The Diocese of Madison is scheduled to host two sacred music events in December.
On Sunday, Dec. 3, the Diocesan Schola will lead Solemn Choral Vespers and Benediction, and on Sunday, Dec. 17, the Diocesan Choir and Chamber Orchestra are featured in a Lessons and Carols service. …
Its future no longer in doubt, the Madison Diocesan Choir returns to celebrate Lessons and Carols on Sunday, Dec. 18, at Holy Name Heights in Madison resuming a long-running tradition interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The mission of the Office of Worship of the Diocese of Madison is to help people encounter Jesus Christ in a life-changing way through the liturgy, prayer, and sacraments.
The Madison Diocesan Choir is now accepting applications for the 2019 Youth Pastoral Musician Scholarships with hopes of building on the success of the initiative’s inaugural year.
MADISON — Poll the faithful on the most famous saints, and Augustine, Aquinas, Francis of Assisi, and of course St. Patrick are sure to follow Peter and Paul on any top 10 list.
But what about St. Bede the Venerable, St. Columba, St. Niceta, or Blessed John Henry Newman, among others?
Under the direction of Dr. Patrick Gorman, the Madison Diocesan Choir offers an introduction to the saints, the familiar and those not so well known, with a spring concert, “For All the Saints,” Friday, May 18, at the Holy Name Heights, 702 S. High Point Rd., in Madison.
MADISON — Expanding its music ministry, the Madison Diocesan Choir is launching an initiative likely to benefit parishes throughout the diocese for years to come: student scholarships to help ensure a new generation of liturgical musicians, as members of their church choirs or choir accompanists.
The Youth Pastoral Musician Scholarship Award begins this year with two $500 awards, one to a junior high school student, the other to a senior high school student, allowing them to attend an approved summer music clinic. To be eligible, students must be involved in their parish music programs as regular participants.
MADISON — Enter the quiet chapel at Holy Name Heights, walk down the aisle, then turn and look to the balcony. The pews are gone, and an organ console is visible. That’s different. Otherwise, not much to see, nothing all that remarkable.
Yet, there is now something truly noteworthy in the choir loft. Behind a wall of organ swell shades are the pipes and inner workings of a superb instrument, an Aeolian-Skinner pipe organ, old and used, but newly restored and installed in the chapel.
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| At the Advent/Christmas party sponsored by the Apostolate for Persons with Disabilities are, from left: Katie Gorman, one of the newest members of the Madison Diocesan Choir; her father, Dr. Patrick Gorman, director of the choir for over 25 years; and Pat Paska, a member of the choir since its beginning nearly 45 years ago. (Catholic Herald photo/Kevin Wondrash) |
MADISON — Much as O Come All Ye Faithful is a favorite known by all since childhood, the opening hymn of Lessons & Carols will become a glorious new sound Sunday, Dec. 17.
That’s when Dr. Patrick Gorman directs the Madison Diocesan Choir and all present, accompanied by a classic pipe organ described as magical, restored, and installed in the Holy Name Heights chapel.
“I have literally been working on this since I arrived in Madison,” said Gorman, now in his 26th year as director. “We put together so many different proposals, and it’s always been, ‘We can’t afford it! We can’t afford it.’
“New pipe organs are extraordinarily expensive. Then we started to look at organs that have come out of churches.”
With the help of Bruce Case of Case Pipe Organ Company in Verona, an exceptional pipe organ was found in Kenosha at the First Congregational Church that closed in 2013.
Though silent for years, the organ was in surprisingly good condition. The new owners, an evangelical congregation, had no use for it and agreed to sell it.
Thanks to a generous gift from the estate of the late Msgr. Delbert Schmelzer, the Diocese of Madison was able to buy and restore the pipe organ, built by the Aeolian-Skinner Organ Company in Boston nearly 70 years ago.
According to Case, it rivals the commanding Klais organ in the Madison Overture Center, and in some respects is superior.
The Madison Diocesan Choir will present its annual spring concert on Friday, May 12, at 7 p.m. in the chapel of Holy Name Heights (formerly the Bishop O’Connor Center).
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| The Madison Diocesan Choir, under the direction of Dr. Patrick Gorman, presented a Festival of Lessons and Carols at the Bishop O’Connor Catholic Center in Madison on December 20. Bishop Robert C. Morlino presided at the Advent service. Joining the choir this year was the St. Raphael Brass Quintet and timpani. (Contributed photo by Ken Halfmann) |
MADISON — The Madison Diocesan Choir gives a special gift to the Diocese of Madison each year during the holiday season.
The choir presented its annual Festival of Lessons and Carols on Sunday, Dec. 20, in the chapel of the Bishop O’Connor Catholic Center.
Bishop Robert C. Morlino presided at the service, which includes Scripture readings and hymns and songs celebrating the season.
Dr. Patrick Gorman directed the 66-voice choir composed of singers from throughout the diocese.
Enhancing Lessons and Carols this year was the stirring music provided by the St. Raphael Brass Quintet and timpani. Members of the quintet include Robert Rohlfing and Jessica Jensen, trumpet; Matthew Beecher, horn; Brian Whitty, trombone; and David Spies, tuba. Joe Bernstein performed on the timpani.
Glenn Schuster, assistant director of the choir, provided piano accompaniment.
