CHARLOTTE — St. Patrick Cathedral hosted the fourth Annual Southeastern Sacred Music Workshop July 27-28. Church musicians, adult and children participants came from the Diocese of Charlotte as well as many other dioceses in the region.
Beginner participants were introduced to basic chant note reading and singing while advanced singers practiced polyphonic pieces in which several melodies are blended. The workshop also offered several breakout sessions, including vocal lessons, conducting, children choir, Spanish music among other topics. More than 80 participants and presenters worked together to sing Gregorian chants, antiphons and polyphony pieces.
St. Patrick’s music director, Gianfranco DeLuca, along with Thomas Savoy from St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Charlotte and Tiffany Gallozzi from St. Barnabas Church in Arden, joined a group of presenters from other states as far as Florida. The participants sang a Vespers on Friday evening and the Saturday session concluded with a Mass offered by Bishop Peter Jugis, during which they sang Gregorian propers of the day, Missa XI Orbis Factor and polyphonic songs by Palestrina, Hassler and Wood.
Southeastern Sacred Music is a chapter of the Church Music Association of America that has organized a sacred music workshop each summer in the region.
— Markus Kuncoro