Music Ministry at St. Bartholomew
Each person in our congregation is a part of the music ministry at St. Bartholomew. Their participation is vital to good celebrations. We encourage singing in our parish school, in religious education classes, as well as at weekend liturgies. We have to model good singing and participation for our younger Catholics and they also model it for us.
In order to foster full, conscious and active participation, as foreseen by the Bishops at the Second Vatican Council, our parish has several choirs, cantors and instrumentalists to support the singing of our assembly.
“The people are encouraged to take part ‘by means of acclamations, responses, Psalms, antiphons, (and) hymns.’” (Sacrosanctum Concilium/Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, 2nd Vatican Council.)
The Second Vatican Council stated that choirs must be fostered and promoted to ensure this participation of the faithful. “The Congregation usually sings unison melodies, which are more suitable for generally unrehearsed community singing. This is the primary song of the Liturgy. Choirs and Ensembles, on the other hand, comprise persons drawn from the community who possess the requisite musical skills and a commitment to the established schedule of rehearsals and Liturgies. Thus they are able to enrich the celebration by adding musical elements beyond the capabilities of the congregation alone.” (Sing to the Lord, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.)
The members of our choirs dedicate a great deal of time and effort to the service of our parish so that our liturgies can be the best possible prayer to God.
The Children’s Choir sings twice monthly at the 11:30 AM Sunday mass and for special feasts and events.
We also have an English Adult Choir which sings at the 9:30 AM Sunday mass and for special feasts and celebrations. Within this choir is an invitational group of Chamber Singers which performs music that is more difficult and often sung without accompaniment.
We have a large number of Cantors who serve as Psalmists and help to lead the congregation when no choir is present.
Our Spanish Choir sings at the 1:00 PM Mass on Sundays and for special feasts and celebrations. Several times a year the Spanish and English choirs join to celebrate bilingual liturgies.
We also have an ensemble of cantors, the Schola Cantorum, which leads the music at the 7:30 AM and 11:30 AM Sunday Masses.
If you are interested in learning more about our music ministry, please contact Chuck Kessell, Director of Music, at St. Bartholomew. You may also call the parish office and dial extension 119
Email: perc55@juno.com
