they smiled and seemed grateful that there was live choral music. In the end, we took our Chick-fil-a sandwich coupons and walked across the street to get our provided lunch and generally tried to shake off the sense of purposelessness and disatisfaction the experience created. If we do something like that again, I have learned some VALUABLE lessons in things I need to be sure are taken care of prior to our arrival at a venue.

It was probably a very lovely program. Since we did not buy tickets, we could not stay, so I can't say how the program itself went, but I can say that attendance was HUGE. I heard someone tell Bishop Latino that there were 700 people coming when they expected 250-300. That's amazing.

I hope, in the end, that the choir's efforts were at least appreciated. They sang as well as they could under the circumstances and took off from school to do it, and did it with the characteristic cheerful hearts bent on service which is their stock and trade.. In retrospect, I feel badly for them, since I did not realize we would have no practical considerations for choral singing attended to, and I pledge to my choir and parents that I will be much much more assertive before I ask the choir to sing for something again. I am so sorry, I had no idea the situation would be so difficult.

Moving On, Looking Forward!

2011-01-26T07:44:00.002-06:00

I am reminded of the old Thundercats cartoon series...I wanted to finish that title with "HO-OOOOH" because it seems like we've been in the old rut for so long that we can't really shift gears, but shift gears we must, and start looking forward again.

Upcoming events:

The Quartet will be singing at Mass on Saturday, February 12th. They will offer Croce's Cantate Domino (learned at last years' All State Honor Choir) and Exsultate justi in Domino, edited by Proulx.
I am pleased to announce that the choir will not only sing Palm Sunday Vigil here at home, but will hit the road on Palm Sunday to sing in Yazoo City at St. Mary's with their musicians. This is very exciting.
The status of the Wild West Poker Tournament event is that I have decided we will postpone it until next year. Thanks to all those who sighed sadly at me when I told them.
Lastly, I am taking a small group to Washington DC for a Pueri Festival and/or the Solemn High Pontifical Mass at the National Basilica Shrine in April. Anyone interested in going will need to talk to me well ahead of time to arrange a seat on the van.

Now, a note from the director:

We have had an exciting and amazing year so far. It is tempting to say "okay, we're done now" and just stop working so hard at music, liturgy, and service. Remember, though, that there are younger kids who are REALLY looking forward to being in this choir. The future of the SRYC is bright. Let's get back to work now and do what we've always done best: sing, serve, work, grow, give back.
-Mrs. Carleigh

THE ROME POSTS, mine and a collection from around the web

2011-01-07T14:10:00.011-06:00

If you like your Rome posts in order...you could click on each entry in this handy dandy cheat guide to ALL the Rome posts.

BEFORE
Two Weeks to Departure

DURING
Pueri Swag
The Opening Ceremony
A Mess O' Masses and other exciting stuff
Pic O' the Day so Far
So Much to Tell, So LIttle Time in the Day
The Favorite Things Game
The Mass in St. Peter's ala CTV
Our Concert in San Ignacio
How to Purchase the GOOD photos from the Papal Audience, Nativity, and Mass

ROME DAY BY DAY
Monday, December 27th
Tuesday, December 28th
Wednesday, December 29th
Thursday, December 30th
Friday, December 31st
Saturday, January 1st
Sunday, January 2nd

OTHER PEOPLE'S POSTS:
From Bishop Vann of Ft. Worth, It's a Miracle , Pueri Cantores
From Clerical Whispers, Little Singers Bring a Bit of Heaven to Vatican
From the Connecticut Post, Laurellton Hall Ave Choir Performs at the Vatican
From the SCS Choir, We Made it Almost , The Whisper System , A Busy Day , What a Day , More from Our Busy, Busy Day , An Audience With the Pope , Free Time , Here are a Few More from Yesterday's Audience , Colisseum, Palatino, Forum , The Papal Mass
From "Rome Reports" CHildren Choirs to Sing for Pope in Vatican
From the Sentinel in Santa Cruz: Holy Cross Youth Choir plans trip to Rome

From Portugal...in portuguese, but the photos are exquisite: here , here , and here
From Ann Arbor.com St. Francis Middle School Choir to sing at the Vatican New Years' Day

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CLOSING COMMENTS FROM MRS. C
Thus endeth the long hard road to Rome and back. I am grateful that all this technology was able to keep us connected all through our journey. Now, I am going to go get some MUCH NEEDED REST, take care of my family, and unpack. God Bless us all this year. I'll be back to blogging sometime around All-State Auditions. Bye, and THANKS!

Rome Day by Day: Sunday, January 2nd---the Left Behinds and the Catacombs

2011-01-07T13:55:00.001-06:00

So, there were a few of us who ended up staying an extra day. The extra day was really nice. We were able to buy some souvenirs, and go a couple of places we hadn't been able to go.

We started the day with Mass at San Clementi, in all the orange trees (it was where the first orange trees in Rome were planted). I got to see the Byzantine mosaic I'd always admired in my art books. Then, we walked toward the Colisseum and found a snack bar to eat, yes, pasta and pizza and gelato at. It was cold, but good food and great company. Things were much more relaxed, knowing we had no more events to manage or prepare for.

After lunch, we took a bus to the Callistos catacombs and met Fr. Owen Mason from Australia who was a Salesian priest who lived and worked at the catacombs as a guide. He was so funny and so much fun! We found a random dude that looked like you genetically crossed Scott and Sean to create the mythical Shcott, and Claire was able to go creeper a picture of him. Even in the soft rain, it was a nice quiet day. Afterwards, we took the A Train back to the hotel, grabbed some Kebabness, and started packing. They played their last games of ERS in Rome, and *gasp* sorted the cards. It seemed so sad and final to have everyone with their original cards again.

3:15 AM came horrible abruptly early. Traveling home was as miserable as traveling to Rome, with the added exhaustion and desire to just be done with it. The experience will take YEARS to fully process and reflect on. This is just a brief outline of things, you must imagine that everyone has their own stories and moments to add. Many people did other things in addition to the tour. I know some climbed the dome of ST. Peter's and some did the Spanish stairs on the knees. Ask a Youth Choir member or family member and you will hear more tales of Rome and what it meant. For me, it was so much more than I could have imagined. All that hard work really came to fruition. I am deeply grateful to God, and more proud than I can ever really articulate of the young men and women of this choir. It was awesome! *smile*

Rome Day by Day: Saturday, January 1st, 2011---Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God and the Concert

2011-01-07T13:26:00.003-06:00

Another early morning waking up call signaled the beginning of another long day of wonder and awe and spiritual graces abundant. We got up, threw on vestments, ate, and boarded the buses for St. Peter's square. When we arrived, there was a LOT of confusion about where we were supposed to be. I regretted wearing boots almost immediately as we ran across uneven cobblestone hundreds of feet over and over again. Finally, the chaos gave way and in a crush of people, we ran into the Basilica and took our seats. This time, we were farther back, but still so very blessed to be there and to be able to sing and pray.

The Mass can be replayed on CTV. You can find the embedded player by clicking HERE. Should the embedded player quit working because they've removed it from their archives, never fear...I have a copy and can easily load it to a private host site, just email me.

The full text of Pope Benedict's Sermon can be found HERE

After the Mass, we waited outside to hear Pope Benedict XVI's New Year's Day address on the square. There were, apparently, 70,000 other people there with us. While we waited, we were frantically trying to find out information about the tornadoes that had hit Jackson the night before. It really gave a grey overtone to all the happy around us not to know how our friends and family were faring back home. Slowly, information emerged (thanks to Liz's kindle) that seemed to indicate that everyone was safe back home.

We made our way through the giant crowd toward lunch. While sitting at lunch, we realized to our horror that no one knew where Lily was. She had been with us, then she wasn't. We mounted a search, and Claire went running across the square to the Vatican guards. Lily had done the smart thing, and this is a lesson for all children who go to large events with a group: when she realized she had been separated, she went to a police officer and told him. She was safely with the Vatican police when Claire got there. We were SO relieved. Good job, Lily! You did the best thing you could do in that moment and kept yourself safe!!!! WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOU!

After we had her back safe and sound, we made the unpleasant discovery that we would have to walk a LONG way to get to our bus. It was nice, because there were parades, and awful because of the aforementioned boots I was now REALLY wishing I hadn't worn.

Back to the hotel, some quick grab food at Pizza Kebab, and then some rest before the concert. Dinner was early, and we headed out in our concert finest to San Ignacio in the cold. Italians don't do concerts early, so the concert itself wasn't due to start until 9:00 PM, with rehearsal at 8:00 PM, so we knew we'd be tired but we were really excited. This was the last event in a long wonderful journey. At three in the morning the next day, many of us would be departing for America. It was poignant and bittersweet.

The concert was really amazing. CLICK HERE for the video and some descriptions. Go HERE to hear our friends from the Santa Cruz Children's Choir.

After the concert, we went to the Trevi fountain and said our arrivederci Roma and tossed coins in the fountain. It was sad. I hope we do, in fact, return some day.

After the concert, we returned to our hotel. Most of the kids stayed up saying goodbye to the ones due to depart, and holding on to their last moments in Rome. At three, as the wake up call came, they wandered back to their rooms, some to sleep, and some to get ready to go.

Rome Day by Day: Friday, December 31st---NEW YEARS' EVE!

2011-01-07T11:54:00.001-06:00

Another early morning call, another stumble down to breakfast and the bus, another wonderful day in Rome.

We loaded up on the bus and headed out for the Vatican Museum. There were 22,000 other people there that morning with us. It was kind of yucky, being crammed in there having to try to keep up with your tour guide, not getting to spend even enough time to take decent pictures, being swept along by the crowds...and this was apparently a "light" day. I cannot imagine a "busy" day. Museums for me had always been these quiet, empty places where you could wander and read and look and take it all in, and this was like refugees trying to escape an alien invasion. Very frustrating. We crammed into the Sistene Chapel after moving at rush speed through the museum only seeing the one corridor of art works and then it was over. 45 minutes, and then on to St. Peter's Basilica to tour through and listen to our guide Susanna. They were setting up the chairs and barricades for the Mass we'd attend on January 1st, so the vastness of the space was cut off visually somewhat from what I suspect tourists usually get to experience, and it was still HUGE. Just massive and beautiful, full of scultpure and art, and my all time favorite piece of sculpture...Michelangelo's Pieta.

After our tour, we ran back to the buses and headed for Santa Maria Sopra Minnerva. There we sang at Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, and were again privileged to do so from the very front row. Though there was confusion about what we were to do, we enjoyed the quiet we were able to carve out of the day, and prayerful silence. We wore chapel caps that had been hand made for us by Joy Niklas, one of the long time friends of the choir. It was a nice, quiet moment which offset the rush and crowds of the morning. We also got to see St. Catherine of Sienna's body. Just her body, mind you. Apparently there was a dispute regarding where she would be interred and her head is apparently in Naples. These are the moments that make me wonder about our faith just a little bit. But still, I have long admired St. Catherine, and to be that close to her earthly remains in prayer before the sacrament meant a great deal to me. The church itself is especially beautiful, and because we did not "tour" it, it will remain a Church in my head, rather than a piece of art/architecture used as a church.

When we were done with adoration, Elisabeth treated us to an impromptu tour of the Pantheon. It was really really cold, and I was with a group of crazy people who ate gelato for lunch. Did I mention it was really cold? Brrrrrrr. The Pantheon is fascinating, but to be honest, at that moment, I just wanted to be sitting somewhere warm. After lunch on our own, we walked to the Piazza di Navonne, and listened to Elisabeth tell about the feud between Boromini and Bernini over the Church of St. Agnes, and then walked forever and got on our buses.

Some silliness from the cold cold cold square in front of the pantheon:

Back to the hotel we went, exhausted and really grateful for some free time. The kids continued to wander back and forth to Pizza Kebab and play cards in the Lobby and I continued to work with the technology to send images/reflections home.

Later on, we loaded up the buses one more time, and went to the creche in St. Peter's square. This time, we waited on His Holiness to come. There were two choirs only. Ours and the Walsingham Academy choir. When the Pope arrived in his Pope Mobile, he got out and went to kneel before the Creche. The Swiss Guard Band and the two choirs alternated singing/playing Christmas Carols while the Pope looked around the Nativity Scene. We were able at the very end to sing O Sanctissima with the Band, which made a nice ground to our retreat way way way back there in August. Made us smile to connect things like that so randomly and so far from home. We got back on the buses which were warm (it was FREEZING on the square) and went back to the hotel.

When we got to dinner, there were candles and gold decorations and a table full of champagne glasses. We ate like kings and then Elisabeth asked if the kids could have just a little bit of the champagne for our New Year's Toast. I told them to ask their parents and everyone agreed just this once...we all raised our glasses, toasted the New Year, took sips and then there was this groan of children going "eewww, that tastes HORRIBLE" . *smile* It was so lovely of the hotel to provide such a lovely way to celebrate.

Later that night, it began. All over Rome...boom boom boom crackle ka pow. Fireworks EVERYWHERE. They started at 10:00 PM and went to well after midnight. We sat on our balcony and watched Rome bring in the New Year, because there was not gonna be any sleeping in all that racket. It was exciting to be in such a huge city for New Year's Eve. If the Chinese are right...we'll all be together again next year. I wonder if that includes being with His Holiness in Rome? One can only dream. And finally, dream we did.

Rome Day by Day: Thursday, December 30th---PAPAL AUDIENCE!!!!!

2011-01-07T10:42:00.002-06:00

Morning came with an EARLY ringing of the phones and a grumpy rolling out of bed bleary-eyed and stumbling, but an excited anticipation. We knew we'd be attending a private Papal Audience with the other Pueri Choirs, and that was exciting.

When we arrived, again we went through the back entrance and then at a DEAD RUN behind Elisabeth. Again, we were blessed and privileged to be in the FRONT ROW. I was a little dismayed by the behaviors of others around us who were trying to be as greedy as possible with seating, but in the end we sorted it all out and people got settled. In all the chaos, this nice man named Bill and his daughter ended up sitting in the middle of our choir, right in front of me, and he and I kept remarking on how we didn't understand how either of us ended up where we did. I was on the end, right on the aisle and didn't really recognize why Elisabeth had put me there until later. So we sat and waited, and then we rehearsed a bit. We got to rehearse the Ordinary finally, that hard seven part Ordinary we'd work on for months, and it felt good to keep pace with the storm and sing it competently. Eventually, we quit rehearsing and a crazy chaotic excitement began as His Holiness, Benedict VXI, made his way down the center aisle toward the front. Only then did I realize where Elisabeth had put me. I took pictures as best I could, right as four people's cameras in our group ran out of batteries. Being that close to him was such an amazing moment for me. Never in all my Protestant past did I ever imagine myself being so overwhelmed and uplifted by the Supreme Pontiff and Bishop of Rome. The irony of the moment did not elude me.

This is what the Holy Father said to us, translated into English:

HOLY FATHER RECEIVES THE “PUERI CANTORES”
VATICAN CITY, 30 DEC 2010 (VIS) – Today in the Vatican, Benedict XVI received participants in an international congress of the International Federation of “Pueri Cantores”, currently being held in Rome.
The Pope addressed the group in English, French, Spanish, German, Portuguese, Polish and Ukrainian. “As you use your talents and your faith to sing God’s praises, you give voice to the natural desire of every human being to glorify Him, with songs of love”, he said. “Yet beautiful music is able to express something of the mystery of God’s love for us and ours for Him, as we are reminded by the theme chosen for your Congress: ‘Deus Caritas Est’”.
“Always remember that your singing is a service. Firstly, it is a service to God, a way of giving Him the praise that is due. It is also a service to your fellow worshippers, helping them to raise their hearts and minds to the Lord in prayer. And it is a service to the whole Church, offering a foretaste of the heavenly liturgy that is the goal of all true worship, when the choirs of angels and saints unite in one unending song of love and praise”.

He delivered his address, and greeted the choirs, and began about the business of shaking hands with the dignitaries of Pueri and the chosen few kids who were placed on the dias with him. We started to sing Hark the Herald Angels Sing. Suddenly, in front of me two rows, I saw a very pale Blake fall backwards into his seat. Before I could even start calling for his mother, Bill had scooped Blake into his arms and the Vatican Secret Service had opened the barrier we were sitting inside to allow Bill to carry the unconscious Blake at a dead run toward the doors. We were worried, but kept tabs on what was happening as best we could.

On the bus right after the audience, some of the choir saw Blake and his mother in an ambulance, and Elisabeth was on the phone trying to get information. They had taken him from the Vatican emergency room to the emergency room at Gesu Bambino Hospital. Elisabeth got in a cab and went to them. We went back to the hotel. Slowly, we got news that Blake was okay, and that he would be fine with rest and some additional care, and we were very very relieved.

After some serious Pizza Kebob, we settled in for an afternoon of ERS and picnic and some seriously difficult game Mike created that no one could figure out. Hours and hours of this game had already elapsed and still no one had figured it out. By the time we got dressed again and collected our things to go out, they were still trying to figure it out.

We yet again got to go in the back of St. Peter's. This time, we emerged through a tunnel under the sculpture with the gold skeleton and the hour glass. We assembled in our vestments with the Arch Dio kids and our new friends the Santa Cruz kids for Mass at the Chair of St. Peter. Fr. Lincoln was whisked off to a sacristy again. We rehearsed briefly, but my mind was completely focused on St. Peter's. The scale of the place was unreal. I had seen so many pictures, studied it in Art History, and sitting there below the sculpture of the Chair I could NOT fit it all into my head. It was so huge. So massively, awe-provokingly HUGE. I started to cry, because I'd dreamed of this for so long. This Latin Mass, this chance to sing the Latin Ordinary, in THIS place, with these people. It was beautiful. It was worship and prayer and awe.

From there, we changed clothes on the bus (again) and headed to our Gala dinner at Benito's restaurant. We ate seven courses, listened to live music, and had a really really great time. We met the choir from Walsingham academy. There was hand dancing and singing and laughing and the grown ups had an extra special amount of fun (glub glub giggle glub). As the evening drew to a close, Claire and James and Sean sang "Singing in Rome" for JC which he wrote for us two years ago when we did our first dinner theatre. It was perfect. Brenda even cried a little.

Such a special day. So much beauty and resonance.

Rome Day by Day: Wednesday, December 29th---the LONG day

2011-01-07T09:41:00.001-06:00

I knew, even in Jackson, that this would be the most difficult day. Events stretched from early morning late into the night, and there would be no respite, no returning to the hotel, no settling in for cards or play or lobby-laughter until very very late.

Shot of the Day for us:

And I was right. It was, perhaps, our most profound day, but still, it was hard and long.

The overview:

Early morning: Rehearsal and Mass at St. Paul's Outside the Walls
Lunch on our own
Guided tours of Santa Maria Maggiore, St. John Lateran, and St. Paul's Outside the Walls, the opportunity to climb the Spanish Steps
Back to Maggiore, for private Mass with Cardinal Law
Quick dinner across the street, and back for the Gala Concert at Maggiore
We didn't get home until 11:30 PM

The Play by Play:

We arrived at St. Paul's Outside the Walls, and were yet again very close to the front of the crowd. The Arch Dio kids were right there with us again, right in front. I finally got to meet Sr. Barbara and the kids from Santa Cruz, and we discovered how very very very cold it is inside these Basilicas. We were all teeth chattering and coat clad and wishing we had vestments and underarmor.

Patrick Flahive, the President of the American Federation Pueri Cantores greeted us. Fr. Lincoln had been whisked away to a sacristy to get vested so he could concelebrate, and we were off to the races. At Mass, we sang Deus Caritas Est (again) and Adeste Fideles (again) and the Corpus Christi choir sang something at offertory, and there were bells. The bells were played by the Golden Gate Boychoir, the only non-Catholic choir to attend the International Congress. They were also, apparently, the first choir to ever attend an international festival.

After we finished, we went over to the square in front of Maggiore and found quiet snack bars to grab some food in. Claire and I went to a quieter one, and we met our singing waiter...he was adorable and fun. We ate pizza and pasta (big surprise) and gelato. It was a wonderful break from the hustle of the morning.

Then we had our guided tour of Maggiore, then St. Paul's, then St. John Lateran, the very first church in Christendom. We got to see the unfinished side aisles and the beautiful sculptures in the Nave. The scale of the Basilicas was starting to really get in my head, and I realized that no pictures can ever really convey the massive spaces and art and scale that surrounded us. I was also starting to get really tired and a little cranky. We changed clothes on the bus and headed back to the square at Maggiore.

We entered Maggiore and got settled in the quiet small Sforza Chapel. We waited on His Emminence, Cardinal Law, and were able to find a bit of prayerful silence before. Fr. Lincoln was yet again whisked off to a sacristy somewhere to get vested so he could concelebrate. Mass was so intimate, so prayerful, so beautiful. The Cardinal and I had to do a bit of coordinating on the fly as we went, seeing as we'd not had a chance to confer with one another beforehand, and he was SO gracious and SO kind and SO patient with us. After Mass, he let us sing our Alma Redemptoris Mater for him, and he seemed genuinely happy that we had sung it for him.

Then came another kindness from the Cardinal. Due to a series of unfortunate events that pointed toward some of the back story of Pueri which I really really disliked (politics, power, greed, etc...you know, human stuff), we were not going to be allowed in to the concert which was that evening. Cardinal Law graciously over-rode that and allowed us to be his guests at the concert. Because time was of the essence, we had to go eat quickly, and weren't able to go back to the hotel between.

Dinner was a lovely but rushed Pasta/Pizza/Gelato thing again, and we were back at Maggiore for the concert. The concert consisted of selections sung by some of the best of the choirs attending the Congress from all over the world. We decided the Germans were the very very best, and the Korean children were the most adorable. We heard so much beautiful music it was hard to process it all. Somehow, I managed to get separated from my camera so I have no photos from the concert, but if I spot some on the web, I'll add them later.

Finally, at 11:30, we headed back toward our Hotel, exhausted, and full of memories.

Rome, Day by Day: Tuesday, December 28th---The Music Begins

2011-01-07T07:45:00.002-06:00

Earlier than anyone wanted, the phones all rang...WAKE UP! It's time to go grab a continental breakfast and head out to adventures. Breakfast was a mix of croissants and danishes, donuts with sugar on them, donuts with creme filling, cereal, yogurt, and trays of ham and swiss cheese. I liked the swiss cheese a lot. I LOVED the cappucino machine (made nice hot chocolate, too), and was a little surprised to discover that all the sweets have a strong lemon component to them. It wasn't bad, it just was omnipresent. Lemon flavor is clearly part of what is expected for sweets in Italy.

On to the bus we went, and we met Alessandro, our driver for the week. We got our first fully awake experience in the traffic of Rome. Lanes are optional. Red lights are optional. Signaling is optional. Vehicles start and stop and negotiate who is going first or around each other with literally an inch to spare between one another (buses, too) all while scooters zip in and out of all that craziness. We were all impressed with the Italian "way" and always a little bit scared that we'd be in the middle of some horrific car mangle. But they did it all with precision and courtesy, which was impressive.

The bus dropped us off at the top of the hill over the Coliseum and we met Helena, our guide for the day. She took us to St. Peter in Chains Church and we were privileged to see Michelangelo's statue "Moses" and hear all about how he really wanted to do this series of sculptures but kept getting forced to paint. The stories of the artists and their revenge on politicians and church officials through their art were of particular interest to me. I liked the idea that artists created not only the timeless, but also the satirical, the commentary on the behavior of those in power, the in your face assaults on their rivals. The church contained the actual chains which bound St. Peter. While I was taking my first pictures with the fancy new camera, I was using the monopod I had bought to steady the camera and was mistaken for a professional photographer and told I couldn't use the "tripod". I chuckled. Professional photog I am not, that's for sure. So, my monopod became a very convenient walking stick and my pictures are all a bit blurry and poorly composed, but the memories remain.

Outside the church we encountered our first souvenir stand and the joke of the trip. There were bobble head dolls. Then there were bobble heads dolls with other appendages that bobbled. "Boobles" became the teenagers favorite new word and we all laughed. It kept appearing in picnic games and general horsing around. Good inside joke for the trip.

Sadly, though, Helena fell as she was coming down the stairs of St. Peter in Chains. She had hurt her ankle. We had much walking to do, and she tried bravely to keep going. We found our first snack bar with bathrooms and cappucino, and helped assess the situation for poor Helena. We took great pictures on the bright blue day of the forum, and slowly made our way down to the Coliseum area.

She did her entire spiel about the Coliseum before finally deciding to go to the emergency room. She was crying so hard, and I felt so badly for her. She had never fallen before, and had never abandoned a tour group before and from what I understood, a fall can mean serious loss of income for them. We said a prayer for her and Elisabeth took over as we walked up the hill past the Arch of Constantine toward the Forum and the Wedding Cake. This was to be a whirlwind tour, no going in the Coliseum or wandering around in the Forum. We only had time to see and learn a little.

Glad to not be walking anymore, we got back on our bus and headed for the hotel. Lunch was on our own, and the kids discovered the second most enduring insider activity of the trip: walking down to Pizza Kebab. At Pizza Kebab, for just a few Euro, you could have pizza or fruit or felafal and a little fun communicating. There were soft drinks and water cheaper than at the hotel, and from what I hear, Scott and Mike made it a habit to go there at all hours. The kids were always off to the Kebab whenever they needed extra food or drink.

After lunch, we put on the omnipresent black and white outfits that are our choir uniform when we are not in vestments, loaded up with our Pueri swag and Red Rome books and Binders and got on the bus to head out to the opening ceremony. When we got there, we found ourselves in a line to go in the back door of St. Peter's to head for the Audience Hall. We ran behind our Elisabeth and to our surprise, found ourselves in the FRONT ROW of the audience hall for the opening ceremony. (by the way...the sculpture in Sala Nervi is much much much worse in person...ugh!)

The lead choir was on the stage, and we practiced a bit before the ceremony started. Our friends from the St. Louis Archdiocesan Children's choir were right behind us, and it was good to be at a Pueri Event and see old friends again.

The opening Ceremony began with the procession of the flags of the member federations from all over the world and the reading of the names of the choirs from each nation. You could tell the soccer countries immediately. They did "yelling" at your nation/choir much much better than the rest of us. There was energy and electricity in the air. Once all the flags were in, the ceremony began. Cardinal Bertone (the secretary of State for the Vatican) was our presider, and there were Bishops and Monsignors and possibly a second Cardinal in attendance.

We found out that some of the American choirs were still stuck in the US, as the Northeast was shut down from the giant snow storm. I said a quiet prayer that they'd get there soon, and went back to trying to concentrate as every bit of address to the crowd was read in FIVE different languages. It took FOREVER. You do tend to doze off a bit when you're listening to so many different languages and pages of text being read to you. But we were too excited for dozing.

I found an old friend of the choir in the crowd as we left and were swept along by the crush of people, little and big, heading out to their respective buses. It had begun in earnest. We were REALLY here, at the International Congress for Pueri Cantores!

Back at the hotel, there was more pasta and ERS and picnic and happy chattering laughing choir. It was still just us, alone in the hotel, so it had a feeling of intimacy, of comfort. I went upstairs and started trying to solve the massive amount of technology problems which had descended upon me, and eventually all the ducklings were tucked away snoring and a rhythm began to emerge.

Rome Day by Day: Monday, December 27th---Our Firsts

2011-01-06T12:52:00.003-06:00

**note---if you want to breeze through the slide shows without going all the way over to picasa, just click on the bottom of the rectangle. it will give you a play/pause/forward bar. Don't click on the big arrow unless you want to go to the Picasa site and see the bigger pictures**

We had only just arrived. The airplane journey had been long and confusing. We had ticket issues in Jackson that kept causing problems airport by airport, and we discovered the ugly secret of transcontinental flight---the seats are very small (17 inches), and they are set so close to the seats in front of you that you are nose to nose with the tray table and seat back of the person you are "sitting" behind. Sleep had eluded most, so we were stumbling when we arrived in Rome on Monday afternoon.

Never did I see a more welcome sight once we got our bags and figured out where to go to find our tour manager, ELISABETH. She was so friendly and seemed so "in charge" and I could finally just follow someone who knew where to go, what to do, and could translate for us when there were questions. Our first bus tour was a whirlwind of window shopping the sights and sounds of Rome.

She told us about the graffiti, that it wasn't from gang activity. I found it odd that the very first thing she'd tell us was a disclaimer about graffiti, then I looked around. Rome is covered in the stuff, and it does ring this chord in you that there is something dangerous afoot, some nefariousness to watch out for. According to Elisabeth, it is mostly lovers proclaiming their love for one another. I remain skeptical, and sad that such a beautiful city has been marred by so much vandalism.

When we pulled into our hotel, the Pinewood, we were across from a lovely park with lots of umbrella pine trees. Someone mentioned they looked like the trees in Donkey Kong, and that is how I saw them from that point forward (annoying music and all). We got settled, unpacked, and learned the key rule: last one out of the room takes the key back to the desk. This is nice, because it meant we were way less likely to lose keys out and about in Rome. There were six floors and two tiny afterthought elevators, so I knew I'd be getting more excercise than I planned on, but it was all okay. Our room had a balcony that looked out toward the Donkey Kong trees and I liked it very much.

We went down for our first dinner at the hotel. The waiters were a little impatient with our lack of sophistication (Sean did not understand the silverware and kept getting looks whenever he'd try to interpret what they wanted him to do), but were soon won over by the kids' enthusiasm for the food. Any meal that begins with pasta and ends with Tiramisui can't be all bad, right?

Cloth napkins, table cloths, real glasses, and four courses for every meal was lovely. I really appreciated the food and the kindness of the staff. On New Years' Eve, they even decorated for us and had champagne, but I'm getting ahead of myself...

While we were at dinner, we received our Pueri Cantores bags (see dinner slideshow above) and other items that Peters' Way had gone to the trouble of picking up for us from the registration for the Congress. I really appreciated not having to go somewhere else and register, so I for one was VERY grateful. I loved our Pueri Swag...the bags, the hats, the name tags. We were starting to feel like we were all part of something special and cool.

After dinner, we were at loose ends and in the lobby, the beautiful Christmas tree decorated lobby...something insidious began...there were picnics and Egyptian Rats and really strange cards, and laughter and happiness lilting up the staircase. If you wanted to find our choir members and friends, all you had to do was stand in a stairwell and listen. Mostly they were in the lobby playing Egyptian Rat Slap (a card game that apparently never ends), or the Picnic Game.

Evening came and morning followed...really early morning to be honest, and we were off... (see next post up)

Airports are....

How to Purchase the GOOD photos from the Papal Audience, Nativity, and Mass

2011-01-05T09:20:00.002-06:00

Do go to the page located at the Vatican Information service. To do so: CLICK HERE. Once you are there, scroll down to the bottom and click on "Photo Service". Then you may click on the "Galleria" link which is their gallery of photos. We can be seen in the photos from the papal audience on December 30, and there are a couple of pictures in the Piazza set (the Nativity singing) which are nice but not directly of us. There is one shot in the Papal Mass where you can see us, it's # 563. I emailed them and asked how to purchase photos, and here is the response I received:

L'OSSERVATORE ROMANO
The Pope's Photos

The photos of the S. Father that you can be seen on the site internet in the
Vatican (www.photovat.com) they are of ownership of the OSSERVATORE ROMANO,
Only Depositary Of the COPYRIGHT. You can be purchased, for use deprived
with exclusion of every publication in different formality:

1) If they are wanted to have stamped on photographic paper in the
format 20 x 30 to the cost of 4 Euro each: you can be purchased to the bench
of the Photographic Service in the Vatican, (Porta S. AnnA - Via del
Pellegrino);  or you can be received to house, ordering her in countersign,
with the addition of the postal expenses, around 5 Euro, only in Europe.

2) If they are wanted in digital form in high resolution: purchasing
her to the bench, the cost it is of 8 Euro every, more 1 Euro for the
support of recording (floppy or CD); if they are wanted to have away e-mail,
the payment is necessary anticipated to half credit card, of which it needs
to furnish the title, the number and the due date of expire. Effected the
collecting, the photos are sent as soon as possible by e-mail in high
resolution, without further increases of cost.

For the Publication of the Photos (books, magazines, newspapers, Internet,
gadget, calendars, telephone papers, CD, DVD, etc.): the rate for the right
of publication depends on the type of the same publication, from the
circulation, from the use, from the positioning, etc. It is worth for an
only time, and it doesn't give right of ownership neither of exclusive on
the photo. Also in this case the dispatch of the photo by e-mail asks for
the payment anticipated of the mean rights credit card.

               FORMATS AND PRICES OF THE PHOTOS:

10 x 15 cms = 2 Euro
14 x 20 = 3    "
20 x 30 = 4    "
24 x 36 = 7    "
30 x 45 = 9    "
40 x 60 = 23   "
50 x 70 = 37   "
70 x 100 = 64  "
digital photo for e.mail or on CD-rom = 8 Euro each photo

PAYMENT METHODS 
To:  "L'Osservatore Romano - Servizio Fotografico"
00120 Città del Vaticano

Clearly indicate the reason of payment

- Credit Card (indicate number and expiration date)
- Bank cheque
- paypal
- Current postal account (c\c) 57221004 (Italian postal Service)
- Accredited on c\c 20996.001 c/o IOR 
  (Istituto per le Opere di   religione) 
  00120 Vatican City
- Accredit on c\c 000400083174 - UniCredit Banca di Roma S.p.a.
  Filiale 06004 Roma 204
  ABI 03002 - CAB 05008 - CIN "Z"
  IT-09-Z-03002-05008-000400083174 
  Codice B.I.C. BROMITR1204

  Codice BIC SWIFT: BROMITR1204 --- AGENZIA DI ROMA 204

Cordiali Saluti - Kind Regards

Paypal looks like our best method of payment for those with paypal accounts. I'm going to purchase digital copies, to save the time involved for mailing them, but I'm sure if you are ordering a larger one, the prints would be better ordered directly from them.

Our Concert in San Ignacio

2011-01-04T14:40:00.002-06:00

There's a story here....while we were rehearsing before the concert, there were people pounding on the doors to get in. Some of our family members were outside and witnessed a "Beatles-concert like crush of people crowding the door and the square who nearly stampeded to get in the doors when they were opened" and we who were sitting in our seats waiting our turn to sing saw the running and jumping over chairs and general chaotic rush to get seats by the enormous crowd (somewhere between 1000 and 1500 people). It was a little daunting and really strange. We were wondering why on earth so many random Italians wanted to see four children's choirs sing. But want to they did, and here is our portion of the concert for you to take a look at. The songs we sang were: Gaudete, Lo, How a Rose E're Blooming (Vulpius), Resonet in Laudibus, Adam Lay I-Bounden by Sheppard, Dulcis Christe, and Personnent Hodie by Rutter.

We are very privileged to be able to represent St. Richard's in such an amazing venue. The kids really worked hard to be able to do this, and I am deeply humbled by this particular moment in time.

The Mass in St. Peter's ala CTV

2011-01-04T14:23:00.004-06:00

You'll want to give this plenty of time to load, then play it. Once the rust colored bar is mostly white you won't have to deal with it buffering constantly. The music is a little bit hard to hear, but at least this is a streamed and playable video from the January 1st Mass.

The Favorite Things Game

2011-01-02T19:31:00.004-06:00

In my family, with my daughter, whenever we do something major, as it is ending, I always ask "what was your favorite/least favorite moment/thing/activity?" This time I had to narrow it down for people somewhat because we did so very very much. I asked what was your favorite church? I got one of every possible answer...so I tried asking what was your favorite.....(and let my voice trail off so they'd supply an answer that was on their mind).

For me, my favorite moments were the quiet ones, long anticipated, long hoped-for, the singing of Mass the offering of prayers, the connection to the sacred which I'd studied and dreamed of from afar since I was a child. The awe-inspiring presence of Christ in the Holy City and seat of Christendom was everywhere I looked, because I LOOKED for it, as most pilgrims will tell you. You have to see past the crowds, the worship of celebrity which clouds moments with our Holy Father, past the souvenirs, past the relics, past the omnipresent tour guides and tourists and it's hard. Silence is HARD to find here, but it's here...that still small voice that reminds us that we are servants of a King, a mighty king, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.

Words fail at times like these.

May God Bless all those who made this possible. Each person who worked so hard to get us here...especially the parents and choristers of St. Richard Youth Choir. May we never forget the scale of the moment, may we never forget we stood at the altar of the Chair of St. Peter and worshipped God with our hands, hearts, minds and voices, and may we take what we have learned and come home renewed and refreshed in our work. Amen.

So much to tell, so little time in the day.

2010-12-31T17:25:00.002-06:00

So, I'll show you instead and talk about it all later...

I'm not going to ask Tyler when he took this picture, since pictures aren't allowed during Mass, I'm just going to be grateful that it appeared on my camera:

The happy choir, glowing a bit after Mass at the Chair of St. Peter

On their off time, rare though it be, the choir engages in strangeness:

Dinner at the fancy restaurant:

And back to business...

Friday was full, so go to the flickr site for the rest of the pics, and I will leave you with this:

"Silent night"

can you find HIM?!?

Pic of the Day so far....

2010-12-30T07:20:00.002-06:00

A Mess o' Masses and other exciting stuff

2010-12-29T17:41:00.002-06:00

Pic of the day:

Such a busy day. Mass of the Nations at St. Paul's outside the Walls, then touring Maggiore, St. Paul's Outside the Walls (yes, we went back), then touring St. John Lateran, then back to Maggiore for the Mass with Cardinal Law (see above) and then a quick bite at a "snack bar" and back to Maggiore for a concert which had three Cardinals, a Countess, and countless Bishops watching the 6 choirs (The choir from the Congo did not make it) sing a total of 27 beautiful songs.

My ducklings are exhausted, and so is their Mama Duck. We are certainly making the most of our time in Rome. Tomorrow is the choir's audience with the Pope, and our rehearsal for the Papal Mass, then the Mass with the Peter's Way choirs, then our Gala farewell dinner (two days before we leave?). So, tomorrow things will be less crazy and I can see to uploading a few choice pictures and video.

ciao~

The Opening Ceremony

2010-12-28T15:33:00.002-06:00

Today was a whirlwind of touring and singing. The opening Ceremony was amazing!!! First, they processed in all the flags of the member countries and announced the individual choirs. Obviously, there were a LOT of singers. Sala Nervi hall holds ten thousand people and as you can see, it was quite full. Cardinal Bertone gave the opening address, and we sang Deus Caritas Est and Tollite Hostias and some hymns. I have LOTS of pictures and video, but due to the outlandish costs of uploading so much from "roamin' in Rome", I will choose a pic a day and upload it. This is my pic of the day: from the FRONT ROW of the opening ceremony, the view toward the back.

PS----we will attend a PRIVATE AUDIENCE for all Pueri Choirs on THURSDAY. This will be AMAZING!! Keep praying for us, we're praying for y'all.

PUERI SWAG!!!!! :) :) :)

2010-12-27T15:22:00.002-06:00

This is our bag that Pueri gave us.... and our nametags in LATIN, no less. I am very very very HAPPY.

ONE Week to Departure

2010-12-19T07:35:00.002-06:00

What time is it Rome right now?

All we need now are prayers. Prayers for safe travel. Prayers for healing for members of the choir. Prayers for spiritual strength. Prayers for those we love that we will leave stateside during our pilgrimage. Prayers for Christmas Mass, that we will serve God and His people with the best we have. Prayers for discernment upon our return as we re-shape the choir and look to the future. Prayers for Mrs. Carleigh, Tyler, and Fr. Dall, who will be leading the choir through our pilgrimage of song and service. Prayers for those who travel with us, that they will be uplifted and encouraged by all that they see and hear. Prayers for the singers, that we will be blessed with GOOD fortune on all the tricky stuff, and that those who hear us will have forgiving ears when we are nervous.

We would also like to take YOUR prayer intentions with us to Rome. If you would like the choir to pray for special intentions you might have, please send those intentions to my email at csb4sryc@comcast.net.

Thank you for ALL you have done to make this pilgrimage possible. Please hit "home" and scroll down to the post titled "TWO weeks to departure" for a list of the online resources for following the choir to Rome!

TWO WEEKS to DEPARTURE

2010-12-12T08:08:00.023-06:00

Two years is a very long time to dream, plan, fundraise, hope, work, practice, and prepare.

Two years.

I have a lot of memories of how we got here. I have a lot of hopes for what this experience will mean for the choir, and what we will bring home to St. Richard's.

Please join us here on the blog as we journey to Rome for live updates, video, pictures and even the feed for EWTN when the Papal Mass is broadcast. I will be recording and broadcasting as much as is practical in real time.

How to make the most of what I will provide for the trip (share this blog post with family & friends or anyone who might like to "go with us" to Rome):

Bookmark the following links:

Our photos will be uploaded daily to My Flickr Account
Our videos will be uploaded daily to The Choir's Youtube Channel
The broadcast schedule for EWTN (instructions for web watching below) EWTN Schedule

Live Blogging information:

Our twitter hashtag will be #SRYCRome
The Youth Choir's facebook group can be found at St. Richard Youth Choir (feel free to join!)
My plurk account (plurk is a very useful social networking site, sign up for free, then friend me) http://www.plurk.com/MsC

EWTN: On January 1st, we will sing at the Papal Mass. You can easily go to EWTN.com (a little ahead of the Mass to allow your computer to download any video players that EWTN needs for you to have to watch) and then click on "WATCH LIVE" to watch the Papal Mass we are singing at. The broadcast times are: LIVE broadcast is January 1, 2011at 3:00 AM (a very early time to be watching Mass) and the ENCORE broadcast will be Saturday, January 1, 2011 at 11:00 AM Central Time.

I will post updates as to where we are and what we are doing as often as is practical and within the rules of the place we are in (for example, the Vatican does not allow cell phones to be on). I will upload photos/videos each day. Please do join us on our Pilgrimage to Rome. You made it possible, and we are working hard to make St. Richard's PROUD of us.

St. Cecilia, pray for us.
St. Gregory, pray for us.
St. Raphael, the archangel, pray for us.

St. Michael, the archangel, pray for us.

ALL our Sunday Obligation Masses Should Match

2010-12-09T08:12:00.001-06:00

I often find myself defending the idea above against other earnest, faithful, deeply committed Catholics who have what I can only describe as VERY strange notions about music, based solely on their feelings about it and personal preferences. They talk about the music at the Youth Mass (which is a can of worms I rather avoid opening most of the time) as though the music were magical. They then go on to openly express disdain at music that is structured, traditional, or even involves basic hymnody on the grounds that it is "boring" or "hard". This music is trendy in nature and appeals to the senses. It fails to incorporate the actual texts of the day which are required to support the theme of the Mass itself. Using the criteria of "does it feel good" leads to the use of bad music and creates terrible liturgy. Plain and simple. So, why do I continue to say quietly and insistently that we NEED to re-evaluate what we were doing when we isolated a sub-group of people and then decided to pander to popular musical trends in order to have a "rockin'" Mass which will "keep our teenagers" in the Church? Read on....

From an EXCELLENT article by Jeffrey Tucker over at The Chant Cafe there is a review of some documents which articulate warnings about how the reform (Vatican II) could go very very wrong. The following quote from Sacred Music and Liturgy Reform After Vatican II (The "Proceedings of the Fifth International Church Music Congress Chicago-Milwaukee, August 21-28, 1966") has a very telling paragraph:

"Resolution on Profane Music in Mass: “The present-day, commercially oriented dance and entertainment music is inappropriate for divine services. Music which is directed predominantly toward the sensitive motor responsives of man is not worthy of the liturgy. This music makes its appeal to the performer as well as to the listener only on the level of the purely sensual, even to the possible exclusion of the spiritual faculties. Attempts made up to the present time to combine elements of jazz with the serious music of our Western culture and to use these in the Catholic liturgy have necessarily been doomed to failure, because the audible result offers only music that to all appearances only resembles jazz. The rhythm of this music with its primitive and uniform impulse generates in the listener a sensual, driving excitement. This monotonous, continually repeated rhythm dulls consciousness, but soon even this exciting feature loses its strength and dissipates into mere motor responses which serve to blot out all personal individuality. The prayer of a congregation, which ought to be vivified by the liturgy, is thus rendered impossible by music which evokes in men truly disorderly feelings and serves only to awaken essentially emotional drives. True liturgical community can be achieved only through the participation of the whole man. True liturgical community is accomplished only by impressing the seal of man's spirituality upon it.”

You should go RIGHT now and read the whole article by the esteemed Mr. Tucker. If you've not read anything over at The Chant Cafe or at NLM (The New Liturgical Movement) before now would be a good day to go browse topics and thinking about the issues they address about aesthetics in liturgy and why it matters. Over on the sidebar of this blog is what is called a "feed" where new articles posted to these wonderful blogs appear everytime something new is posted.

When we are better informed about the issues involved in music choice for sacred liturgy, the rationale behind what SHOULD be chosen and what SHOULD be left behind, we can begin to raise the level of conversation about liturgy and music beyond "I like that music, it makes me feel good" to "why is this or that choice appropriate or not appropriate for the worship of God in the Catholic Church".

We could all benefit from some reflected, informed thought and discussion about this topic, especially here at St. Richard's where the "justifiant" defense of simplistic emotion-based music at Mass has led to an often antagonistic separation of what should be shared goals and shared community. We CAN choose to have our worship be one, we CAN choose to make every Mass the same, so that if you go to 8:00 AM, you sing the same hymns as you do at 5:30 PM. Hymns. Hymns which contain the words which match the Gospel and the readings. Hymns which have enough musical structure that if you sing all FOUR of the verses even your children can begin to learn how music works. Hymns which sustain us and comfort us because the texts have a value beyond the narcissistic desires of sensual excitement. After we get the hymns back, let's talk about propers and then, *gasp* using the language of the Church to worship God with textual precision...but that would be a topic for another day.

The Brownie Pop Creation Experience in Pictures

2010-12-08T14:24:00.003-06:00

Youth Choir BROWNIE POPS 2010

2010-11-26T08:33:00.001-06:00

SOLD OUT!!!THANK YOU ALL!!! Delivery/Shipping Weekend is December 4th-5th! Try again next year!

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-11-25T16:51:00.001-06:00

Our Seniors Singing Chepponis' Magnificat at Communion

This thanksgiving was special for us. Three priests, five choir members, and the congregation sang We Gather Together, America the Beautiful, and Now Thank We All Our God, and thanked God for all the blessings we have. Fr. Sunds gave us a homily about gratitude and giving back to God. Claire and Sean led the congregation in singing Magnificat. Eucharist was beautiful as always, and made all the nicer by having all of our clergy together at a Mass. It was a lovely morning at St. Richard's.

Below, you will find a pair of video from Mass. The first is Sean singing Psalm 145 (dubbed "the thanksgiving psalm" by the choir members) and the second is of the Magnificat.

Rehearsing for Rome

2010-11-22T18:27:00.009-06:00

For months now, we've done nothing but work work work work work...Last weekend was no exception as we started to dig into our concert music, which we are somewhat behind on right now because it took so long to get the ordinary functional. We spent our requisite 2 1/2 hours of rehearsal trying to get one song "in the box". Any song. To feel truly competent at just one thing. Right now, "row, row, row your boat" might be a challenge. Everyone is brain dead and exhausted mentally from school, life, and the endless parade of music in front of us for all these Masses and then the concert.

Because we have as a core belief in this choir that Mass is what is MOST important, we have devoted our time and energy to the Masses, and are only now just beginning to work on the concert. It is gruelling work. But things are beginning to take shape. You can hear it below in the Personent Hodie video when the "Magitres" section starts, you can hear it in some of the better blended sections of "Lo, How a Rose".

I realized this week that I've made FIVE sets of four part CD's since August. I have not had a living room for four months. It's been a constant game of trying to catch up with the music that we need for Rome. Every Mass was a planning headache, every piece new to us (except "Behold God is My Salvation" which is more of a little kid thing), and we are keeping pace with the storm.

As ever, I am proud of the ducklings. As a choir, they are maturing. The tenors are finally learning how to move between their head voices and middle voices, and even the very tentative singers among us are starting to be able to follow along pretty well.

One of the videos below is of the Gloria we will sing with the thousands of choristers at the Papal Mass. We are proud that we can manage it. For us, this is an achievement. We really needed two years to get it smooth and confident, but because of circumstances beyond our control, we have barely had it four months. With one Bass, three tenors, two altos two sopranos and a bunch of folk who can't read music, we are doing VERY WELL. I hope all the hard work will result in a richer, more confident sound in our (thank heavens) much simpler home repertoire for the Masses we have left.

We are also (simultaneously) preparing for Christmas. Please join us at 5:30 PM on Christmas Eve for our carolling before the 6:00 PM Mass. It is, as ever, a privilege to serve at the altar of God at St. Richard's. God Bless our kids, and St. Cecilia, ora pro nobis, and St. Gregory, ora pro nobis.

THIS IS OUR POSTER FOR OUR CONCERT IN ROME!!!!

The Camera on the Counter

2010-11-11T07:39:00.000-06:00

Ever have a REALLY good plan?
Ever get up early to plug in a camera so it will charge and be useful later when you want to record something important?
Ever have a really BUSY day attending a workshop on the implementation of the 3rd edition of the Roman Missal followed by serving at Mass?
Ever have an autistic 6 year old with a penchant for hijacking all your other good thoughts in one instant of chaos?

--------------------------------------
We sang at Mass yesterday. I had the camera charged and ready to go. I left it on my kitchen counter where I'd remember to take it. Ten minutes before we left for Mass, I thought, maybe I should go put it in the car NOW while I'm thinking about it.....

--------------------------------------

c'est la vie....

While I try to remember to do these things better so I can put choir videos on the blog again, be sure to check out our

YOUTUBE channel at MSCSRYC.

To go there the easy way, click HERE. There are a lot of videos there of our choir singing at Mass, in rehearsal, and doing service projects. Enjoy!!!

"....maybe I should go put the camera in the car right NOW so I can record rehearsal this afternoon..."

Nah, I'll remember to do it later *wink*

AGGRAVATION

2010-11-03T09:03:00.002-05:00

I have had to remove all of the drop boxes with our audio files due to tacky business decisions over at drop.io.

So, I'm now looking for a new hosting service for audio files but I doubt I will add them back. If you happen across a drop box in an old post that I failed to remove, please email me at csb4sryc@comcast.net. Thank you.

Mrs. Carleigh

OUR MASS TIME IS MOVING

2010-10-22T10:15:00.003-05:00

Just in case you have not heard it...starting on November 6th, the SATURDAY afternoon Masses at St. Richard are moving from 5:30 PM to 5:00 PM. This will affect our rehearsal time. We will now need to be seated and ready to sing by 4:00 PM each Saturday we have Mass starting NOVEMBER 13th.

Please adjust your thinking and calendars accordingly. Thank you

Mass for Life at St. Richard's October 7th, 2010

2010-10-11T13:18:00.002-05:00

Last Thursday evening, for the second year in a row, the St. Richard Youth Choir served at the Mass for Life. Fr. Lincoln celebrated the Mass, and we were grateful for those who came to worship God in this, Respect for Life month. I felt privileged to hear Fr. Lincoln speak so passionately about our need to protect life from cradle to grave, and was saddened by the lack of participation from our beloved St. Richard community.

I have wondered, though, these past two years, why there is such a low turnout for such an important Mass? It seems strange enough to me that I found myself asking various community members what they thought might be happening, and the general consensus seems to be that weekday evening Masses, even those which are on Holy Days of Obligation are just "poorly attended" simply because they are in the evenings. Really? Because the Benediction service once a month is relatively well attended and it's on Wednesday evening. "Why Catholic?" seems well attended, and it's on lots of different evenings. So I wondered, what else could keep people away from the semi-annual Masses for Life? Could it be fear that those attending will be identified as being somehow "too Catholic"? Is there a sense that going to a Mass which could so easily be turned into a politicizing event rather than worship might be "uncomfortable"?

It is a Mass that celebrates life, honors our Catholic commitment to protect life, and allows us the opportunity to thank God for our own lives and the lives of our loved ones while praying for yes---an end to abortion, war, poverty, euthanasia, capital punishmen---AND to pray for all the other things we pray for at any given Mass. It is well worth the hour it would take you to attend. I encourage everyone here at St. Richard's to watch the bulletin, and when you see another opportunity to participate in such a moving Mass, make a special effort to come. Your time and effort will be richly rewarded.

Fr. Lincoln's Sermon from the Mass for Life:

O Sanctissima, by Beethoven, sung by the mini-SRYC (not all were able to sing that evening):

Deus caritas est

2010-10-01T10:24:00.002-05:00

The theme for the International Congress of Pueri Cantores, and by extension, the Papal Mass we are attending in Rome is "Deus caritas est" and that is taken from 1 John 4:16.

“GOD IS LOVE, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him”

As an additional reference source, I would like to direct your attention to Pope Benedict's Encyclical by that same title from Christmas of 2005. I rediscovered it while working on the translation for the song we will sing during the opening session of the International Congress, and found a lovely site which has the encyclical in its entirety.

Deus caritas est

I have also gotten together rough translations of all the music we are singing for the congress. This is primarily for my choir members who are likely to lose their copies and need to find this quickly fifteen minutes before rehearsal when there will be quizzes: Translations

Nuts and Bolts: The Ordinary for Rome

2010-09-28T08:16:00.002-05:00

I have assembled the best videos I could find from the net for the ordinary we are singing in Rome.

What is the ordinary, Mrs. Carleigh? I don't get that question as often as I once did, which is a delight for me, but I do still get it, so I will review for the choir members who are working hard at learning this---the ordinary (think the word "ordinal" that you learned in Math---the sequence of things, ordinal numbers, that connotation, NOT "ordinary" as in plain and boring and usual) are the parts of the Mass which are not dependent on the texts for a particular Mass. I will post a much more informational post on this topic soon, but that will serve as a reminder. The Ordinary which we are singing in Rome consists of the following:

Kyrie, Mass VIII (a.k.a. "missa de angelis")
Gloria, Mass VIII
Credo III
Sanctus, Mass VIII
Agnus Dei, Mass VIII

The videos for practice purposes are located on the top tab section under "ROME Practice Music"

The First Pancake, Lampenfeber, and the Sound of Men

2010-09-27T10:40:00.002-05:00

And so it begins...the guys have started something around St. Richard's. Comments brought to me after Mass ranged from "NOW we sound like a Catholic Church" to "I have begun to really appreciate the fact you are teaching them chant, now that I know what it means and why it's important" to "what a treat to have just the guys" to "where's the rest of the choir, I know there are more people in your choir, is there some sort of epidemic?"

What did resonate with me is that it IS indeed a treat to hear men singing in the quiet resonance of the church. I look forward to opportunity to do this again, and to challenge my guys to sing chant at communion unaccompanied and see where that leads us on this journey toward God. It is exciting to have them working and experimenting and trying something new.

That's not to say that this Mass didn't have its FIRST PANCAKE MOMENTS, like the one where I had misunderstood my boss's scribbling out of the hymns in the planning book and we rehearsed 30 minutes of hymns we weren't actually singing, only to discover with 8 minutes of rehearsal left that we had to sing things we did not know and which weren't exactly singable...and then there was a priest change which was exciting at the last minute, and in general there was a nervousness about all of us that made the guys strangely quirky and scatter brained. Sean sounded really lovely on the psalm, and I will post a recording of that at some point, but it bears some editing because the recorder was pointed at the organ, not at the ambo.

When you listen to them, please bear in mind that the very very first time you try something new, not everything works the way it does in the calm of the rehearsal space. Listen only to those blended resonant moments for the sound that will emerge as their confidence and strength develop this year. I am VERY proud of them. It is indeed frightening (though they'd never ever admit that) to sing when you know people are really and truly going to hear you. In the past, the guys could always fly under the radar in the back row, blanketed by the sounds of the altos and sopranos. Being alone in front of the microphones can turn anyone into a "microphobic" ball of nerves, and it makes it hard to remember all the minutiae it takes to sing. Good and tasty first pancake, gentlemen. We'll see all of you on October 23rd when the guys return to try it again.

In the meantime, here are the anthems from Saturday:

Mass this Saturday: "No Girls Allowed"

2010-09-23T09:31:00.003-05:00

If our guys had a clubhouse over the choir room, that would be the sign for this Saturday's Mass. It's our first ever offering of just the young men's voices from the Youth Choir. For so many years, the advanced trebles dominated the offering of special and difficult music, and I am very proud to make the announcement that our guys have now gotten to the point that they are just as strong, and just as good musically, such that they can carry a Mass by themselves.

For this, the 26th Sunday of Ordinary time, will will sing the following anthems:

OFFERTORY: Lead Me, Lord

---by S. S. Wesley, arranged in two parts by Desmond Ratcliffe, published by Novella & Company, ltd., 1960

TEXT

Lead me, Lord,
lead me in thy righteousness,
make thy way plain before my face.
For it is thou, Lord,
thou, Lord only, that makest me dwell in safety.

COMMUNION MEDITATION: O SACRUM CONVIVIUM
by Remondi, arr for 2 part chorus by N.A.M., published by The St. Gregory Guild, Inc. Philadelphia, PA., pg. 235

TEXT

O sacrum convivium! in quo Christus sumitur:
recolitur memoria passionis ejus,
passionis ejus: Mens impletur gratia,
mens impletur gratia:
et futurae gloriae
nobis pignus datur,
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

TRANSLATION

O sacred banquet!
in which Christ is received,
the memory of his Passion is renewed,
the mind is filled with grace,
and a pledge of future glory to us is given.
Alleluia. (from here)

I will again begin recording our selections live at Mass. I waited initially to give some of our very new beginners a chance to settle in and for the choir to start blending a bit better, and then last Mass, my camera was obviously at the Male Voices Symposium making it difficult to record at Mass.

So, prayers for our guys, and we'll see YOU at MASS!

Blogress

2010-09-19T09:26:00.002-05:00

You will note there are now labels on most of the posts, and all subsequent posts will be labeled. Even I could not find anything on this blog and it was driving me to distraction and annoyance. If you see one that is incorrectly labeled, please do send me an email, because I just spent an hour and a half labeling ALL the old posts and my eyes went a little blurry and tired there near the end.

The labels will allow us to find categories of posts we are searching for, then you can scroll to find the specific post you are looking for. They are located on the right side bar, just scroll down a little to find them. Click on a topic, and it will load up the category of your choosing.

I removed the "search this blog" widget because it was useless.

Thank you,
The mgmt.

We Survived the Parish Dinner!!!!

2010-09-16T09:40:00.005-05:00

First of all, I'd like to thank MARTI for all her great advice and help. I had NO EARTHLY idea how to cook dinner for 250 people, and she walked me through everything and because of her help, we were able to do a really good job and get people through the line and fed and smiling. Thank you also to the choir, who have gotten quite good at this food service/banquet stuff. You guys are pros!

A very special thank you to our "front of house" people too----KC Williams for the beautiful ceramics which were the centerpiece of our evening, and Laurel Schooler for the gourmet cupcakes. I could hear Josh Schooler calling bingo from the speakers in the kitchen and the night sounded super fun, even though we were so busy we couldn't catch five minutes to go watch them draw the tickets for the statues.

Sorry about the blurry pictures. It is a fact that my poor little camera isn't up to the task of taking action shots and I do the best I can. Even a little blurry, you can see all of our labor and smiles :).

For me, this morning after the storm of cooking all day and serving and cleaning, I am grateful for everything everyone has done in this Parish and beyond to help us with our dream, our vision of attending the Pueri Cantores International Congress and Papal Mass. The trip will be a beautiful testament to how hard we worked, how much you loved us, and how amazing God is. The honor roll (I'll keep adding as I remember, it's been quite a busy two years):

ALL the very very generous people of St. Richard's
The choir parents
The Wolfe Studios
K.C. Williams
Fr. Mike O'Brien
Fr. Lincoln Dall
Marti Kestenbaum
Tenie Buchanan
Mary Falconi
Helen Walsh
Suzan Cox
Debbie Tubertini
Raymond Barry
Acme Printing
Fashions, Inc
TLS Lighting systems
Tyler Kemp
Rob Robertson
Breanda Patterson
Liz Gill
Lizzie Montgomery
Helen Barnes
Michele Orsborn
J.C. Patterson
Josh & Laurel Schooler
Dana Martin
Joanne Martin
Daphne Logan
Mothers' Morning Out
Mary McNamara
The Clarion Ledger
Monica Hernandez and WLBT
The people of "St. Plurk's"
James Scates

Loys Bedell

So, we are here at the end of the first stage of our pilgrimage. Tomorrow the final payments will go to New York and the final list of participants will emerge. I am deeply humbled by the support of this community. I am personally grateful for all the help and advice and friendship I've gained along the way. I have been awed by the commitment and work ethic of these teenagers I am privileged to teach. God has blessed us, and we will go to Rome now with the love and support of our family and friends and we will sing with the intention of bringing everything we learn home to St. Richard's to bear fruit for years to come. Thank you all and God Bless.

"...brown paper packages tied up with strings..."

2010-09-13T14:35:00.002-05:00

"...right now are NOT some of my favorite things..." hums Mrs. Carleigh these days as we begin work on the music for Rome. That is the long awaited package from Poland containing our music for Rome. As far as I can tell, if it did INDEED leave Poland on June 15th as was rumored, it must have travelled by donkey to have only made it here last week.

Inside was a surprise I was not prepared for in the least...all this time we have worked on the Ordinary, Mass VIII and Credo III, it never occurred to me that someone would be ambitious enough to write an entirely NEW choral arrangement for said pieces of the ordinary.

Not that our genius St. Richard Youth Choir can't learn this music. Not that we won't all be made better musicians for having learned it. It's just that I was sort of counting on the Ordinary being the hard that it already was, not hard in seven parts. So, all the music ranting aside, I remain curious about what the leadership of the International Federation Pueri Cantores is hoping for with this lovely, albeit somewhat startling, work of art created for the Papal Mass. My prayer is that we will rise to the occasion and sing with the choirs from around the world to the very best of our ability. What an opportunity!

But, needless to say, my fascination with actually getting a "brown paper package tied up with string" rather quickly turned to a gasp of shock at the complexity of the music itself. Nothing worth doing is easy, and this is SO WORTH DOING!!!!

St. Cecilia, St. Gregory, pray for us, and all of you who have journeyed this far with us, take a breath, say a prayer, and hope we can do a great job on all of this for God!

Male Voices Symposium

2010-09-13T14:25:00.001-05:00

The Youth Choir would like to congratulate Karl & James for doing such a stand-up job at the first ever ACDA Male Voices Symposium over the weekend in Clinton. Dr. Jamie Meaders was their conductor, and in just one day of rehearsing helped all the young men attending make really beautiful music. I especially like the Ubi Caritas.

I've put ALL FOUR songs into a video player below. Navigate between the songs by using the little right/left arrow keys on the sides of the player.

The songs are: Ubi Caritas, by Ola Gjeilo, O vos omnes, by Palestrina, Advent by Craig Courtney, and I am in Need of Music by David Brenner.

All State Honor Choir Play List

2010-09-04T08:44:00.005-05:00

This is the playlist for All State. You have CD's, but if you're not near your player, you can log on and play from here. Use the arrow keys on the side of the video frame to move between the videos.

The songs are:
Laudate Pueri, by Mozart
Der Abend, by Brahms
When Allen-a-Dale went a hunting (Madrigal)
Pilgrim's Hymn by Stephen Paulus
Consecrate the Place and Day

Choir Retreat 2010: Back to Basics, and an awful lot of pictures of Mary

2010-08-15T13:51:00.002-05:00

We began 5:00 PM Saturday evening with pizza and schedules and filling out forms.   Hours of rehearsal, one Evening Prayer service, two Masses, and a digital picture liturgy/art/architecture scavenger hunt later, we finally went home exhausted, but happy.

Special thanks to Tyler who stayed overnight with us and apparently managed to get the guys to sleep before 3:00 AM, which is a new thing. More thanks are due to Brenda Patterson who cleaned, staged, moved, and provided needed ice-cream support to the choir for the whole retreat! I would also like to thank Liz Gill for coming and helping us with lunch on Saturday and for making such neat and wonderful sandwiches. Fr. Lincoln Dall was gracious enough to skip a major fun time on the party boat to say Evening Prayer with us, and for that, I want to thank him from my heart. Our evening prayer with him was beautiful in front of the stations of the cross, and I really appreciated his leadership and quiet ways. It takes a LOT of people to make a choir retreat happen, and I just really appreciated the help this year. WE DID IT!!!

All that work allowed me to focus on music and we managed to get through ALL of the anthems, hard and easy alike at least once, which is a huge step forward when the kids go to work on their CD's.

Friday night, on a break, we took some time to meet Cynthia and her sister on vimeo. We yet again discussed the circle diagram that starts with "Deus" and moves through "exitus, creatio, and reditus." We learned about the Barque of Peter, and why modesty matters. We talked about European churches and why there are dress codes and what it means to be in a Holy place and why we are called to act and dress differently when we are worshiping God than at other occasions.

At breakfast on Saturday, we rolled out of sleeping bags and airbeds at the unholy hour of 6:15 AM and ate breakfast in pajamas so we could have it all finished by 7:00 AM, one full hour before the beginning of Mass!

We rehearsed/sang at Mass/Evening Prayer a total of 12 hours out of 24.

That is an awful lot of music and work. They are to be commended on their dedication and energy. Frankly, I started vocal leading late Friday evening and had almost completely lost my voice by Saturday night. This makes them SMARTER than me, because I noticed no one else lost their voice (this makes me happy, it means they were singing correctly and no one screamed and played too late Friday night).

Along the way, we had a scavenger hunt of a different kind. I sent them looking with their eyes, and cameras. Each team had a digital camera and a list. On the list were terms like "sacrarium" and "vestibule" and "nave" and "sanctuary" and "ambo" and "sacristy". There were many other items, including three categories where each team was to take "as many pictures of.... _____________" as possible. The categories were "Mary," "Crucifixes," and "Baptismal symbols". I was delighted to see the cameras nearing capacity when the teams returned. They even managed to be reverent while in the sanctuary.   On a related topic:

NOTE TO SELF: When constructing a Rubric for teenagers, pay attention to details like asking for "images of Mary." In context, it seems obvious what I intended, yet, one of the groups in all its glory, smart-alek'ed me with this "picture of Mary." *sigh*

At Mass, Fr. Lincoln did a commissioning for the choir. This was especially poignant this year as we prepare for Rome. I met several parishioners after Mass who said it moved them to tears. I couldn't help but reflect on how we have struggled to arrive here, back before the altar of God, working to improve our music and our service, singing from our very souls, waiting with hope until we make our pilgrimage and come home again to sing anew...

This will be a very exciting year.

Things Heard Around the Copier

2010-08-01T16:43:00.003-05:00

I spent some time this week doing menial tasks for the choir and chanced upon a few pleasant conversations around the copier upstairs at St. Richards. If you spend long enough up there the ga-shoon-ga, ga-shoon-ga of the machine gets into your ear and you start humming various things you've heard recently or music you happen to be copying, but all hummed to the relentless rhythm of the machine.

The Banana Melon is a Happy Thing

Among the topics that fluttered in and out of the ga-shoon-ga's, these were the ones that stuck with me: why no one wants to do fund raising, why it doesn't work, the cost of providing vibrant, interesting programs is exorbitant, many people can't afford to participate in them, the church bus causes as many problems as it solves, Fr. Mike is uncomfortable with all the selling of this and that and the other which is going on around here (me too, and I was doing a lot of it last year), and there are these weird melons growing in our Liturgy Director's neighbor's yard that are the best tasting canteloupe-like things anyone's ever eaten.

The banana melon was the best part of the experience.

So, the new thing this year for the Youth Choir itself will be that when we work, we just work. No money will change hands. We will serve the parish without asking for anything in return except prayers.

I knew going into last year that things would get hairy. So, I have an announcement: the very last of the Rome-related fundraising activities is for the JUNIOR Youth Choir members and has intrinsic value to anyone who appreciates fine art. We will provide the parish dinner which is the setting for their raffle, and we will pray earnestly that it is successful.

Then we will hang up our towels, and work on our singing. If we bake this fall, it will be for service only. A Christmas present to the Parish who has loved enough to bear with us through this long long long process. We are VERY grateful to the people of St. Richard's. We will share our journey with you, and we will be proud to have you along on our adventures this year.

There will be Newbies and First Years' and Tweeners and Seniors. There will be All-State auditions and Treble Song and a trip to Rome. There will be prayer and fellowship, and the beautiful music of the Church, but most of all, there will be the sacrifice at the center of it all, the reason for every thing we do collectively and individually, the source of our inspiration, the challenge which leads us forward: there will be Him. Deo Gratias. Cantate Domino. Deo Gratias.

Looking Ahead to the 2010-2011 Choir Season

2010-07-09T08:13:00.001-05:00

...and on a brighter note, I think we'll have the zombie-free year, if you don't mind. We can accomplish this by agreeing to some very basic rights and responsibilities of choir director/choir member/congregation relationship building. These R & R's as I'll call them are:

FIRST AND FOREMOST:
THE RIGHTS OF THE CONGREGATION:

The congregation has the right to expect that music will happen at Mass without incident. This means we must be prepared at all times. If we are to be the unnoticed, non-distracting, prayerful voices that accompany the prayers of the faithful, it is extremely important that we conduct ourselves at all times reverently and with good preparation of musical offerings. We cannot distract from the Mass. We are NOT the show. We are there to be the sound track no one consciously notices which accompanies the memories and experiences of the profoundly beautiful sacrifice Jesus made which we participate in at the altar of God. When we do our job in rehearsal--- when we come dressed modestly, neatly and nicely, wear vestments and sing as one voice, then God will bless us and we'll get to do it again (in about two weeks or a month).

The R & R's of the choir:

The start time is the start time. Period. No negotiations, no excuses.
The end time is the end time. Period. No negotiations, no excuses. There might be the occasional "we gotten everything done and you can see if you can find someone to come get you early, or we'll play cards until the end time (this is rare, so don't bring cards to every choir event).
You WILL use your rehearsal CD and music to keep up and learn your parts.
You WILL bring your practice binder to EVERY rehearsal unless otherwise notified.
The Mass & Music list for the year can be found in the tabs above by scrolling down after you click "Mass Schedule". This means NO ONE can say they didn't know when we are singing or WHAT we are singing.
The CALENDAR can be found on the right sidebar of this blog. It's called "Youth Choir Calendar," ironically enough, and it's a handy way to never be surprised again.
I'm pretty much done with fund raising (after we raffle the statues); it's a horrible, horrible thing to be burdened with doing. This does NOT mean we will quit earning our keep in the parish. There will still be the yearly event, and the fall baking and selling of brownie pops. We will STILL work the odd banquet here and there. We will still work for the Junior Youth Choir whenever possible.

The R & R's of the choir director are as follows:

I have the right to expect that you will be on time to ALL rehearsals, performances, and service projects.
If you, for some serious reason, cannot attend said rehearsals, performances, or service projects, I have the right to expect that you will notify me IMMEDIATELY when you discover your dilemma.
I will give adequate warning of any schedule changes
I will be flexible about sports (within reason), and extracurricular activity conflicts (again, within reason)
I will be on time, start on time, and end on time.
I will provide you with a rehearsal CD and the music for the entire year at the retreat.

Other things you will need to know about next year:

Pueri Cantores is back on our schedule for Spring (I'm thinking Houston, because that's easy). I'll have dates and repertoire available as soon as possible.
I will add a permanent page for the honor choir information soon. This will have audition dates, recording sessions for the recorded auditions, and the dates of the actual honor choirs so you can plan

So, tell your friends, neighbors, and anyone that you know that the St. Richard Youth Choir is accepting new members. God Bless the people of St. Richard, all our benefactors, and through the intercessions of St. Cecilia and St. Gregory, may we have a good year of hard work and service. Amen.

*and no zombies, please* :)

The Cow, the Choir, the Day in the Sun: Highlights from Cow Chip Bingo

2010-06-29T11:06:00.003-05:00

Filing Day at the Old Salt Mines

2010-06-26T14:24:00.001-05:00

Remember last year when Katie and Emily braved floodwaters to help me file the years' accumulated stacks of music? Well, this year we had MORE HELP!!!!! Yay for the Youth Choir who really came through for St. Richard's yesterday. Kolbe, Claire, James, Katie, Emily, Kathleen, Mollie, Chantele, Trey, Catherine, and Ms. C braved the eight feet of music to get it sorted, folder'ed, and FILED.

We also ate pizza, sang songs, and laughed at the various odd things that can happen when you are trying to get music sorted.

James and Claire found a sign...and though it is a wicked generation that looks for a sign, this one had a powerful message of hope and joy

I have no explanation why there was a plastic-sheathed printed "DONE" in the pile of Adult Easter Music, but never a prettier sight has this choir director seen than that orange crate all full and neat and finished and all the other piles of neat and finished music in the various rooms we sorted it in, so I'm gonna just breathe a sigh of relief, and start loading the binders for next year. Circle of life, you know?

Celebrity "Appearance" at Cow Chip Ticket Sales!!!!!

2010-06-21T14:47:00.001-05:00

A mysteriously rigid but photo-ready Edward Cullen appeared on the bridge late Sunday Evening to help with Cow Chip Bingo Ticket sales.

The day was beastly hot, and with four Masses to sell tickets at this past weekend, the choir was busy and tired and excited and miserable all at the same time. We took AC and water breaks as often as possible, but the 100 + temps we could feel on the bridge (which doesn't really catch breezes) were unbearable at times.

Spirits remained high, and tickets were sold.

This is a good thing, and we are grateful to the people of St. Richard's for all their generosity and their happy good sense of humor about the whole "business" of Cow Chip.

The good news I have to report is that we are ON TRACK for the event on Saturday and will have waterslide, face painting, concessions (some signature hand made surprises from our gifted bakers in the choir), tshirts for sale, and of course, the star of our show, "CHIPPER" the cow.

Even St. Richard himself couldn't resist getting in on the action:

Down by the nursery, the lucky and apparently sales-gifted Kayla, Mollie, and Mrs. Gill, worked hard in the breezeway. I'd like to especially thank Mrs. Gill who came to every single Mass to help sell tickets!!!!

So, Saturday will be fun for kids, and fun for us, and less fun for Chipper who I don't have any shade for. We are still in need of gazebo tents if anyone would like to let us borrow one.

A last thank you needs to go out to the Rankin County Coop which is going to allow us to use their temporary cow fencing to put around our grid so that this is as super random as possible and fair to all who bought tickets. When the cow goes...well, may the cow be with you!

Bloggress

2010-05-24T14:53:00.001-05:00

What is Bloggress? It's that newfangled thing one does to one's blog when one is trying to keep up with the ever-changing digital environment. Sometimes it is good, and sometimes it is bad, but we must keep making blogress if we are to evolve into a real blog. *wink*

Here are some new additions to the blog:

First---note the tabs under the title. These will allow newcomers and visitors to easily access the more practical choir info at a click. I will be adding a "FEATURED MUSIC" Tab which will have video and sound files from our best or most recent work. There will be an UPCOMING events tab for all the special events the choir does on a semi-regular and sometimes spontaneous basis.

Additionally, I've updated the look of the blog, and will be culling old things soon to make room for next season.

Requests for additional features, articles, information, or ease of use are welcome, and I ask that you please leave a comment for me in the com box. Thank you, and I will work this summer to figure out how to make our blog more user friendly!!!

Or Not! (also known as "...the best laid plans of mice and men do often go awry....")

2010-05-18T11:48:00.008-05:00

As usual, the inevitable "spanner in the works" has been tossed into our plans.

FALL REHEARSAL SCHEDULE, and this is FINAL. I apologize profusely for the confusion, but when you see Tyler, you can frown in his general direction instead of mine, because it was his schedule that was in flux. He's starting graduate school next fall, so we ARE going to support our wonderful Tyler, because he will be of great help to us next year, and hope his graduate studies go well, and we will WORK around his classes cheerfully, right??!?!? All aboard the flexibility train....

TREBLES AND GUYS NOW ON SUNDAYS WITH A STAGGERED SCHEDULE (see below)

Advanced Trebles (level 2) will rehearse on SUNDAYS from 2:30 to 4:00.
ALL BEGINNERS (guys and trebs) will rehearse on SUNDAYS from 3:15 to 4:30.
Advanced Guys (level 2) will rehearse from 3:45 to 5:15.

This will work better for Tyler and me, and will allow us to work with the beginners separately, thus maximizing efficiency and saving wasted rehearsal time. This is a sleeker, more efficient way to be of the MOST help to the choir. It's also the best of all possible compromises.

So, in a nutshell, everyone will rehearse on Sundays at slightly different times, and the weeknights will now be completely free.

NB: I just realized this also means that we do not need so much pre-Mass rehearsal time on our Saturdays!

On the weeks when the entire choir is singing at Mass, call time is now 4:30 PM
On the weeks when the advanced groups are singing, call time will be 4:45 PM. Isn't that nice?

Thanks for the FLEXIBILITY and COOPERATION!!!

Confirmation (of many sorts)

2010-05-14T09:02:00.004-05:00

Sean was confirmed last night, along with many people who have come and gone from the choir through the years. It's a new beginning for the confirmees, a chance to live up to their new responsibilities in Christ. It was another moment for this old choir director to engage in nostalgia and happy memories of children who are coming into their own, growing into their adult skins, testing their limits and expanding horizons.

I am delighted to note that Sean did NOT in fact burst into flames when the Bishop annointed him. There was apparently some question in his mind about his destiny and spiritual nature beforehand that made the possibility of lightning strikes or spontaneous combustion possible, but it turns out, it's okay for Sean to be a fully confirmed Catholic after all. *smile*

But I deliberately digress....

Other things have been confirmed, too:

There WILL be two Youth Choir Masses per month starting in fall, one with the FULL choir, and the second with a rotation of three small scholas. Only twice a year will most people find themselves serving twice in a month.
The Parish is looking at the financials from Rome to see what they can contribute to help us. Please pray for wisdom in the Parish Council and for Fr. Mike who will ultimately make the decision. Ask for the intercession of St. Gregory and St. Cecilia in this matter.

CONGRATULATIONS SEAN!

End of Year Blues

2010-05-08T07:26:00.001-05:00

Even though we will be working through the summer, we won't be singing through the summer, so I am filled with the end of year, end of an era blues. The founders now scatter off to college, and we look to the future with the choir which has formed beneath their feet...the choir proper, no more founders among us to lead and point the way. We are on our own.

And we will be okay.

Next year will bring some amazing new challenges:

ROME!
Mass TWICE a month!
Beginners who will learn to sing as a blended choir
The graduation of two more of the earliest members of the choir
Another Pueri Trip
Learning the Latin Ordinary and singing it in context FINALLY
Figuring out where we go from here

I have been privileged to watch these fantastic young people grow through the darkest of adolescence into hopeful fledgling adults about to take on life and the world. I am deeply proud of all of them, and of each step of the journey. So much silly fun, so many moments of discovery and the sheer joy of figuring out that if you PRACTICE, you really do GET BETTER at a thing, even a thing like singing.

Often, with my own family, I play this difficult game of "What was your favorite moment?" For me, it remains the singing of "Nunc Tempus Acceptabile" because it is beautiful and because we were given it to sing by the composer himself, and because we worked so hard on it. It comes from the period before the man voices showed up and made us a mixed choir, in the old times of trebles singing separately from our guys while we patiently waited on their voices to settle. My second favorite moment of all time was at State Honor Choir during "Signs of the Judgment" when I could HEAR Sean singing "Gotta be" loud and clear and resonant and confident and I could see James' beaming smile as he and a BUNCH of other basses boomed out "better be ready for that great day".

Other happy times happened as we were working together...bead n' bakes, banquets, dishes and more dishes, dinner theatres, and bracelets. There were a LOT of those times.

Some things will never change. If you are in a choir I am directing, you WILL work HARD. Both at music and at service, and you WILL learn why we sing at Mass the way WE do, and you will find friends along the way. "Mama" will still occasionally go "boom" when people are being adolescent jerks, and we'll all work with each other toward community and forgiveness and growth at all times.

Thank you, SRYC, and parents and friends of the choir, for an amazing journey so far. I look forward to the road ahead.

Mrs. Carleigh

We Look Like Waitstaff...DUH!!!!

2010-04-30T09:58:00.001-05:00

The Junior Youth Choir Awards Banquet was last night, and as always, the Youth Choir was there, serving and decorating, and standing around awkwardly at times, helping take pictures of the little ones with their medals, and being friendly and helpful. We even sang a song for them.

This is the stuff choirs are made of. The give-back of the older ones who serve the younger ones and make happy good memories for them. It was a lovely evening.

THIS YEAR WAS A LITTLE DIFFERENT.

I remembered to take pictures.

Enjoy! Pray for the choirs, and I hope everyone has a marvelous summer of relaxation.

WE HAVE A COW!!! And a date for Cow Chip Bingo!!!!

2010-04-23T12:19:00.002-05:00

IT HAS FINALLY HAPPENED!!!!!

Thanks to Mr. David Reeves we will finally be able to move forward with our plans to hold

COW CHIP BINGO

So, save the date, and get your sun hats on, because we're gonna spend a Saturday morning together having games, fun, silly, silly, silly food, and watching a cow wander around on our football field, as everyone clutches their tickets, hoping that the chips fall where they may......

Smile Everyone, It's for a Good Cause!

SO, please join the choir for some crazy fun on the football field on:

Saturday, June 26th from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM

Wish Fulfillment

2010-04-10T19:23:00.012-05:00

Last year, six people tried out for the ACDA All-State Honor Choir and one went. She had such a great experience with the highly skilled, highly prepared All-State honorees that we HAD to try again, so try again we did. This year, five SRYC members were accepted, and four attended the gruelling rehearsals that culminated today on stage at Galloway Methodist in front of a packed crowd of parents, choir directors, and choral students. The conductor, Dr. Kevin Fenton, did an exemplary job preparing the choir, and the concert was especially nice.

Below, please enjoy the six songs recorded live at the concert. There is a CD on its way with seriously good audio quality, but these are a fair representation of the live sound, and will certainly make you smile.

What do they bring home to St. R's from this?

The guys bring back a HUGE self esteem boost, and a whole new repertoire of man voice skills that they gained while standing in those giant sections FULL of really good singers. Alone no more, our lone Bass James kept saying "I'm not alone! I'm not alone!" He will return better equipped to sing confidently as new guys rise up from sixth grade, through their various voice changes, and he will be able to lead them into their new voices. The tenors have learned to "relax" and keep their chins down, rounding out their tone and giving them glorious resonance. As they stand toe to toe with the new guys next year, the skills will spread like wildfire. I can't wait.

So, here are the six songs:

Cantate Domino, by Croce
-available through G. Schirmer HL50313370

Cantate Domino, cantate domino omnis terra.
Cantate Domino, et benedicite nomini ejus.
anuncia te de die in diem, salutare ejus.

O sing ye to the Lord,
Sing ye a new song.
O sing ye to the Lord all the earth.
O bless His Holy Name,
O bless ye His Name.
Sing tot he whole world from this day
through all the days. His salvation for us.

Bogoroditse Devo by Rachmaninov
-available through earthsongs

Virgin Mary, Mother of God, rejoice,
Holy Mary, full of grace,
the Lord is with Thee.
Blessed art Thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb,
For Thou has given birth to the Saviour of our souls.

Three Nocturnes, by Dan Forrest
-available through Hinshaw Music, Inc.

2. Lightly Stepped a Yellow Star

Lightly stepped a yellow star,
to its lofty place,
loosed the moon her silver hat
from her lustral face.
All of evening softly lit,
as an astral hall.
All of evening softly lit,
as an astral hall.
Father, I observed to heaven,
you are punctual, punctual, punctual.

3. Thou Motive of the Stars

O, vast Rondure, swimming in space!
Cover'd (all) o'er with visible pow'r,
cover'd all o'er with visible pow'r
and beauty! Alternate, alternate,
Alternate light and day and teeming
and spiritual darkness;
Unspeakable, high processions of sun and moon,
and countless stars, and countless stars above,
and stars above;
O transcendant! Light of the light!
shedding forth universes, thou
centre of them!
Thou mightier center of the true, the good, the loving!
Thou moral spirirual fountain!
Affection's source! Thou reservoir! Thou pulse!
Thou motive of the stars, thou motive of the stars,
of stars, suns, systems, that circling, move,
in order, safe, harmonious, in order, safe, harmonious, in order, safe, harmonious.
Across the shapeless vastnesses of space.

Famine Song, by VIDA, arr. Matthew Colloton
-available through Santa Barbara SBMP575

Ease my spirit, ease my soul,
please free my hands from this barren soil.
Ease my mother, ease my child,
earth and sky be reconciled.
Rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain.

Weave my mother, weave, my child
weave your baskets of rushes wild. repeat
Out of heat, under sun,
comes the hunger to everyone.
Famine's teeth, famine's claw,
on the sands of Africa.
Rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain. repeat weave, rain.

Signs of the Judgment by Mark Butler
-available through Hinshaw Music HMC2041

Judgment, oh, judgment.
I see the signs of the judgment comin', oh,
I see the signs of the judgment comin',
I see the signs of the judgment comin', oh,

Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelujah.
Better be ready for that great day
when the Lord come an' take his children away.
Boatman, boatman, row one side,
you can't get to heaven gainst the wind and the tide.
(refrain)
Run to the mountain, the mountian moved,
I run to the hills and they did too.
Went to the rocks to hide my face,
the rocks cried out there's no hiding place.
Judgment, oh, judgment.
One of these mornings bright and fair,
I will meet my Jesus in the air,
He'll say "Well done, my child,"
then I'll shout "Hallelujah"
my race has been won.
See the signs of the judgment
the time is drawing nigh.
(refrain)

ALL STATE HAS BEGUN!!!!

2010-04-08T18:57:00.003-05:00

All-State Attendees with their CONDUCTOR! Dr. Kevin Fenton.

Easter Mass 2010 with the SRYC

2010-04-05T12:13:00.006-05:00

Sunday began Saturday afternoon when we rehearsed all afternoon to put the finishing touches on Mass. It's been a very difficult Spring around here, what with trying to raise all this money for Rome, and the Easter music was just one more big thing to get right in the clenches...

And my darling ducklings did it very very well. There were only two Mass disasters, and they were both caused by lack of communication between the organist and the director, and that happens when you only get to work with your organist the Saturday before the big event. The rest of Mass went as expected, though, and as usual I am quite proud of the choir and all their hard work.

Below you will find excerpts of the music and some video clips from the Easter Liturgy at St. Richard of Chichester Catholic Church in Jackson, Mississippi, on April 4th, 2010 as it happened live at the 8:00 AM Mass (for all the sound files from the Mass, CLICK HERE, and for ALL our video files, CLICK HERE):

Surrexit Christus: Christ is Arisenby Pergolesi, ed. by Richard Proulx, available through GIA # G-4300

Surrexit Christus alleluia, etc...
Surrexit Christus vere, alleluia,
Surrexit Christus vere de Sepulcro.
Surrexit Christus, alleluia, alleluia,
Surrexit Christus vere,
Surrexit Christus vere, alleluia, etc.

Translation---
Christ is arisen, alleluia
This day is Christ arisen truly from the dead, alleluia., etc.

Victimae paschali laudes

Ye Watchers and Ye Holy Ones

Palm Saturday (a.k.a. Palm Sunday Vigil Mass)

2010-04-01T18:08:00.004-05:00

We sang last Saturday (at least the schola did) after we did the Dinner Theatre on Friday night, and boy were we tired. I had actually not planned to record this, seeing as our numbers were down because so many people needed rest after the difficult week of rehearsals and the Dinner Theatre performance itself, but Suzan was experimenting with the system and managed to capture these recordings from Mass for us.

In Monte Oliveti

In monte Oliveti
oravit ad patrem;
Pater si fieri potest
transeat a me calixiste.
Spiritus quidem promptus est
caro autem in firma
fiat voluntas tua.

O Sacred Head (the hymn out of the Worship hymnal)

Why aren't there any posts about the Dinner Theatre?

2010-03-30T11:48:00.001-05:00

The evening of the Dinner Theatre, my laptop decided it no longer wanted to live. So, with a suicidal laptop and a video recording marred by clanging of plates in the kitchen, I have not been inclined to solve any of those problems during Holy Week.

Check back with me after Holy Week, when I am sure that I will be up to solving problems again.

In the meantime, forgive my lack of postiness and say a prayer for the choir, it will be a long weekend (again).

Ms. C

Dinner Theatre SOLD OUT last night!

2010-03-27T14:34:00.002-05:00

We sold out!!!! We will clear $3500 in money raised. Thanks to ALL who made the evening such a roaring success.

Those of you who keep checking to see when I'll get video up, try again in a few days. We have Mass this afternoon, and next week is Holy Week, so my time is limited. I PROMISE I'll at least load the pictures of the dress rehearsal and one pic I took night of before the weekend is over.

Sorry it's taking so long, but there was a lot to disassemble and put away.

Again, thanks especially to the good people of St. Richard's and Jackson for supporting us so kindly.

Raisin' the Bar and Raisin' the Funds

2010-03-02T18:28:00.002-06:00

Apparently, we will be searching for a pot of gold, and spending a lot of time in a bar........

GET YOUR TICKETS TODAY!!!!

ANNOUNCING:

The St. Richard Youth Choir's

SECOND ANNUAL

~~~~~Murder Dinner Theatre~~~~

"Dyin' for a Pint:

The Mysterious O'Brien Family Pub Murder"

~~~~~~~~~~

There is something afoot at the O'Brien family pub...could it be MURDER? And where did the old man hide all that gold? And who are those people that look like they fell off a parade float?

Please join us for an evening of Irish fun.

There will be a great show, lots of original songs to sing-a-long with, great food, and drink, door prizes and more!!!!

When? Friday March 26th 7:00 PM

Where? Foley Hall at St. Richard's

How Much? $45.00 per adult ticket

$15.00 student tickets
Where do I get tickets? Call (601) 366-2335

GET YOUR TICKETS TODAY!!!!

ALL PROCEEDS WILL GO TOWARD THE CHOIR'S TRIP TO ROME. PLEASE HELP US GET TO ROME!!!!

Thank you.

The choir would like to thank BRAVO ITALIAN RESTAURANT for letting us shoot our crazy pictures in their nice restaurant. Thank you Jeff and Bravo!

The Second Sunday of Lent Highlights

2010-02-27T10:35:00.012-06:00

Fr. Mike shared an interesting truth with us this weekend about horses, and it had everything to do with the Gospel, and our Lenten journey. He told us that in a recent conversation he had learned that when you are riding in competition that it is extremely important that as you approach a jump, you should not look down. If you look down, you will communicate to the horse your fear and insecurity and they will then feel fear and insecurity, likely resulting in a terrible fall for both of you...

Strangely, for me, this was exactly where I was this Saturday. I knew that in a scant 13 hours, the choir and I would be speaking at Timely Topics (St. Richard's Adult Sunday School) about the Rome trip, and I was frankly frightened that I would fail the choir, we'd embarrass ourselves, no one would come, etc., and as I metaphorically tumbled horse, choir, me, and all headfirst into fear and anxiety, it was nice to have that visual image: don't look down.

That having been said, it was still difficult to settle my thoughts and concentrate on Mass. There was plenty of silence, so it should not have been as difficult as it seemed to me, but I kept having to shove the worries about Rome out of my mind and force myself back to listening and absorbing the Word.

Those silences are pervasive at this time of year in St. R's, and I will never get used to not singing the great hymns of Lent. I treasure silence, and it is a good way to focus during Lent, but entering and leaving the church without music at Mass during Lent, a season I identify through its beautiful Dorian mode hymns and pensive tones is still quite jarring to my sensibilities. Nevertheless, we entered in silence, sang the Kyrie Eleison, and Mass began.

At Offertory, we sang a Bach piece entitled "Rejoice, O My Spirit." The text is as follows:

Rejoice, O My Spirit: Aria from Cantata No. 15

J.S. Bach, arr. J. Easson

available through G. Schirmer, Inc. #10319

Rejoice, O my spirit, be comforted now,

From Death by thy Savior, redeemed art thou,

redeemed art thou.

The fury of Hell and of Satan is past,

No more his dark shadows can Death o'er us cast.

Against all defiance thus shall I stand fast,

Against all defiance thus shall I stand fast.

Rejoice, O my spirit, and sing with full heart,

To worship thy Savior, redeemed thou art,

redeemed thou art.

Now glory is filling the whole world with light,

The sun is full risen, there is no more night,

For God is among us in pow'r and in might,

For God is among us in pow'r and in might.

Video of the Choir singing Rejoice, O My Spirit at Mass:

Then, later at Communion, we sang Palestrina's Adoramus te, which is a favorite for Holy Week from the St. Gregory Hymnal. The text is as follows:

Adoramus te

G.P. da Palestrina, ed. by N.A.M.

Adoramus te Christe:
et benedicimus tibi;
quia per sanctam crucem tuam
redemisti mundum;
qui passus es pro nobis;
Domine, Domine, miserere nobis.

Translation:

We adore You, O Christ,

and we bless You,
because by your holy cross
You have redeemed the world;
who suffered for us,
O Lord, O Lord, have mercy on us.

Video of the choir singing Adoramus te:

So, why did I break my usual stalwart policy of not recording the choir at Mass? Because we were to sing Adoramus te with the organ, which is a first for us. When you rehearse exclusively with piano, you get piano dependant, and your sound struggles against the percussive nature of the instrument. Singing a piece as demanding as Adoramus te with the organ, without ever being able to practice WITH said organ was a challenge, to say the least, but the piece demanded it and I was gratified that my little rag tag army did as well as they did with it. Good work guys on a very very difficult but beautiful offering at Mass.

And then...it continued...(see next post on February 28th)

All through the day and long into the night

2010-02-21T10:23:00.001-06:00

Yesterday was classic St. Richard Youth Choir. So much work, so much music. To give you an idea of how hard these young people work at this stuff, here is what they accomplished yesterday:

Emily, Claire and Ramsay spent another four hours rehearsing for and then later perfoming in an honor choir, went home briefly, and returned and worked for four hours as waitstaff at Supper and Substance.

James went to a History Bowl championship in Oxford and returned after that long hard day to help us clean the dining room at Supper and Substance. It would have been so easy for him to just go home and not make the extra effort to come up to the church and put in an hour of labor, but he did, and that is just HOW WE ROLL around here.

Sean spent his day in the water at the State Swim meet. We are hoping he returns having won many many events. James will return to the State swim meet this morning (he left at 4:00 AM to head down there).

I did not get an opportunity to take many pictures because we were all in the kitchen so long, but I did manage to snap a few at break time:

Catherine, Chantele, Claire, Trey, Emily, and Mollie eating filet mignon and asparagus (thank Supper and Substance for feeding us your wonderful food!!!! )

No, James, we don't care that you're not in uniform, we appreciate that you came and you will be very helpful in clean up and no one will see you... :)

The 2010 Treble Song Honor Choir

2010-02-20T16:18:00.011-06:00

The 2010 Mississippi Girlchoir Treble Song Honor Choir

Claire, Conductor Barbara Baker, Ramsay and Emily

Come to the Music by Joseph Martin:

Claire sang the solo for Child With the Starry Crayon by Daley---

LINKS TO THE REST OF THE VIDEOS

(Click on the title of the song to view video)

Cantate, by Curtright

It Was a Lover and His Lass by Bisbee

Jubilate Deo by Velde

The Storm is Passing Over by Tindley arr by Baker

Rest in Peace, Richard Proulx

2010-02-19T16:02:00.005-06:00

Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine,
et lux perpetua luceat eis.
Te decet hymnus Deus, in Sion,
et tibi reddetur votum in Ierusalem.
Exaudi orationem meam;
ad te omnis caro veniet.
Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine,
et lux perpetua luceat eis.

Richard Proulx, d. 2010

Even when I was an Epicopalian...you were always my hero.

May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

CONGRATULATIONS Kaitlyn, Claire, Sean, James and Scott

2010-02-08T20:12:00.001-06:00

All five who auditioned for the All-State Honor Choir have made it in!!!! I couldn't be prouder, and couldn't be happier. We came, we saw, we kicked it's patootie!!!! (and took names) So, on April 10th, I expect ALL of you to be at Galloway for the concert!!!! WOO HOO!!!!! Good work, SRYC. You earned your place this time.

Anticipation

2010-02-01T06:32:00.001-06:00

"Where, oh where are the State results...
where, oh where can they be,
Where, oh where are the State results,
oh where, oh where can they be?"

tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap

Impatience, concern, worry, anxiety, and various other forms of waiting and wondering are starting to really make us all a bit edgy. St. Cecilia, St. Gregory, pray for us as we wait please. Thank you.

ACDA All State Honor Choir Auditions

2010-01-23T18:52:00.008-06:00

Wow. What an improvement over last year: we worked HARD, we came ready to play, and we did our very very best. No one left sorry about all the hard work.

The day began with our pomegranate blueberry brain boosting POM drinks, which made for a lot of interesting faces.

And then we marked our cut sets, and practiced in the parking lot, out of the trunk of my car with the keyboard plugged into the adapter in the lighter. Tyler (our wunderkind accompanist) looked really intense as Claire & I held the music down in the 20 mile an hour wind.

Then, we went inside, drank our goo, and got in line to audition. This year, we knew more about what was expected of us, and this year I was allowed to conduct which helped out a lot. We could never have done it without Tyler, and so we give a BIG HATS OFF to Tyler.

To see the rest of the story...click on the slideshow on the sidebar and read the captions...the pictures tell the story the best!!!!

GOOD LUCK GUYS!!! You did a fantastic job, and I am, as ever, very very very proud of all five of you. I hope we have a fighting chance this time.

Mass for Life

2010-01-22T09:56:00.006-06:00

We are singing this afternoon at the Mass for Life at St. Richard's. Mass starts at 6:00 PM, and there will be a holy hour before and Benediction following. This is the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, and there are a lot of activities associated with the church's response. Check out the St. Richard's website (link at the top right of this page) for more information.

Excitement Begins

2010-01-18T05:49:00.003-06:00

Looking ahead is quite exciting in the SRYC right now...

there is an original script for the Murder Dinner Theatre being kept under lock and key and sealed lips as we begin rehearsals this weekend
there are original songs for the Murder Dinner Theatre piece that are really gonna blow your socks off
five of our members will audition for the ACDA All State Honor Choir next Saturday, after six MONTHS of work on the six pieces
we are offering our gifts to God and for St. Richard's to assist with the Mass for Life this Friday
we will serve at Supper & Substance
three of our members will sing at the Treble Song Honor Choir performance in February
we have a Timely Topics presentation on February 28th about Rome (going there, how you can help, how you can join us, what we will sing, how much we can learn and experience, and a brief introduction to the Latin Ordinary)
then...it's DINNER THEATRE ("Dyin' for a Pint: The O'Brien Pub Murders")
We sing at the Palm Sunday Vigil Mass
We sing on Easter Morning at the 8:00AM Mass
then, hopefully, some of us will be singing at the ACDA Honor Choir in April (St. Cecilia, St. Gregory, pray for us)
there will be an ALL CHOIRS Mass on the 3rd Sunday of Easter, where the combined force of ALL the children's/Youth choirs will sing together
and then, our Bead 'N Bake Spring fundraiser
and as the school year winds down, we will bid our founders a fond farewell as they graduate and head off to college

Pray for your St. Richard Youth Choir...they are going to be busy and exhausted and blessed as we tackle these various difficult and exciting tasks. God Bless us all, and we'll see you AT MASS on Friday!!!!

Mass On January 9th, 2009

2010-01-11T13:27:00.004-06:00

The Baptism of Our Lord

We sang at Mass this weekend in the bitter bitter cold (okay, Northerners...eye roll on 3---1, 2, all together now: 3). It was cold for us, though, and we were bundled up in the choir room huddling a bit together for warmth while the heat came on in the choir room.

January is always a tricky time for us. We've put all our effort into Christmas Masses, and are just coming off of the last break we will have until May, and so, with the one rehearsal, we try to remember all we learned last Fall and apply it to the two anthems of the day. Helen has a plan for the Juniors---they sing in Unison a simple song at Offertory and Communion in January...I had a more ambitious plan: sing the challenge piece for the year at Offertory in JANUARY.

That went about as well as it could, under those circumstances.

Here is the video from before Mass for Comfort, Comfort Ye My People, vs. 1 & 2 (which was all we could realistically manage):

At Mass, we were much warmer and there was no more shivering. The psalmist was Claire, and she did a very good job with her psalm she had to learn in six days:

Deanery Meeting Follow up Information

2010-01-06T21:34:00.014-06:00

A note to my regular readers...this post is a follow up to a presentation I gave at St. R's about blogging and using social networks for evangelization. I will go back to choir blogging right after this. Thank you for your indulgence. The priests who need this information will also be glad for your patience. Scroll down and you can still find all the usual choir content, and WE'LL SEE YOU AT MASS THIS WEEKEND!!!!

The outline of the presentation in PDF form(click on the "fullscreen" option to see each full slide):

Various Clergy Blogs:

NOTE: I have included a variety of styles of blogs here, and content types. You could use any as a starting point for creating what you would like to do.

http://www.ipadre.net/

http://friarminor.blogspot.com/

http://www.clevelandpriest.blogspot.com/

Homilies Archive: Archbishop Dolan

http://www.bishoploriblog.org/

http://www.fatherschnippel.blogspot.com/

http://www.cardinalseansblog.org/

http://www.catholicpreaching.com/

http://www.clericalreform.blogspot.com/

http://www.frleo.blogspot.com/

http://www.hancaquam.blogspot.com/

http://fatherdennis.blogspot.com/

http://fatherroderick.sqpn.com/

http://laudetdominum.blogspot.com/

http://padrevic.blogspot.com/
http://praiseandbless.blogspot.com/
http://reverendknow-it-all.blogspot.com/
http://reverendknow-it-all.blogspot.com/
http://blog.archny.org/
http://wdtprs.com/blog/
http://whispersintheloggia.blogspot.com/
__________________________________
Blogging tools:
Blogger.com
prettiest blogs...wordpress
Live Journal
Drop.io
YouTube
Picasa
Calendar
Stat Counter
__________________________________
Social Networking Tools:
http://www.facebook.com/
http://www.plurk.com/
http://www.twitter.com/
http://www.tinypaste.com/
http://www.tinyurl.com/
http://www.tinypic.com/
ping.fm
tweetdeck
______________________________
Broadcasting tools:
http://www.ustream.tv/
sound editing software for podcasting and audio work
http://audioboo.fm/
______________________________________
VERY GOOD PEOPLE WHO CAN HELP YOU AND ARE LEADING THE WAY IN CATHOLIC NEW MEDIA CAN BE FOUND AT:
http://sqpnconnect.ning.com/

Christmas Eve: Program, Mass, and the Persistent Technidiotness of the Director

2009-12-26T15:16:00.010-06:00

I felt super nostalgic this year as our first set of graduating seniors sang their last Christmas Mass as members of the choir. Our founders are going to fly off into the world soon, with our love and blessings. Hopefully, next year, I'll be posting how wonderful it was to have the founders back at Christmas to sing with everyone, but for now, it is a bittersweet moment for the SRYC.

Sean Patterson won the Christmas "person who gets the gift card because they've worked/improved/whatever'd" the best and to him, hats off! *smile*

Our program/carolling before Mass included the following:

Angels We Have Heard on High
How Far is it to Bethlehem? (Willcocks, Oxford's Carols for Choirs III)
Away in a Manger
Is it Far to Bethlem City? (Gastoldi, GIA's Ars Antiqua series)
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
The Angels and the Shepherds
Once in Royal David's City
O Little Town of Bethlehem
The First Noel
Gaudete
Hark the Herald Angels Sing

Mass included the following:

Offertory: Resonet in Laudibus

Communion:

Lo, How a Rose E're Blooming (Vulpius)
Unto Us a Child is Born
Sing We Noel (Goemanne)

As to all of my work to record said program and Mass, there is good news and bad news. The video camera was apparently knocked about a bit by parishioners and because I did not have time to look at it, I did not realize how badly framed it was, so we are the choir off to the left... *sigh*. The second bad news of the evening is that the input dial on my tascam, my super happy digital recorder, somehow was pushed to "10" when it got taken to the back during the Junior Youth Choir Mass, and the recordings were BADLY distorted. I saved what I could, but Lo, How a Rose and Sing We Noel are lost to the sands of time and exist only in the memories of those who were there.

As to what DID survive:

Click on this link to see: Of the Father's Love Begotten, and Angels We Have Heard on High

Click on this link to see: Away in a Manger

My personal and enduring favorite of the entire experience...if you only knew HOW HARD they worked to get this ready, you weep with joy and pride. This was a VERY advanced piece for them, in FIVE parts, no less, and we lost an alto early in our season, so poor Ramsay and James were alone on their parts. This is hard stuff for such a small choir, and I actually cried as they were singing this. Good job guys!

Click on this link to see: God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, The Angels & the Shepherds, Once in Royal David's City, O Little Town of Bethlehem, and The First Noel

Click on this link to see: Gaudete, and Hark the Herald Angels Sing

Then Mass began. During O Come All Ye Faithful, the Community Leader had NO idea we were singing Adeste Fideles, then two verses of O Come, and I did not have a microphone I could get to, so, it's probably just as well that the tascam made a mess of that particular recording, though there is something dangerously prophetic and very ironic about me shouting "Latin" helplessly at the congregation while half sang O Come, and half sang Adeste. By the time we got to the third verse, everyone realized there was trouble and looked at me while I waved the number three in the air. I hate those moments in Mass, where something simple has gone horribly wrong and you are left to play it out because you cannot fix it. I apologize to those who were there and confused. We have sung O Come All Ye Faithful this way as long as I have gone to St. Richard's and I'm not about to buck the system and change it, so if it ever happens again, just go with what you know.

At Offertory, I had the presence of mind to push the camera button for Resonet. This is a bit of GOOD luck:

At Communion, I was able to clean up this recording of Unto Us a Child is Born, if for no other reason than to let you hear Sean singing his solo at the beginning. These are moments you treasure if you direct children's choir---the child rises to adulthood and can carry a tune! And what a tune! Hats off again to Sean! *chuckle...have you got the message yet Sean?*

And on a final note, I took a HUGE risk this year and did not program "Night of Silence" at Communion. The last time Helen tried to do that, she got phone calls, and they weren't charitable in nature in the least. My decision to do so yielded the blessed fruit I had hoped, as the ENTIRE congregation sang the hymn that no one does not know from their deep child heart and the moment was special and for me, filled with awe and wonder.

So, as 2009 closes for the choir, I want to thank ALL the choir members, ALL the choir parents, the staff at St. Richard's, Helen Walsh, Fr. Lincoln Dall (our choir chaplain) and especially our pastor, Fr. Mike O'Brien, whose leadership and support have made this choir possible. God Bless you all, and see you again at Mass in January!

THANK YOU ALL!!!!

2009-12-14T16:36:00.004-06:00

The whole choir would like to thank the people of St. Richard's parish yet again for their amazing generosity. We raised over two thousand dollars for our scholarship/travel fund. It was a very special weekend for us, and we look forward to serving you on Christmas Eve at the 6:00 PM Mass. There will be carolling before Mass which starts at 5:30 PM. Please come and sing along with us!

I will post more about the Bead N Bake once I have located my house under the pile of choir debris. When I do, you will be able to see how much hard work the choir does behind the scenes to make these fundraisers work.

On a final note, I'd like to commend the choir. They did this hard weekend without complaint or whine. They even sold in the rain on the bridge after the 8:00 AM Sunday Mass. They sang, they sold, and they worked. I am very proud of each and every one of them.

Ms. C

Last Night with Brownies and Crosses and Music and Friends

2009-12-10T08:27:00.007-06:00

Last night, the choir gathered at my home. There were brownies to bake (9 half sheet pans with two recipes each pan), wire crosses to make (we now have about 25 crosses and a lot of zipper pulls and key chains), bracelet lore to pass on to new people, pizza to eat, and songs to sing together.

Before I tell you more about the evening...I have a serious question: I bought new hand mixers for the choir, and when I opened the boxes, I made the annoying discovery in the picture to the right--------- So, here is my question to Black and Decker...why, on God's green earth did you find it necessary, amongst all the other packaging to CABLE TIE the plug in this manner? There is no good reason for this, other than to incite package rage. Good grief!

For the first time, we added a new dimension to our bake night and broadcast our evening on Ustream with a few select friends. As the choir grows and we age, more of our friends will move on to college and the Ustream client will be nice so that those far away can still join us every so often for fun and good memories.

Friday we will start baking at 8:00 in the morning and will not close the kitchen doors until we are done late Friday night. Pray for us, please, as we need stamina, good cheerful hearts, and a sense of community and fun throughout our long weekend. I pray that God will bless the works of our hands and hearts.

See y'all on Friday when I post more pics and possibly video of the choir doing all this crazy hard work.

New Product for this Weekend...PEPPERED CHEESE BREAD mini-braids!!

2009-12-08T14:33:00.006-06:00

Every year, as we are standing on the bridge selling brownie pops, there are those who ask if we have anything that's not so sweet. For two years I've promised Frances we'd have something "next time." So, in honor of Frances...we have PEPPERED CHEESE BREAD mini braids this year. These are the test kitchen batch...they look a little big to me, but I think we'll see what the people say who buy them. They will sell for $5.00 per mini-loaf, and there will be VERY limited quantities available this year.

We Sing This Weekend---2nd Sunday of Advent

2009-12-04T06:20:00.010-06:00

Second Sunday of Advent. "Our forerunner John calls us to repent for You are near....Kyrie Eleison...."

The RCIA candidates will be there.

It is the weekend before our massive Bead N' Bake Fundraiser.

Finals are upon the kids like a plague on the nations.

But we are cheerful, hopeful, bright eyed and happy to serve.

Our anthem at Offertory is "Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God" by P. Bouman. We sang it at the Mass for Life in October, and there is a lovely recording there, so I probably will not record it again.

Our anthem at Communion is something a little different. Taken directly from the propers for the day, Creator Alme Siderum is the chanted proper for the Second Sunday of Advent, and we are delighted to offer it as unaccompanied chant in the silence following communion.

The tune you will recognize as the familiar hymn "Creator of the Stars of Night." The text, however will be from the original Latin chant, so I will put it here. According to the Church Music Association of America's wonderful Parish Book of Chant, the text is replaced in modern collections by the Advent hymn from the Divine Office, Canditor alme siderum. This is Creator alme siderum's traditional text in full:

Creator alme siderum,
AEterna lux credentium,
Jesu, Redemptor Omnium,
Intende votis supplicum.

Qui daemonis ne fraudibus,
Periret orbis, impetu
Amoris actus, languidi
mundi medela factus es.

Commune qui mundi nefas
Ut expiares, ad crucem
E Virginis sacrario
Intacta prodis victima.

Cujus potestas gloriae,
Nomenque cum primum sonat,
Et caelites et inferi
Tremente curvantur genu.

Te deprecamur, ultimae
Magnum diei Judicem,
Armis supernae gratiae
Defende nos ab hostibus.

Virtus, honor, laus, gloria
Deo Patri cum Filio,
Sancto simul Paraclito,
In saeculorum saecula. Amen

TRANSLATION:

Blessed Creator of the stars, eternal light of the faithful, Jesus, redeemer of all, hear the prayers of thy servants.

Who, lest through frauds of the devil all perish, moved by love becamest the healer of the sick world.

To atone for the sin of the world thou camest from the Virgin's womb, a spotless victim, to the cross.

Thy glorious power and name when heard make angels and men trembling bend the knee.

We pray thee, great judge of the last day, to defend us from our enemies with arms of grace from above.

Power, honor, praise, and glory to God the Father, with the Son and the Holy Comforter, for ever and ever. Amen.

See you all at Mass!!!!!

An Abundance of Blessings

2009-11-27T10:08:00.007-06:00

Thanksgiving Mass was such a blessing for us. More people got to sing the Esurientes this year, and it was a real stretch for some who have not sung it before, but they were brave and God was glorified...when you listen to the audio file, the clip clopping sound you hear is the children of our parish going up to put their offerings on the altar.

Then, at communion, four very young and very brave people stood up. There was an energy in the air between us, and as Rob began the opening, I could see the look, the question...can we do this? Will it be okay? Are we gonna actually SING this song? In PUBLIC? It is quite difficult to sing something like this piece when you are alone on your part, and are not a professional musician. It was truly an offering of our hearts, and a test of the collective will of those involved to offer it in spite of the fact it would not be perfect, but would be perfectly us. So...the live recording of the piece we failed at so miserably at the All State Honor Choir Auditions last year, offered in its proper place before the altar of God one year and hours of work later:

The National Catholic Youth Conference

2009-11-21T13:25:00.004-06:00

From The Catholic Key in Kansas City:

The National Catholic Youth Conference's Eucharistic procession through the streets of downtown Kansas City. 22,000 youth. Go read the article at the link above. Gives you a lot to think about.

Thanksgiving Day Mass

2009-11-20T10:33:00.005-06:00

We will offer the music at the Thanksgiving Day Mass at St. R's on Thursday, November 26th at 9:00 AM. This is the choir's last true week off until, well, I guess it might be safe to say April, so pray for us, we have a long and difficult road ahead of us.

Our primary goals during the busy season ahead are these, listed in order of importance:

1. To be present at, and pray with the community at, Mass every Sunday. Once a month, we will offer our music to the glory of God at the Saturday 5:30 PM Mass.
2. To work hard at musical excellence, focusing on improving tone and blending.
3. To work hard in service to St. Richard's as the need arises.
4. To work hard at earning money for the scholarship fund for the Choir to go to Rome.
5. To work hard at earning money for the choir's operating expenses and service projects for the Junior Youth Choir.
6. To be ambassadors for St. Richard's, Jackson, and Mississippi as we travel to Mass wherever the Holy Spirit leads us.

If we stay true to our goals, we will represent our Parish and our Church with dignity and with grace. Please pray for the intercessions of St. Cecilia and St. Gregory for the choir.

The 2008-2009 St. Richard Youth Choir:

Sopranos
Claire (5), Chantele (4), Emily (2), Mollie (2), Catherine (N), Kathleen (N), Mary Claire (3)

Altos
Kaitlyn (6), Katie (6), Ramsay (2)

Guys
Sean (5), Scott (4), James (4), Trey (4), Kolbe (N)

The numbers are the years each choir member has been here. An "N" indicates that this is their very first year in this choir. Many, like Claire, Katie, Sean, Chantele and Trey, Mollie and Scott, were also in the Junior Youth Choir from the very beginning when they were in Kindergarten or first grade, so they have been here much much longer.

Our Communion Anthem at Mass this thanksgiving is very special to us. Last year, when we auditioned for State Honor Choir and discovered how horribly difficult that was going to be, we had to learn Laetatus Sum for the audition. Because it was so beautiful, everyone decided then and there that the learning of it should not be wasted and piece NEEDED to be sung at Mass, where it was intended to be sung when it was written by Haydn in the "way back then." So, a year later, here we are, ready to put it before God and the people of St. R's. We hope you will find it an inspiring piece to reflect on after communion.

COMMUNION ANTHEM:

Laetatus Sum, by Johann Michael Haydn (1737-1806)
available through Theodore Presser Co. # 312-41607

The text of Laetatus Sum is:

Laetatus sum, laetatus sum
in his, in his quae dicta sunt mihi:
in domum Domini ibimus,
in his, in his, laetatus sum, laetatus sum.
Fiat pax in virtute tua,
in virtute tua:
et abundantia, et abundantia, in turibus tuis.
Fiat pax in virtute tua,
in virtute tua:
et abundantia, et abundantia, in turibus tuis.
Laetatus sum, laetatus sum
in his, in his quae dicta sunt mihi:
in domum Domini ibimus,
in his, in his, laetatus sum, laetatus sum.
Fiat pax in virtute tua,
in virtute tua:
et abundantia, et abundantia, in turibus tuis.
Fiat pax in virtute tua,in virtute tua:
et abundantia, et abundantia, in turibus tuis.
Laetatus sum, laetatus sum
in his, in his quae dicta sunt mihi,
Laetatus sum, laetatus sum.

TRANSLATION for Laetatus Sum:

For I rejoiced, for I rejoiced with those, with those
who said unto me
"Now let us go to the house of God,"
with those, with those, for I rejoiced, for I rejoiced.
And may peace be within your ramparts,
be within your ramparts,
and great prosperity, and great prosperity be
within your towers.... etc.

OFFERTORY ANTHEM:

The Offertory will yet again be Esurientes Implevit Bonis by Vivaldi. (For information on the song and it's publisher, look last year at Thanksgiving for texts and such) The text is just unsurpassed for a Holiday like Thanksgiving. Translated:

"The poor he has filled with many good things, but the rich he has sent away empty."

From the Magnificat, it is a beautiful reminder of our task to give thanks and praise to God and remember the poor among us.

ANNOUNCEMENT OF GREAT YUMMYNESS!

2009-11-18T06:56:00.001-06:00

It's time again.

Order forms for brownie pop wreaths and party platters will be available starting WEDNESDAY, November 11th outside the choir room. This year, we will ONLY be selling wreaths and Plates, and only to those who pre-order them.

How much, what kind?

PLATE: $20, contains approximately 20 brownie pops decoratively arranged with a bow

SMALL WREATH: $40, contains approx. 25-30 brownie pops

LARGE WREATH: $50, contains approx. 35-40 pops

Each "pop" is a chocolate-covered brownie on a stick, individually wrapped. Some are plain, and some are rolled in toppings.

Toppings include:

Peppermint

Toffee

Sprinkles

Walnuts

M & M's

The wreaths are perfect for family gatherings, office parties, and because they keep VERY well in a air-controlled room, can be used as a centerpiece or interior door wreath and people can pull a pop off whenever they want a sweet pick-me-up.

Youth Choir members will be available on Wednesday nights at dinner to take orders, and you can always email Ms. C at csb4sryc@comcast.net if you'd like additional information. God bless you and your family this Holy-day season!

All money raised will go into our scholarship/travel fund.

November 7th Mass at St. Richard's, a few snidbits and commentary

2009-11-10T08:47:00.006-06:00

While we were rehearsing, I heard someone jokingly mention we should do an entire Mass in "duck," quacking our way through various hymns, ordinary and anthems. As I reeled at the thought of this terrible idea, I pondered how young people who are attempting the impossible task of singing this very difficult music with so few people and so many parts must sometimes reach within the depths of their courage to do what we do here at the Youth Choir. Though singing a whole Mass in duck is an absolute "not gonna happen", the occasional craziness we engage in on YouTube and the occasional steam-blowing-off techniques in rehearsal keep us sane as the music gets really really hard.

This year, among our challenge pieces are some small but potent polyphonic anthems. In rehearsal, we put the finishing touches on this lovely piece by Palestrina, "Jesu, Rex Admirabilis"

Text to Jesu, Rex Admirabilis!

Jesu, Rex admirabilis!
Et Triumphator nobilis.
Dulcedo, ineffabilis.
Totus desiderabilis.

For those of you who have been with us since last year, please do note how far our young men have come since their early beginnings in those "man" voices. Here, we have a good example of what they are capable of.

At Mass, James sang the psalm and did a wonderful job. Here is a recording of Psalm 146, recorded live at Mass:

The Communion Anthem, Mozart's great Ave Verum, was especially lovely. Because we had so few young men, we put everyone on the top two parts, a strategy that works very well for small choirs attempting to get a Masterwork of this caliber into our repertoire.

Text for Mozart's Ave Verum
-available through Mills Music, Inc. New York #64058

Ave, Ave verum corpus
natum de Maria virgine:
vere passum immolatum
in cruce pro homine:
Cujus latus perforatum
unda fluxit et sanguine:
Esto nobis praegustatum
in mortis examine,
in mortis examine.

Translation for Ave Verum

Jesu, Word of God Incarnate,
Of the Virgin Mary born;
On the Cross Thy sacred Body
For us men with nails was torn.
Cleanse us by the Blood
and Water Streaming
from Thy pierced side.
Feed us with Thy Body broken,
Now and in death's agony,
Now, now, now, now and in death's agony.

I also recorded Fr. Dall's Sermon, which I had the benefit of hearing three times this weekend, as I helped with the Junior Youth Choir at 8:00 AM Sunday, and sang with the adults at 10:30 AM Sunday.

And for our good friends of the blog who like to sing along with great hymns...I add "We Gather Together":

Palestrina and Mozart and Bears, oh my!

2009-11-07T06:47:00.004-06:00

We sing at Mass today. I have been so crazy busy that I forgot to post that earlier in the week. I forgot to invite everyone to Mass on Facebook, and I neglected my usual pattern of posting the texts to the songs prior to Mass so everyone could see them and understand the words.

I am sorry to all who have come to count on these things.

However, we DID serve at the big honorary dinner for Andre de Gruy, and they WERE extremely generous and the event went well. The food looked good, and cooked by the KC's. We did a good job as waiters/waitresses and dishcrew, and the event seemed to be a rousing success.

So, this afternoon, we will sing Mozart's great anthem "Ave Verum" and Palestrina's "Jesu, Rex Admirabilis." For texts and translations, check back here tomorrow or Monday. By then, I should have had a few minutes of spare time to upload pics, video and audio files and get the texts typed in. I have to translate the Palestrina, so it will probably just get a literal word by word translation and I'll skip trying to make it artful.

Have a blessed day, and we'll see you at Mass!

A really really funny thing

2009-10-27T20:44:00.006-05:00

From WDTPRS, comes this jewel in the com box (that's comment box for those who do not regularly read blogs)...

Fr. Zuhlsdorf was commenting on a speech given by Bishop Trautman at Catholic University of America in which his Excellency was concerned that the vocabulary of the new translations is possibly "incomprehensible" to the average Catholic because of words like "ineffable, incarnate, and consubstantial", and Fr. Z has some excellent thoughts on this matter at his website which you can visit here

Anyway, in the 100 or so comments that followed, there is this (edited for length):

Parishioner to children's choir director:

“Everyone should pray in the language they actually speak. Why, these kids don’t even understand what they’re singing. You, there—” he singles out one child—- “I’ll bet you don’t know what Kyrie eleison means.”

“Bet I do.”

“OK, what does it mean?”

“It means Miserere Domine.”

*smile*

Mass for Life, offered at St. Richard's as part of Respect for Life Month, October 2009

2009-10-21T09:57:00.005-05:00

On Tuesday evening, we gathered in the Church to offer Mass as Catholic "People for Life" during Respect for Life month which is observed during October every year. Fr. Dall said best, said it all, so, please take the time to listen to his sermon from Mass:

For our part, we sang "Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God," by P. Bouman. The text:

Create in me a clean heart, O God,
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me,
renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away, cast me not away
from thy presence.
And take not thy Holy Spirit from me
and take not thy Holy Spirit from me.

Grant unto me the joy of thy salvation,
grant unto me the joy of thy salvation,
uphold me with thy free spirit
uphold me with thy free spirit.

Video of the Communion Anthem

We should also take a moment to thank Suzan Cox, Gail Madden, Fr. Lincoln Dall, Helen Walsh, Allyson Harris, Brian, and all the youth who particpated for their hard work helping to make this Mass for Life such a success. Call the Church office for information regarding all of the opportunities for prayer, sacrifice, and witness that Fr. Dall talks about in his sermon; the number is (601) 366-2335.