The Parish Choir 2019–2020 Season will begin on Wednesday, September 4, 2019 with rehearsal from 6:30–8 PM in the St. Mary’s church choir loft and conclude on Sunday, May 24, 2020 after the 9:15 Mass for the Ascension of the Lord (observed).

Important choir dates:

• Friday, November 1: Solemnity of All Saints*
• Wednesday, December 25: Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord^*
• Wednesday, January 1: Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God^*
• Sunday, January 5: Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord (observed)
• Wednesday, February 26: Ash Wednesday
• PASCHAL TRIDUUM 2019:
  • Thursday, April 9: Holy Thursday Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper
  • Friday, April 10: Good Friday of the Passion of the Lord
  • Saturday, April 11: Easter Vigil in the Holy Light
  • Sunday, April 12: Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of the Lord
• Sunday, May 24: Ascension of the Lord (observed) —End of Choir Season

Important feasts outside of the 2018–2019 choir season:

• Sunday, May 31: Pentecost Sunday
• Sunday, June 7: Trinity Sunday
• Sunday, June 14: Solemnity of the Body and Blood of the Lord (observed)
• Saturday, August 15: Solemnity of the Assumption^*

^*Holy Days of Obligation falling on weekdays

^†Please note that the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary is transferred to Monday, December 9, and is not a Holy Day of Obligation in the Dioceses of the United States in 2019 as it falls on a Monday.

The Parish Choir 2019 Summer Season will begin on Wednesday, May 29, 2019 with rehearsal from 6:30–8:00 PM in the St. Mary’s church choir loft and conclude on Sunday, September 2, 2019 (Labor Day weekend) after the 9:15 Mass for the Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time.

• Why Summer Choir?
• Prerequisites
• Repertoire
• Resources
• Schedule
• Questions?

Why Summer Choir?

The Summer Season is an opportunity for:

• Veterans of the choir to maintain skills and gain greater command of repertoire to be carried over from last year into the Parish Choir 2019–2020 season;
• New singers to familiarize themselves with the choral commitments and the challenging repertoire unique to St. Mary’s Church, in a relaxed environment;
• Accomplished singers unable to commit to choir from Fall–Spring, to contribute their talent to the liturgical life of St. Mary’s;
• All singers to learn up to three completely new choral works earmarked for the Parish Choir 2019–2020 season.

Prerequisites

New singers will possess the following characteristics:

• A desire to offer one’s heart, mind, soul, and strength back to God within the context of Holy Mass, the highest form of public worship
• A voice that blends well with other voices
• The ability to match pitch quickly and consistently
• A memory for melody
• Ability or willingness to learn ecclesiastical (Italianate) Latin pronunciation
• Sufficient physical fitness to navigate three flights of stairs without undue loss of breath
• Access to reliable transportation to and from St. Mary’s Church
• Ability to attend the majority of rehearsals and Masses (see schedule below)
• Access to a CD player or digital music player (to listen to rehearsal audio)

The following will also be helpful (though not required):

• Knowledge of one’s vocal range
• Ability to accurately sight-sing

Repertoire

Each selection is linked to a pronunciation guide, translation, and other liturgical information. Nine of the pieces are carried over from the 2018–2019 choir season; for these pieces, veteran singers effectively act as section leaders for newcomers. New items are listed in bold.

1. Ad te levavi (Aranaz, Pedro)
2. Adoremus in aeternum & Ps 116(117), octavi toni (falsobordone by Asola, Giovanni Matteo)
3. Ave maris stella (Stadlmayr, Johann)
4. Benedicam Dominum (Croce, Giovanni)
5. De profundis (Lopes Morago, Estêvão)
6. Domine Deus noster (Brosig, Moritz)
7. Hoc corpus (Robledo, Melchor)
8. O sacrum convivium (Haller, Michael)
9. Primum quaerite (Isaac, Heinrich)
10. Qui manducat (Isaac, Heinrich)
11. Sic Deus dilexit mundum (Hollander, Christian)
12. Veni Creator Spiritus (Asola, Giovanni Matteo)

All choral works are in Latin and fall within the following vocal ranges (C4 = Middle C):

• Soprano: C4–E5
• Alto: F3–C5
• Tenor: C3–F4
• Bass: G2–C4

Resources

All singers will receive:

• a music folder or three-ring binder
• physical copies of all scores
• rehearsal audio
  • password-protected access to MP3 library
  • CD (by request)

Schedule

Wednesday rehearsals take place from 6:30–8:00 PM in the church choir loft; Sunday warmups take place from 8:50–9:10 in the narthex basement.

• Wed., May 29: Rehearsal
• Sun., June 2: Mass — Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord (observed)
• Wed., June 5: Rehearsal
• Sun., June 9: Mass — Solemnity of Pentecost
• Wed., June 12: Rehearsal
• Sunday, June 16: Mass — Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
• Wed., June 19: Rehearsal
• Sunday, June 23: Mass — Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (observed)
• Wed., June 26: Rehearsal
• Sun., June 30: Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time — 7:00–7:25 AM rehearsal due to one-time Mass schedule change
• Wed., July 3: — no rehearsal due to next day’s civic observance —
• Sun., July 7: Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
• Wed., July 10: Rehearsal
• Sun., July 14: Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
• Wed., July 17: Rehearsal
• Sunday, July 21: — no choir —
• Wed., July 24: Rehearsal
• Wed., July 28: Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
• Wed., July 31: Rehearsal
• Sun., August 4: Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
• Wed., August 7: Rehearsal
• Sun., August 11: Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
• Wed., August 14: — no rehearsal due to next day’s Holy Day of Precept —
• Thurs., August 15: Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary* — parish patronal feast; choir call is at 6:00 PM, Mass is at 6:30 PM
• Sun., August 18: Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
• Wed., August 21: Rehearsal
• Sun., August 25: Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time
• Wed., August 28: Rehearsal
• Sun., September 1: Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

^*Holy Day of Obligation falling on a weekday

Questions?

Please send any questions to the Music Director.