A simple gift, heralding the true meaning of Christmas. That’s what the Madison Diocesan Choir and its director, Dr. Patrick Gorman, offer Sunday, Dec. 22, with Bishop Donald J. Hying presiding over their Lessons & Carols liturgical service at Holy Name Heights.
Tag: Patrick Gorman
We did it! Diocese puts it all together
The windows at St. Maria Goretti Church in Madison sparkled, the church was immaculate, and smiling faces at the entrance greeted people who came for Evening Prayer to begin the installation events for Bishop Donald J. Hying on June 24.
Parishioners and staff at St. Maria Goretti Church had pitched in to get their church ready for the installation of Madison’s new bishop. Fr. Scott Emerson, parochial administrator of St. Maria Goretti, was justifiably proud.
The St. Maria Goretti crew were part of many people who worked behind the scenes to prepare for the installation. It was wonderful to see how people throughout the diocese joined together to welcome our new bishop.
Madison Diocesan Choir spring concert
Under the direction of Dr. Patrick Gorman, the Madison Diocesan Choir will celebrate Fifty Days of Easter with alleluias, Scripture readings, and congregational hymns, in a free spring concert entitled He is risen indeed! on Friday evening, May 17, at Holy Name Heights.
Diocesan Choir presents Lessons & Carols
With flute, harp, and grand organ, the Madison Diocesan Choir and director Dr. Patrick Gorman will celebrate Advent with a Lessons & Carols concert on Sunday, Dec. 16, always a joyful event as Christmas draws near, although a sad occasion for many this year.
Diocesan Choir concert is ‘For All the Saints’
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.
Diocesan Choir launches Youth Pastoral Musician Scholarship Award
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.
Rite of Election to be held on February 18
The Rite of Election of Catechumens and Call to Continuing Conversion for Candidates for Full Communion in the Catholic Church will be celebrated by the parishes of the Diocese of Madison on Sunday, Feb. 18, at 3 p.m. at St. John the Baptist Church in Waunakee.
Restored pipe organ has uplifting sound
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.
New organ will highlight this year’s Festival of Lessons & Carols
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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.
Seeking an organ
“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.
Rolls Royce of organs
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.
Rite of Election, Call to Continuing Conversion on March 5
The Rite of Election of Catechumens and Call to Continuing Conversion for Candidates for Full Communion in the Catholic Church will be celebrated by the parishes of the Diocese of Madison on Sunday, March 5, at 3 p.m. at St. John the Baptist Church in Waunakee.