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This version of NSU News has been archived as of February 28, 2019. To search through archived articles, visit nova.edu/search. To access the new version of NSU News, visit news.nova.edu.
This version of SharkBytes has been archived as of February 28, 2019. To search through archived articles, visit nova.edu/search. To access the new version of SharkBytes, visit sharkbytes.nova.edu.
Renaissance Woman: Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences Professor Co-Hosts Conference on Gregorian Chant
Jennifer Donelson, D.M.A., assistant professor in the Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences Division of Performing and Visual Arts.
Jennifer Donelson, D.M.A., assistant professor in the Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences Division of Performing and Visual Arts, co-hosted a two-day conference on Gregorian chant, featuring vocalists from five states.
Musica Sacra Florida’s second annual Gregorian Chant Conference was held Mar. 19 and 20, at Ave Maria University in Ave Maria, Florida.
Donelson directed the advanced choir, which performed three chants from the Mass proper at the conclusion of the conference. She also presented an introduction to neumatic notation for participants who were new to singing from the chant books.
The conference focused on the use of this ancient music in the Roman Catholic Mass. It included lectures and discussions about the current status of Gregorian chant in the Catholic Church, the spiritual nature of chant, and Floridian connections to the Gregorian chant through Florida’s Hispanic heritage.
According to Donelson, the chant is important today because people are searching for cultural and historical roots. “It is enjoying a renaissance of sorts,” she explained. “I love the music itself. In a time when there is so little silence and so little calmness, the music itself leads you into silence. The composers who created the music lived monastic lives in a culture that valued silence and liturgical prayer.”
Conference participants included experienced and new chanters, high-school and college students, seminarians, college professors, parish music directors, retirees, priests, and religious workers.
Donelson led the conference last year, which was held on NSU’s main campus. In addition, she recently directed a chamber group of the Bossa Nova Chorale when it performed a Gregorian chant dating back to approximately the 8th Century. The performance was part of a ceremony welcoming the 14th Dalai Lama to NSU.