The Catholic Institute of Sacred Music

A new music education program at St. Patrick’s Seminary & University strikes a chord with lay Catholics near and far

By Christina Gray

The intermittent harmonies of Gregorian chant echo down the halls of St. Patrick’s Seminary & University on a hot July day. It comes not from within the campus chapel, but from a small classroom in the seminary’s west wing. Here, two dozen adults from as far away as Paraguay, Slovenia and Mozambique, and as close by as Menlo Park, stand shoulder-to-shoulder in front of Jennifer Donelson-Nowicka, music sheets in hand.

Another handful could be seen on monitors at the front and back of the classroom Zooming in from different time zones across the globe.

They are parish music directors, liturgists, priests and nuns but mostly lay Catholics here for a weeklong course in “Introduction to Gregorian Chant.” The course is one of more than a dozen graduate-level liturgical music courses offered in summer sessions by the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music at St. Patrick’s Seminary & University in Menlo Park.

Donelson-Nowicka founded the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music at St. Patrick’s Seminary & University in 2022 in collaboration with Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone. An esteemed sacred music educator and scholar, Donelson-Nowicka has two educational roles at St. Patrick’s that run parallel to one another but serve different students.

As associate professor and director of sacred music at St. Patrick’s Seminary & University, she and other faculty members teach the sacred music courses that are a required part of a seminarian’s formation during the academic year. She founded the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music to be able to share conservatory-level sacred music education and performances with lay Catholics, including the general public.

The Catholic Institute of Sacred Music is “an extension of the seminary’s educational footprint,” said Donelson-Nowicka, who left St. Joseph Seminary in Dunwoodie, New York, where she had developed similar music formation programs.

“This is something the Archbishop and I both wanted to have happen here,” she said.

SACRED MUSIC FOR LAY CATHOLICS

Summer students may have different backgrounds and varying levels of sacred music experience, but they are united in their love of Church and their desire to incorporate its rich history of sacred music thoughtfully into their work, according to Donelson-Nowicka.

“I’m very new to this,” Aubrey Pichler told Catholic San Francisco on July 10. The young musical liturgist from a small town in Missouri studied music and theology in college. She said she believed she would be able to start her first real liturgical music job in Philadelphia this fall with “more confidence” because of her summer coursework at the institute.

Father Paul Bechter is director of vocations for the Diocese of Dallas. As such, he is in charge of the “propaedeutic” (first stage of seminary formation) program at Dallas Theological Seminary. He has loved singing sacred music since his own days in seminary, but said he never took a class until now.

“The early stages of seminary formation is the ideal time to lay the foundation for sacred music,” he said. He feels he is leaving with “a language and methodology” he can use with seminarians to greater effectiveness.

“If you are formed by it in seminary, you develop a better appreciation for it and understand what it looks like to implement in a parish,” said Father Bechter.

“OUR MISSION IS TO SERVE THE CHURCH”

Donelson-Nowicka said that while sacred music is the program, the mission of the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music is to serve the Church.

“Everything we do here are topics that musicians and Church leaders need to learn in order to be able do their jobs with excellence and fidelity at Catholic parishes and schools,” she said.

The institute has other educational components, too. During the school year, the institute offers a public lecture and concert series, which draws hundreds to the seminary with prominent presenters and recitalists.

This year, the institute will present lectures by two foremost chant scholars. Susan Rankin, a professor of medieval music at the University of Cambridge, will present an online lecture on the Christianization of the Pantheon in Rome, and the liturgy and chants surrounding it. Anna Maria Busse Berger, a professor of music at the University of California at Davis, will present her research on the evangelization of the African continent through sacred music.

Prospective students learn about the summer program and public events in various ways, said Donelson-Nowicka. Detailed program information and application is available on the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music’s website, catholicinstituteofsacredmusic.org. Here, visitors can also join an email list and connect on social media. Donelson-Nowicka also hosts a podcast titled “Square Notes: The Sacred Music Podcast,” now in its sixth season.

MUSICIANS NEED COMMUNITY

Sarah Zielinski is a trained opera singer who left the secular performance world for a religious music career. She is now director of liturgy and music at St. Alice Church in Springfield, Oregon, in the Archdiocese of Portland.

“I realized I was way more happy singing for children and the Church,” she said. Zielinski is in her second summer session at the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music. She took four classes last year, two online and two in person. This summer, she traveled to participate in the Choral Institute and take more classes.

In addition to the value of the actual class experiences, Zielinski said time spent with other students who also love the Church and sacred music is invaluable. That includes the classroom, of course, but also collaboration on a homework assignment, singing together, or watching each other make presentations for a graded score.

“You get a better understanding of what was not effective, and why it wasn’t,” she said. “You get to experience a lesson as if you were one of the kids you are teaching.”

“Musicians need community,” affirmed Donelson-Nowicka.

After her attendance last summer, Zielinski said she made small modifications at St. Alice, like replacing an Offertory hymn with a chant. She had learned at the institute more about what the Church requires, liturgically speaking.

At first, she was afraid that people would be upset by the change but found the opposite was true. People were thankful.

“They said they could finally see what’s happening on the altar and pray with the beautiful music rather than have their head in a book,” she said.

Gregorian chant is still unusual for most parishes right now, she said. “But that will change if more of us come to this program.”

Lauri Hofstrom started her position as director of liturgy and music for St. Raymond Parish in Menlo Park in 2020. Weeks later, the pandemic brought a moratorium on communal singing. She came to the Choral Institute last year and took several courses again this summer.

“Having this community gathered here to sing the historic music of the Church is just a spectacular gift,” said Hofstrom. “When we depart from here, we will go back and see how it has changed us and what we can give away and offer and share in charity with everyone for the benefit of all and the glory of God.”

Christina Gray is the lead writer for Catholic San Francisco.