ABOUT GREGORIAN CHANT AND THE COURSE

Gregorian chant is the original song of the Church, her own particular music, sung to the texts of the psalms and sacred scripture. It is the song of her liturgy and prayer.

The origins of chant, while yet obscure, reach back to the earliest centuries of the Church, preceding even Pope St. Gregory the Great after whom it is named. Much of it took final form in the empire of Charlemagne and continued to evolve in later centuries. After many years of decline and abuse it comes to us today after a period of renewal brought about by scholars from many nations, not least of which are those of the famed Benedictine abbey of Solesmes, France.

St. Basil’s School of Gregorian Chant seeks to foster the implementation of the mandate and spirit of the Second Vatican Council as expressed in the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy:

And, as the Council added further:

We hope that you will join us in tracing the fascinating story of chant, learning to read and sing it with spirit, making it your prayer of the liturgy. In our lessons, courses, and singing you will enrich your spiritual life and that of your parish by discovering the transcendent joy that knowing and singing this wondrous gift of God can bring to all who participate in its expression of the mysteries of our faith.

In 1964, Fr. Columba was appointed choirmaster for Saint Meinrad Archabbey. “I  began composing English-language chants based on the principles used to create the original Gregorian Chant repertory.”  That same year, he also began teaching at Saint Meinrad College and Saint Meinrad School of Theology.

Throughout his teaching, Fr. Kelly has travelled the United States and the world. He studied under Fr. Daniel Saulnier of the famed Abbey of Solemnes in France. He also taught chant at the Abbey of Solemnes.  He has taught in Benedictine communities in Australia. In the United States, Fr. Kelly has taught regularly at Colleges and provided college level workshops in chant all over the country. He is standing member of the chant division of the National Pastoral Musicians association.

Fr. Kelly also founded the “Church Music Project” to accomplish two things. The first was to compose English chant using principles of the original composition of Latin chant to make the beauty of chant more accessible today. To that end he has written one scholarly work, “Gregorian Chant Intonation and the Role of Rhetoric”.  His second work is a translation of  the “Introduction to the interpretation of Gregorian Chant; Volume 1: Foundations”  by Luigi Agustini and Johannes Berchmans Goschl. Both are published by Edwin Mellen Press, a scholarly and research oriented publisher.

“My second goal was to attract the sacred music composer of a certain standard.”  He has  collaborated in a number of special projects and compositions regarding Gregorian Chant. His settings of the Responsorial Psalms and Refrains for Advent/Christmas and Lent/Easter seasons have been published by Gregorian Institute of America, Chicago, IL. His chant style setting with SAB chorus of the St. John Passion for Good Friday.

Fr. Kelly’s English chants are freely available and can be downloaded at www.sacredmusicproject.coml.

Fr. Kelly will immerse the workshop students in the beauty, rhythm and shape of Gregorian chant in Latin and English.

M. Jackson Osborn

Mr. Osborn studied piano and organ from an early age, majoring in both at Drury College in Springfield, Missouri. Following organ and choral studies with William Barnard at Christ Church Cathedral in Houston, he earned a BMus in organ performance with special studies in sacred choral music and musicology under Robert Jones at the University of Houston. He has served as choirmaster and organist at numerous Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran churches in the Houston area, in addition to directing special choirs and orchestras for many special liturgies and events. He currently teaches Gregorian chant & music theory at Our Lady of Walsingham, is an adjunct organist at the Chapel of St. Basil, and is a chapel organist at St. Thomas’ Episcopal School. A life-long love and study of Gregorian chant has taken him to numerous chant seminars, including study with Fr. Columba Kelley at St. Meinrad’s Archabbey in Indiana. Mr. Osborn is a member of the American Guild of Organists, the American Musicological Society, the Anglican Use Society, the Plainsong and Mediaeval Music Society, the Royal School of Church Music, and the Church Music Association of America.

Lowell A. Davis

Lowell A. Davis has sung Gregorian Chant for over 30 years, and directed scholas for eight years at St. Cyril Catholic Church in Houston, Texas, as well as occasional ad hoc scholas at the University of St. Thomas. He participated for three years in the academic Gregorian Chant schola of the University of St. Thomas music department under the direction of Anne Fairbanks. He also took professional vocal lessons at the University. Mr. Davis received his most extensive Gregorian Chant training in graduate school at the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio,Texas, where he directed Gregorian chant singing as well. He will serve as understudy director to Mr. Osborn. Mr. Davis also serves as the executive director of the St. Basil's School. Mr. Davis is a member of the Chant Section of the National Association of Pastoral Musicians and the Church Music Association of America.