Sacred Music
St. Gregory’s Hall’s sacred music program enhances the experience of the liturgy at the parish. Under the direction of our composer/artist-in-residence, parishioners and others will have the opportunity to hear and learn beautiful sacred choral music in their appropriate liturgical settings.
This program is made possible through a Vital Worship, Vital Preaching Grant from the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, Grand Rapids, Michigan, with funds provided by Lilly Endowment Inc.
This program is made possible through a Vital Worship, Vital Preaching Grant from the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, Grand Rapids, Michigan, with funds provided by Lilly Endowment Inc.
About our artist-in-residence
Kevin Allen is a well-known composer. His works, sacred and secular, have been performed in churches and concert halls throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. Based in Chicago, he is the founding director of the Collins Consort, American Composer’s Project, and Schola Immaculata. Mr. Allen is also the director of Schola Laudis at the Benedictine Monastery of the Holy Cross.
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Why Sacred Music?The experience of God's mysteries in the Church’s prayer and worship is greatly enhanced by the sacred music she has inherited over the centuries. Beginning in the early middle ages, plainchant known as Gregorian Chant was promoted by St. Gregory the Great and others as the musical form most appropriate for the Church’s worship.
This emphasis was reinforced by the council fathers at Vatican II, which recognized “Gregorian chant as especially suited to the Roman liturgy…it should be given pride of place in liturgical services.” (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 116). In 2019, Pope Francis emphasized the importance of Gregorian chant as "the first model" of choral liturgical music. |