Summer Courses 2024
June 18-22, 2024 | Newman Center | Champaign, IL
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The Church Music Association of America is pleased to announce our 2024 Summer Courses: Gregorian Chant Intensive, Vocal Intensive and Organ Improvisation. These 5-day courses in the beautiful St. John Newman Center in Champaign, IL will immerse beginner to advanced singers, chant conductors, and clergy in the beauty of Sacred Chant, Organ Improvisation or Vocal Production for singers, conductors, cantors, or teachers.
The CMAA Summer Chant and Vocal Intensives are intended for beginning and continuing students and all who love and appreciate the central role that sacred music plays as the prayerful song of the Roman Rite – not only at cathedrals and basilicas but in any parish. Our first-ever Organ Improvisation course opens up a new opportunity for organists who want to move forward in their skills.
Vocal Intensive Course
The workshop is for singers, teachers of singing, and choral directors. The course will cover an overview of the basic knowledge of the human voice as an instrument and provide practical training to learn and improve vocal and singing skills.
The topics will include body alignment, breathing, tone quality, resonance, artistry, voice care, and healthy voice and mind connection.
Each session will include a lecture/presentation and practical exercises to enhance skills related to the chosen topics.
Participants are encouraged to demonstrate individual interests and pose questions during the Q & A session toward the end of each class or leave the instructor a written inquiry.
In addition, everyone will sing various musical examples to apply learned concepts and ideas.
Musical examples can include motets, psalms, solo songs, and hymns. Participants may also bring the music of their interest.
Students are encouraged (not required) to bring tablets or other electronic devices for use during this course.
For details about topics covered and schedule of sessions, please view this document (forthcoming).
Chant Intensive Course
This course will be taught by Jeffrey Morse.
The Chant Intensive lives up to its name: though no previous experience with chant is required, beginners and intermediate chanters should be prepared for full immersion from the start.
You will learn or review how to read and fully navigate all aspects of traditional Gregorian notation (square notes), as well as an introduction to chironomy (directing chant) with a masterful teacher.
The course will also address correct Latin pronunciation, the sound and mystery of the eight Church modes, Psalm tones and their applications, questions concerning the rhythm of plainsong, and more. Compline or Vespers will be sung to allow participants to experience the beauty of a portion of the sung Divine Office.
Gregorian repertoire will be used for Divine Office and Mass.
The CMAA Summer Chant Intensive is intended for beginning and continuing students and all who love and appreciate the central role that chant plays as the prayerful song of the Roman Rite–not only at cathedrals and basilicas but in any parish.
The conference will inspire and prepare you to continue the renaissance of sacred music in our time, in both the ordinary and extraordinary forms of the Mass. Join the hundreds of students who have benefited from this in-depth course in Gregorian chant In the years since the first CMAA Chant Intensive course was taught in 2008. Topics and schedule (forthcoming).
Organ Improvisation Course
This course will be taught by Dr.Horst Buchholz.
The Organ Improvisation course will be limited to no more than five (5) students. The course will include daily individual lessons for each participant, as well as a group class for all students, and designated practice time.
Although organ improvisation is often associated with divine inspiration, it also relies on fundamental skills. As private lessons will be provided, there are no specific prerequisites other than basic organ proficiency. Beginners will focus on developing skills in keyboard harmony, creating simple hymn preludes, and exploring alternate harmonizations.
Intermediate students may delve into chant accompaniment and improvisation based on chant melodies. They will also study musical forms, variations on a figured bass, and contrapuntal structures.
For inquiries or special requests, please contact Dr. Buchholz at sacredmusic@aod.org, indicating your expectations and musical background.
Participants will have the opportunity to perform during the final Mass of the Chant Intensive course, alongside motets sung by the Vocal Intensive course.
Due to the limited number of available spots, we urge you not to delay your registration.
Dr. MeeAe Cecilia Nam
Soprano, Professor of Voice at Eastern Michigan University
She has toured the U. S. and Europe with special recital programs of Sacred Music for Voice and Organ in the past 15 years. She has performed and premiered music written for her, and participated in many artistic collaborations with current composers in their works.
In addition to her position as Professor of Voice at Eastern Michigan University, she has been on the faculty of the Church Music Association of America and at the Vianden International Summer Festival and School in Luxembourg. She has also been Guest Artist and Clinician at numerous institutions such as the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin, the Korean National University of Arts in Seoul, the Seoul National University of Education, University of Colorado in Boulder, and University of Tennessee in Knoxville, among many others.
She has published a critical edition of Gouvy’s songs in two volumes with EC Schirmer in 2018. These two volumes are a unique and exclusive publication, and a valuable contribution to song literature. They are the result of her extensive scholarship and research in France, Germany, and the United States.
Jeffrey Morse
Director of Music, St. Joan of Arc Parish, Phoenix, AZ
Jeffrey Morse is a conductor, singer, and teacher of Gregorian Chant. A student of Dr. Mary Berry (Cambridge, UK) in Gregorian Chant and Gregorian Semiology. He also attended Sonoma State University and the Université François Rabelais de Tours (France). He was a student of Dr. Alise Brown at the University of N. Colorado in Ward Method, a method of teaching music, both modern and Gregorian notation and theory to school children. A native of Northern California, he however spent much of his formative years in England where he was exposed to the English choral tradition and especially the tradition of child choristers.
Mr. Morse is widely looked upon as a leader in the teaching of Gregorian Chant in the U.S and has given many workshops for adults and children in this matchless music of the Church. He is a regular Chant conductor and teacher at the annual Colloquium of the Church Music Association of America. Enthusiastic and missionary about this music, he has been called “disciplined in his approach, but fun and amusing, displaying a complete knowledge and understanding of his subject and its practice and use in the Church of the 21st century. He is currently Precentor and Director of Music at St Joan of Arc church in Phoenix, Arizona.
Dr. Horst Buchholz
Director of Sacred Music, Archdiocese of Detroit, Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament, Detroit, MI
Dr. Horst Buchholz, Vice President of the CMAA Board of Directors, received his first musical training in a boys’ choir in his native Germany and studied organ and sacred music at the Berlin College of Church Music and the University of Arts, and received Doctor of Music degree in conducting from the Indiana University School of Music.
Dr. Buchholz has held positions in cathedrals and churches throughout the United States and Europe, including the Cathedral Basililca of the Immaculate Conception in Denver, Colorado. he has served as a member of the organ faculty at Cleveland State University, Association Professor of Music and Director of Schola Cantorum at St. John Vianney Seminary, and conducting professor and organ faculty member at Lamont School of Music at the University of Denver.
Join CMAA Today
Members receive special discounts on all CMAA events, including the Sacred Music Colloquium.
As a member, you’ll be part of a vibrant community of musicians, clergy, and supporters in pursuit of high musical ideals in Catholic liturgy. Additionally, members of the Church Music Association of America enjoy:
- Exclusive discounted pricing for events
- Quarterly issues of Sacred Music, the acclaimed members-only journal
- The first to preview and purchase new publications
- Specially curated content right to your inbox
Who should join?
If you are interested in sacred music, you’re invited.
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2024 Summer Courses Schedule
Tuesday, June 18, 2024
Wednesday, June 19, 2024
Thursday, June 20, 2024
Friday, June 21, 2024
Saturday, June 22, 2024
Additional Information
Registration Form (for mail-in registration) forthcoming
Registration and full payment must be postmarked on or before 3/31 (early) or 5/1 (regular).
Registrations must be received at the CMAA Office (by mail or online) by the close of business on June 10. After June 10, registration is only available by telephone by calling our office at on a space-available basis. Full registration payment must be made by the respective deadlines.
All requests for credit must be received in the CMAA Office by email (gm@musicasacra.com) by June 17th in order to be considered for Credit. Requests after June 10th may only receive partial credit, depending on charges to the CMAA for meals and materials expenses.
Please note: In cases of last-minute emergencies, it is imperative that immediate notice to the CMAA be given in order for partial refunds to be given. If this notice occurs after the beginning of the Summer Courses (Tuesday, June 18, 2024), unfortunately, no refunds can be made.
Likewise, if a person decides not to complete the entire week after registration (for whatever reason), no refund can be made for days not attended.
Not yet a member? JOIN NOW and receive the benefits of membership for a full year for nearly the same price as a non-member registration. Once your membership payment is received, you’ll receive an email with information about the member discount code. Email us at gm@musicasacra.com for any questions.
Dinner will be provided on the first day of classes, June 18th. Lunches will be provided Tuesday – Saturday and are included in the registration fee. All meals will be in the Newman Center Cafeteria.
If you register for dormitory housing, the following meals will also be provided: Breakfast, June 19-22, 2024; Dinner, June 19-21, 2024.
Photographs and Recordings: You are welcome to take photos and videos, but please do not use flash, especially during sacred liturgies. Please note that some cellphone cameras use a spotlight-type light that may not be used during filming/photographs during a liturgy. It is very disruptive to liturgies.
Please be considerate when taking photos or videos. Be unobtrusive when filming so as not to disrupt singers, musicians, or conductors (please don’t get so near as to make them uncomfortable).
We welcome volunteer recordings of the liturgies during our courses. In fact, amateur recordings are kept in a collection online and are available for free access in the resources section of our website. If you do record a session or liturgy, please consider sharing your files with the CMAA so that others may hear them. Please consider bringing a recorder and/or video camera and assisting with this.
Note: Please do not film during teaching or rehearsal sessions without permission of the instructor.
Contact us a gm@musicasacra.com for more information.
Please take note of the CMAA Code of Conduct.
The St. John Newman Center has dormitory housing available for all participants. Single- or Double-occupancy sleeping rooms with linens are available. All rooms will have a shared bath.