Summer 2024 – Catholic Institute of Sacred Music at St. Patrick’s Seminary
Graduate-level study structured for busy schedules
Online or In-Person, intensive or term-length course formats
FREE Tuition Summer 2024
For more information or to apply, please visit the Institute’s website at: catholicinstituteofsacredmusic.org
Download the brochure and FAQ here.
The Catholic Institute of Sacred Music at St. Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park, California is proud to announce its second summer term. Through the sponsorship of generous donors, we are delighted to be able to offer all courses with FREE TUITION for all applicants who are accepted into the program for this summer.
The Catholic Institute of Sacred Music offers a rich learning experience for parish and school musicians who want to immerse themselves in the beauty, truth, and holiness of the Church’s sacred music and liturgy. The Institute offers a daily schedule of sung liturgies on campus and opportunities for private prayer, a world-class faculty, dormitory rooms and common meals on a beautiful campus in the temperate climate of Silicon Valley, and opportunities for study, both in-person and online, in subjects that are inspiring, challenging, and practical.
Whether you’re new to sacred music or have studied music at the graduate level, our courses will assist you in unlocking the treasury of Catholic sacred music, helping you grow in your spiritual life, amplifying your knowledge of and love for Christ and the Church’s music, and strengthening the skills needed for faithful service in the Church.
Join us this summer to experience the depths of the Church’s riches, taught by experienced teachers and musicians, faithful to the Church’s magisterium and tradition.
2024 Summer Classes
Catholic Institute of Sacred Music
at St. Patrick’s Seminary, Menlo Park, California
Private Lessons in Chant Conducting (Chironomy)
Are you interested in learning how to conduct Gregorian chant according to the classical Solesmes method? Have you learned some of the basics and are now looking to improve your developing conducting skills? Private lessons are available, either in-person or via Skype/FaceTime.
Learn more about tuition rates and scheduling availability by emailing Dr. Donelson at info@jenniferdonelson.com
No current availability. Consider taking Advanced Seminar in Gregorian Chant: Conducting (Chironomy) during the summer term.
Other Classes Previously Offered
Parish Sacred Music Program Management
Open to musicians and clergy from parishes of any size who are searching for inspiration and ideas as they work to expand or make changes to an existing sacred music program, this course presents best practices from model parishes and programs.
Covering structures, personnel, budget, recruitment, fundraising, materials (hymnals, instruments, library, some aspects of repertoire, etc.), and other resources, the seminar aims to provide resources for parishes to consider how they might develop a program which is faithful to the mind and heart of the Church, as well as intimately linked to the nature and structure of the sacred liturgy. The ideas presented in the course afford the opportunity to plot a path forward for a parish in which the music program is both spiritually fruitful and economically sustainable, as well as invigorating for the worship, health, and life of a parish through beauty.
Introduction to the Organ for Pianists
Essential knowledge and practice with registration, good technique, pedaling, hymn- and service-playing, and appropriate repertoire.
Introduction to Music Reading, Music Theory, and Ear Training for Parish Musicians
Are you a church musician who would like to gain independence in reading and singing or playing music in your parish’s music program? Would you like to gain confidence in your ability to read music so that you can learn new music, and learn it more quickly? Are you looking for a program to help you perform with accuracy and musicality in your work in music ministry?
Starting from an introduction to reading both modern and neumatic (square note) music notation, this course will introduce participants to music theory concepts that will aid them in reading, singing, and playing music in their parish music programs. Concepts covered will include major and minor scales, Gregorian modes, key signatures, intervals, rhythms and time signatures, triads, and seventh chords. Special emphasis will be given to ear training and musicianship exercises which embed theoretical concepts in practical musical examples. The only prerequisite to the course is the ability to match pitch when singing.
Beauty and the New Evangelization: Understanding and Employing Sacred Art, Architecture, and Music – co-taught with Prof. Emily Sottile
The Church is the greatest patron of the arts the world has ever known. That’s no accident! The beautiful has the potential to lead those who engage with it to the good and the true. Literacy in the languages of sacred art, architecture, and music are practical skills for evangelization. This course guides students in deepening their understanding and appreciation of beauty in the various media of sacred arts, and enables students to utilize the sacred arts for the purpose of evangelization.
State Persecution of the Church in Modernity: An Historical Study through the Lenses of Source Documents and Film – co-taught with Dr. Jacek Nowicki
Starting from a discussion of the tensions long held between the Church and the state, as well as the Church’s understanding of martyrdom, this course travels around the globe in the modern era in a chronological study of persecutions of the Church, Catholicism, and Catholics by the government. Class sessions will offer a narrative of the key events, personalities, political programs, and ideas behind particular persecutions, as well as a look at source documents (laws, manifestoes, propaganda) which make clear the crisis of conscience faced by faithful Catholics living under unjust regimes. Study materials for the course consist mainly of films, but also of some excerpts from literature and music, which illuminate the historical situation, sometimes revealing particular agendas through bias or historical inaccuracy.
John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and the History of the Church in Europe in the 20th Century: Biographies, Writings, Source Documents, and Films – co-taught with Dr. Jacek Nowicki
Beginning from the biographies and writings of St. John Paul II and Benedict XVI, this course will look at key moments in the twentieth century for the history of the Church in Europe. Through this course, students will gain an insight into the writings of John Paul II and Benedict XVI by understanding better their biographies and the historical forces which shaped their experience and roles in the Church. Students will also develop their understanding of the historical events which shaped the lives of Catholics throughout Europe and how these popes affected historical events. Students will read excerpts from the popes’ writings in class as well as other primary source materials. Study materials for the course consist of films which illuminate the historical situation, sometimes revealing particular agendas through bias or historical inaccuracy.