Directions to Workshop at St.Michael's Catholic Church in Auburn

From the Birmingham area:

Take Highway 280 West. Make a right on Highway 147 in the direction of Auburn. This puts you right on College Street, the main street running through downtown Auburn. The second intersection AFTER the railroad tracks is that of College St. and Magnolia Ave., the very center of town. Take a left on Magnolia, and the first traffic light will be at Gay Street. Pass through light at Gay St. and proceed down hill, and St. Michael's is the second church on the right, and looks like a cupcake.

From I-85 South:

Take I-85 South to exit 51. Take a right at the exit. You are now heading north on College street, the main street running through downtown Auburn. You will pass through traffic lights on E. University, Donahue, Samford, and Thach, and find yourself in the heart of Auburn at the intersection of College St. and Magnolia Ave. Take a right on Magnolia, and the first traffic light will be at Gay Street. Pass through light at Gay Street and proceed down hill, and St. Michael's is the second Church on the right, and looks like a cupcake.


From I-85 North:

Take I-85 North to exit 51. Take a left at the exit. You are now heading north on College street, the main street running through downtown Auburn. You will pass through traffic lights on E. University, Donahue, Samford, and Thach, and find yourself in the heart of Auburn at the intersection of College St. and Magnolia Ave. Take a right on Magnolia, and the first traffic light will be at Gay St. Pass through light at Gay St. and proceed down hill, and St. Michael's is the second Church on the right, and looks like a cupcake.

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Workshop attendees may download your music packets (or they will all be available at the workshop registration, February 19):

• Jubilate Deo (44 pages)
  
• Chant Supplement (12 pages)
  
• Polyphony Packet (13 pages)
  

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We are very pleased that this story/ announcement of our February 19, 2005, workshop appears in the new issue of the archdiocesan newspaper, The Catholic Week. Write us to register.

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Wonderful Tool for Learning Chant

The number of parish choirs taking steps toward restoring chant to its proper place within the liturgy is growing. Intentions are well placed, momentum is building, and expectation are high. Scholas are forming, and singers are learning chant hymns and settings of the ordinary from missalettes and other sources where these traditional melodies are rendered in modern notation.

This is a great start. Those who are making the chant a reality within the context of the Mass once again are recognizing first hand the solemntiy and reverence it inspires. But something else is happening, as well. Inspired themselves, singers and directors are growing in their desire to read neumes, the system of notation traditionally attached to Gregorian chant; the system that provides partakers with a link to the past and an authenticity in musical inflection unattainable with the modern renderings.

But this is precisely where many choirs and newly formed scholas run up against a brick wall. Is there a tool available that can help the least knowledgable and best intended to overcome the hurdle of learning to sing chant authentically and with confidence?

The Abbey of Regina Laudis in Bethlehem, Connecticut provides a practical and masterful answer in its publication, A Gregorian Chant Masterclass. This book and its companion CD offer a unique method of instruction designed for choir directors, teachers and individual students, making it possible for anyone to be initiated into the art of the chant.

Praise for A Gregorian Chant Masterclass:


I had years of singing, but absolutely no experience singing in choir or directing a choir, and no experience at all with Gregorian chant....
For months I pieced together what I needed from a variety of books....Then a couple of weeks ago I received my copy. I wish I had purchased this first! This book and CD is EXACTLY what the burgeoning parish schola needs to get started. The exercises are simple, basic, and just what are needed to learn chant BY DOING, not just in theory....With this tool, every beginning schola can have the benefit of an experienced master to guide them.


Matthew A.C. Newsome
Director of the Sancta Maria Gregorian Schola Sylva, North Carolina



Even the least skillful choir will find that these clear instructions and well-recorded examples will make it possible for them to sing the Chant - which the Second Vatican Council continued to hold up as the ideal of Church music - with beauty and appeal.

Thomas H. Connolly Professor Emeritus of Music,
University of Pennsylvania




For more information, or information on how to purchase, click here.

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For all workshop attendees from out of town, here is a list of hotels in Auburn.

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