Where the Church Does Its Thinking About Music And

SM@ND Sacred Music at Notre Dame "Where the Church does its thinking about Music and Musical Practice Informs the Church"

1. Sacred Music at Notre Dame: Student Handbook and Guide The Master of Sacred Music is a degree program situated in the Department of Theology at the University of Notre Dame, but with major participation from faculty in the Department of Music. The purpose of this Master's degree is to train professional musicians for work in the Christian churches, at a time when there is a well-established need for skilled musicians who understand the liturgy and know how to work with pastors and within congregations. Graduates of the program are also well-prepared for administrative and teaching positions, for work in the media, and for doctoral study in music and a variety of related disciplines. The program is broadly ecumenical, but gives specific attention to Roman Catholic traditions and practice, as well as to the particular needs of the Catholic Church in the United States. The MSM is designed to take full advantage of Notre Dame's distinguished ecumenical faculty in Liturgical Studies, giving students unique training in this subject area. Students apply in one of two tracks: (1) organ or (2) choral/vocal. If they are accepted into the choral/vocal track, they must elect to concentrate in one or the other at the time of matriculation. Although mastery of the chosen field is required, students are encouraged to gain expertise in all three areas. The expectation is that every graduate will be a well-rounded church musician, possessing requisite skills in playing, conducting, and singing necessary to shape music programs in the churches of most Christian denominations. Every student is offered the opportunities to become sophisticated in the uses of modern technology, which may include ways of using media in planning worship and/or making short films and appealing websites to strengthen community and improve outreach.

2. Musical and Liturgical Riches: The Particular Strengths of Notre Dame The degree program is accredited by the Association of Theological Schools, and offers its students the entire wealth of experience and range of organs found on the Notre Dame campus and in the immediate environs of the university. The DeBartolo Performing Arts Center contains six performance spaces. Among them is the Reyes Organ and Choral Hall. This chapel-like venue, mainly used for concerts and recitals in organ, a cappella vocal and other baroque ensemble music, is home to a spectacular Paul Fritts organ. Inspired by the work of the great north German organ builder Arp Schnitger

of 8 (1648-1719), the instrument has 35 stops and 2,551 handcrafted pipes, with a marvelous hand-carved case crafted from 800-year-old Douglas fir. (See http://performingarts.nd.edu/about/reyes.aspx.) Students also have access to an Italian positive organ that is on loan from an anonymous donor. The organ was built ca. 1680 by an unknown maker in the region of Naples, Italy. After being in storage for decades, it was in need of major restoration. Robert Wech of Orgelbau Wech, Buchloe, Germany, did the technical and cosmetic restoration before it was shipped to Martin Pasi’s shop in Roy, WA. The pipe and tonal restoration was completed at the Pasi shop before it came to Notre Dame in 2010. The instrument was acquired in memory of Dr. Gail Walton, Director of Music in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart from 1988-2010, and installed in Reyes Hall. The DeBartolo Center also contains the ten-story high Leighton Concert Hall, a 900-seat venue that is widely recognized as one of the finest concert halls in the world. It is home to visiting artists and University performances by the Glee Club, Notre Dame Symphony, and the Chorale (http://performingarts.nd.edu/about/leighton.aspx). Programming in the 2010-2011 series includes Pomerium, Alex Blachly, director; Chanticleer; and the Venice Baroque Orchestra. The Metropolitan Opera: Live in High Definition season is presented throughout the year the spectacular Browning Cinema, a state-of-the-art cinematheque included among the venues in the Center (http://performingarts.nd.edu/methd.aspx). The liturgical center of the campus is the Basilica of the Sacred Heart: a gothic revival building, spectacularly painted and graced with the finest collection of nineteenth- century French stained glass in the USA (http://basilica.nd.edu/about/). The Holtkamp organ in the loft was installed in 1976. There is never a dull moment in the Basilica, as it is filled with services, concerts, and numerous choirs, and offers a range of musical styles. MSM students are intimately involved, as many have placements in the Basilica. The staff of the Basilica has worked hard on televising Masses with their music, so the efforts of musicians reach millions of people every Sunday. Notre Dame is a campus filled with chapels: virtually every building has a chapel, and many of these offer services throughout the week, and in a range of worship styles. Dorm life, too, has a liturgical dimension: every dormitory has its own chapel, with a Sunday evening Mass and at least one Eucharistic service during the week. There are beautiful chapels too at St. Mary's College, just across the Lake (http://www.woollenmolzan.com/projectview.asp? pid=30&cid=3&st=2), and in the Moreau Seminary—all of these with ongoing programs of services and music. Opportunities abound! Recently some MSM students have begun to sing and conduct at the Masses in the Law School chapel, and have crafted a well-attended program of music based on Gregorian chant. Notre Dame resembles a huge parish, with every nook and cranny filled with liturgies awaiting the talents and energies of MSM students.

2 3. Curriculum and program requirements The MSM program in general is divided into three areas of studies: applied music (16 credits), sacred music (15 credits), and liturgical studies (15 credits). The glue that is intended to hold the program together is the monthly interdisciplinary Colloquium (2 credits). Students need to be enrolled for at least 9 hours to be considered full-time students. This is essential for receiving tuition scholarships and other graduate student benefits. Since the program is 48 credits over four academic-year semesters, this averages to 12 credits per semester. However, provision is made for students preparing for recitals. During the semester when the recital will take place, students can reduce their course load to three courses with the intention of making up the remaining courses during the summer sessions. The Graduate School provides for up to 6 credits of summer school. All MSM students are required to take Colloquium/Master Singers every semester; it meets on Thursdays 12:30-1:50 (.5 credit each semester). The purpose of the colloquium is to bring the music and liturgical studies faculty together with the students to discuss topics of mutual interest with a guest speaker. The colloquium is normally held once a month, for a maximum of three per semester. On the other Thursdays, when there is no colloquium, the students meet for Master Singers. The aims of this group are to build camaraderie among students in the two tracks, to give conducting students more podium time, and to encourage the students to pursue the various genres of sacred music that are of interest to them. In the applied music area, each of the three concentrations has its own specific program requirements. Students take up to 12 credits of private lessons within their concentration, leaving four credits in the allied areas. Students with the permission of their advisor may take more than 16 credits in applied music, time permitting. Sacred music courses that are focused on history and repertory occupy a third of the curriculum. Organ students are required to take the two-course sequence in organ literature, and to choose three other sacred music courses. Choral and vocal concentrators must take a course in Gregorian chant and choose four other courses in sacred music. They should work with their advisors in selecting these courses. The faculty has prescribed three liturgy courses that all MSM students should take to insure an adequate foundation: Liturgical Year, Eucharist, and Liturgical Prayer. Other liturgy courses, some with a musical component, are offered as electives each year. Finally, all students are involved in Supervised Placements, which serve as on- the-job professional training and function as part-time employment for the students. (See the summary of the curriculum at the end of this document, pp. 6-8.)

4. Supervised Placements Opportunities while at Notre Dame One of the great strengths of the MSM program at Notre Dame is found in the individual supervised placements. In addition to full tuition scholarships, every student receives a stipend for their supervised placement in liturgical music. The placements are

3 greatly varied: some are in local churches, with the student in a leadership role; some are in the Basilica where students have chances to sing, play, and conduct; some are in the dorms, where MSM students help undergraduates attain a deeper understanding of how to craft services; and some are in the Music and Theology Film Studio, where classes meet to discuss their field work, and use film and the skills of the documentarian to explore work in contemporary churches, Notre Dame and the local community. Just as Notre Dame is a campus of chapels, so too the greater South Bend area is home to numerous churches, of every kind, nature, and denomination, offering extraordinary opportunities to join with our musical and theological faculty in reading the pulse of contemporary worship. Since Notre Dame is in the religious heartland of the USA, MSM students have opportunities to come away from their studies with a particular kind of sophistication. The myriad choirs at Notre Dame and Saint Mary's, and in the community offer each choral student chances for significant podium time. Every conducting student will serve as an assistant conductor with one of the faculty.

5. Financial Aid Every MSM student receives a full scholarship covering the cost of tuition. In addition, everyone working in a supervised placement receives a stipend or salary in the neighborhood of $12,500 per year, for between 10-12 hours of work per week. The student usually remains in the same placement over the entire course of their study. Both the student and the supervisor each receive a copy of the handbook “Supervision in MSM placement” that spells out the procedures. The MSM Directors endeavor to stay in touch with the supervisors, to ensure that the placement experience is as enriching as possible. Any problems should be reported promptly to one of the Directors.

6. Recitals Organ students in the Master of Sacred Music program perform two recitals. The recital comprises fifty minutes of music. There is no memory requirement. The music performed on recitals must be graduate-level organ literature. Recitals based on themes are encouraged, especially when they involve liturgical themes. Program notes are optional, but if program notes are to be included, they must be approved by the professor of organ. Choral conducting concentrators will have a first-year recital. Each of the first- year students will conduct the Master Singers in an end-of-year recital, focusing on pieces they have prepared throughout the year. In the second year, the Degree Recital for choral conductors will involve individual work with a choir and the requisite instrumentalists. Budgets for degree recitals must be submitted by the end of the first year for planning purposes. Every student should prepare program notes as part of coursework, and in consultation with the primary teacher. Choral conducting students may elect to minor in voice, but their vocal work will be over and above the normal

4 course of study. If they choose this option, they will give two short vocal recitals (no more than 30 minutes), one per year, with a piano accompanist. Vocal students will give a shorter first-year recital, and a second-year Degree Recital, under the supervision of the primary teacher, and in consultation with the faculty. In addition to this, vocal concentrators will have opportunities to study conducting with Nancy Menk of St. Mary’s College, as a secondary expertise.

7. Employment after Graduation and Career Options The MSM office regularly receives announcements about employment opportunities. Those received by internet will be forwarded by e-mail to all MSM students, and a hard copy will be posted on the MSM bulletin board outside of Malloy Hall 248. Any printed advertisements received by the office are collected in a folder or loose leaf binder kept in the office, and also posted on the bulletin board. Janet Rudasics, the MSM administrative Assistant, also clips all job advertisements found in leading journals and newspapers and places them in the folder for student perusal. MSM faculty are activists in their attention to student placement, which explains our strong record of placing alumni in positions of service to both the churches and the academy.

8. Alumni Affairs A survey of Notre Dame organ graduates from the past 25 years finds that 88% have stayed in music. Since the inception of the MSM program in 2006, choral and vocal majors have been added to the ranks of organists. Many have moved into Catholic cathedral or parish positions, some are in campus ministry, while others serve other denominations in music ministry—one is an administrator in the worship division of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The MSM office tracks our students after graduation, and is pleased to announce that job placement continues at a high level of success. Our graduates are working around the United States and abroad. One, for example, is in charge of a church music initiative in Ireland, while another works in a large Boston parish as Director of Liturgy and Music. Additionally, some of our recent graduates have gone on to doctoral studies (DMA) at the Eastman School of Music, the University of Washington, the University of Kansas, the University of Texas, and (PhD) the University of Chicago, just to mention a few. In addition to tracking our students after graduation, we have established an electronic newsletter for all graduates and current students, in the hope that our alumni and students will get to know one another, and network to the benefit of each other and the long-term benefit of the Sacred Music program at Notre Dame.

5 CURRICULUM OF THE MSM PROGRAM ______MSM (Master of Sacred Music) CONCENTRATION IN CHORAL-VOCAL (48 credits) Applied Music – choral concentration (16 credits)  Choral conducting (12 credits - 3 credits each semester)  Voice (2 credits)  Keyboard (2 credits) Applied Music – vocal concentration (16 credits)  Voice (12 credits - 3 credits each semester)  Choral conducting (2 credits)  Keyboard (2 credits) Applied Music Practices - Workshops are offered regularly on a non-credit basis. The following list will serve as examples of types of workshops that enhance the background of the Liturgical Musician: • Service Playing  Improvisation  Liturgical Performance Practice and Literature for Piano  Developing Music Programs for Children and Youth  Handbells Supervised Placement (transcripted only)  Supervised pastoral placement for four semesters (i.e. basilica, parish, dormitory, etc.) N.B. In a semester where a major recital is being prepared, the student may reduce the course load from 12 to 9 credits due. The student must make up to the courses in the summer for up to two courses (6 credits).

Liturgy (15 credits - from the following courses:)  Eucharist - required  Liturgical Prayer - required  Liturgical Year – required  Electives – two courses from the following: - American Worship and Music - Music for the Rites

6 - Ritual Studies Sacred Music and Choral/Vocal Literature (15 credits - from the following courses:)  Gregorian Chant - required  Electives – four courses from the following: - Polyphony - Cantatas, passions, oratorios - World music (will first be offered in 2011-12) - American Worship and Music - Hymnody Interdisciplinary Colloquia and Master Singers (2 credits - .5 credit each semester) Each year several colloquia will address issues common to both liturgy and the sacred arts. These mandatory colloquia will ground the interdisciplinary ethos of the programs, and draw the faculty and students into on-going dialogue. ______MSM (Master of Sacred Music) CONCENTRATION IN ORGAN (48 cr.) Liturgical Music Performance (16 credits)  Organ – (12 credits) 3 cr. each semester  Conducting (2 credits)  Vocal Methods or voice lessons (2 credits) 1 credit each for two semesters Applied Music Practices - Workshops will be offered regularly on a non-credit basis. The following list will serve as examples of the types of workshops that will enhance the background of the Liturgical Musician:  Service Playing  Improvisation  Liturgical Performance Practice and Literature for Piano  Developing Music Programs for Children and Youth  Handbells Supervised Placement (transcripted only)  Supervised pastoral placement for four semesters (i.e. basilica, parish, dormitory) N.B. In a semester where a major recital is being prepared, the student may reduce the course load from 12 to 9 credits due. The student must make up to the courses in the summer for up to two courses (6 credits). Liturgy (15 credits - from the following courses:)  Eucharist - required

7  Liturgical Prayer - required  Liturgical Year – required  Electives – two courses from the following: - American worship and music - Music for the rites - Ritual Studies Sacred Music (15 credits)  6 credits: Organ Literature I, II  9 credits: the remaining 9 credits from the following courses: - Gregorian Chant - Polyphony - Cantatas, passions, oratorios - American Worship and Music - World music - Hymnody Interdisciplinary Colloquia and Master Singers (2 credits - .5 credit each semester) Each year several colloquia will address issues common to both liturgy and the sacred arts. These mandatory colloquia will ground the interdisciplinary ethos of the programs, and draw the faculty and students into on-going dialogue.