A Cappella recruits students for scholarships and turns them into ambassadors of beauty.
There was still more than a week before most students arrived on campus for the fall 2021 semester. New and existing members of Capella, the new choir at the University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota, gathered in Our Lady of the Annunciation Chapel in 2021. What was billed as a 10 day training camp/retreat.
After the first day, some of the 20 students from around the country described the "retreat" as more of a “boot camp,” the ultra-rigorous training that recruits go through to become soldiers. I started thinking that.
That’s not to say it was an unpleasant experience. Today, the members of A Cappella regard their first time together as the beginning of a special friendship, as something they quickly began to work on learning good habits for professionalism, and perhaps most importantly. is remembered as the formative beginning of A Cappella’s mission.
Before Marshall Mires, a communications major, arrived, he envisioned himself spending time in worship, sharing in small groups, and singing praise and worship music.
“I thought it would only bring the community closer together,” Mires told Aleteia.
In fact, there were also community-building exercises and spiritual activities that you would expect at a retreat. But there wasn't much time to rest.
“You pull out a folder and it’s like a whole piece of music. I was like, ‘Well, this is beautiful,'” Mires recalled of the first day. “And you get more music. More music. More music. More music. I don’t know how many. I don’t know, but I think we have a repertoire of maybe 20 or 30 songs. I think so.”
He estimates that the 20 singers spent six to eight hours a day in the choir, once occupied by the school’s founders, the Benedictine nuns.
Mires, who is singing tenor for the first time, likened the experience to preseason training for a college football player.
This is an apt comparison because, like many school athletic programs, Acapella members attend college on scholarships. And while college football has a quasi-religious tone for many fans, Capela’s raison d’être is to serve the mission of the Virgin Mary through campus ministry.
I came up with this idea during lockdown.
The 10 days of intensive training not only prepared the a cappella to sing at the first Mass of the school year, but also for various campus events and appearances, as noted by choir director Rebecca Lover. I laid the foundation for a year of music production. in the US and Europe.
Capella is the brainchild of university president Msgr. James P. Shea This idea came at a time when there were multiple restrictions on public worship, including a “ban” on singing in many churches, due to fears of the spread of airborne diseases. .
“I think the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic has been a time when all of us have come to know more deeply the true value of many things we take for granted in life,” Shea said. I told Aleteia. “On the campus of the University of Mary, we have always recognized the important role and beauty of sacred music in our Eucharistic adoration as Catholics. But those difficult months have given us the opportunity to say, “When this is over, It was a time to wonder, “How might vocal music in worship of God come back in ways we never imagined?” How can we get through this difficult time without making fundamental changes and allowing God to do something new and amazing in and through us? ”
“Simply put, that hope was the origin of a cappella,” she said. Shia said.
Mr Lover added in the interview: Shea came up with this idea by asking what she could do to not only get back to normal, but take it to the next level. Then he came up with the idea of creating a choir that would have students from all over the country come together to sing sacred music and also have scholarships like college athletes. ”
Ms. Shea and Lover, an assistant professor of music and fellow in Catholic studies at the College of Mary, have known each other since their undergraduate days. The university president asked Mr. Reiber, a veteran music educator, for his reaction.
“I thought what an amazing opportunity to use sacred music in such an important way,” she said. “In other words, the early Fathers of the Church knew that sacred music could convey a message.Music is a powerful way to keep the stories of the Old and New Testaments in mind, and to help worshipers spiritually form and worship God. We can help worship, therefore, dedicate more time and energy to the vision of sacred music, not only in our church at Mary College, but for the people we sing around the country and around the world. It’s very fitting to be able to do that.”
Rebecca Lover conducts a cappella at Luminosa at St. Paul’s Cathedral in St. Paul, Minnesota in 2022.
share beauty with the world
A cappella sings at two Sunday Masses on campus and at Solemn Vespers each afternoon. To increase congregation participation and “enhance worship,” as Lover puts it, Capella’s website features worship music, including simple recordings that allow those who don’t read music to learn the melodies. There is. Similarly, the choir leads occasional training sessions for the campus public.
In addition to singing on campus, A Cappella takes its music to places like Minnesota’s Twin Cities, where it performs at an Advent music festival called Luminosa.
The styles of music performed by A Cappella range from “the very earliest church chants to things composed this week,” Reiber said, noting that A Cappella commissions new music.
“As music ministers, I think it is important to recognize that the treasures of the church extend throughout every age because God’s gifts are limitless,” she said.
Many of those “treasures” focused on the Eucharist, and when the U.S. bishops announced plans for a Eucharistic Resurrection, Labor was inspired to contribute musically.
“So I started an initiative to commission two composers to write Eucharistic works so that they could be added to the treasures of the Church,” she said.
europe tour
In May 2023, Cappella will travel to Spain and France with its music department, concert band, and concert choir, performing songs such as Michael John Trotta’s “Ave Verum Corpus” and Philip Stopford’s “O Sacrum Convivium” did. This tour included performances in three of Spain’s Eucharistic Miracle locations: Montserrat, Zaragoza, and Ivora. They ended their tour by singing at the tomb of St. Thomas Aquinas in Toulouse, France. Aquinas, of course, wrote some of the most beautiful Eucharistic hymns that the Church still uses today, including “Pange Lingua” and “Adro Te Devote.”
“Once we finished the concert with the rest of the students, Acapella came in and recorded some of the Divine Liturgy songs so we could document those things,” Reiber said.
Recordings of these and other Eucharistic hymns will be released soon, likely this winter. This collection features the Eucharist Ferbolino by university chaplain Fr. Dominic Book and Msgr. Shea spoke at the 2024 National Eucharistic Conference in Indianapolis.
Father Book told Aleteia, “Hearing sacred music at Mass from young disciples who are guided by a great tradition for evangelization and the salvation of souls is a source of great gratitude to God for me. ” he said.
For Kendall Alexander, a business major who sings alto, being a member of an a cappella is a demanding job, but it’s also a very spiritual experience.
“I hear God’s voice every day, even during rehearsals,” she told Aleteia. “Maybe you’re singing a line from a song. Many of our songs are based on the Bible. Oftentimes it’s a Bible verse that has never touched your heart before. It hits you in a certain way. And maybe it’s the exact words you wanted to hear that day.”
sowing seeds
Although not all members of A Cappella go on to pursue music professionally, each year approximately 12 graduates go on to the world with a solid foundation in their understanding of the sacred music of the church. Some a cappella graduates sing in church choirs or serve as cantors while working. Some, like Mary Sharber, will have the opportunity to directly influence the kind of music that parishioners hear, sing, and pray. Sharver, who graduated with a degree in music in April 2024, is the director of music ministry at St. Jude of the Lake Parish in Mahtomedi, Minnesota.
“The pastor who first hired me had a vision to bring music back to what the church wanted, in line with the Holy Eucharistic Council (Vatican II’s Constitution on Sacred Liturgy) and the various documents of Vatican II. ,” Schaber told Aleteia. . She was already familiar with the vision from her four years in a cappella.
“Being able to sing so many choral pieces, I probably sang 300 songs during my time at Mary College, is such a rich musical treasure,” said Sharber. From African American spirituals to works being composed today. I was able to experience what choral repertoire is like. And now, as a choir director, I have a lot of knowledge about the pieces that are out there that would be perfect for a sacred music choir like the one we have in this parish. And two, it makes my job as a director so much easier because I get an inside look at what it’s like to sing this song. ”
Whether or not they become professional musicians, the rigorous training from the beginning of “Boot Camp” has paid off for members and graduates. For students like Marshall Mires, who will graduate in May 2025, it is well worth the resources and time to bring beauty to the church.
“I just continue to be amazed at how influential music is in our faith and how important it is to have good sacred music,” he said. “If we believe that the Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith, we should put our money where our mouth is and allow external elements to reflect that through music and help win the hearts of our congregations.” That really touched my heart.”
