[via Catholic.net]
LORENZAGO DI CADORE, Italy, JULY 22, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI says that choral singing is an authentic education in life and peace, and an exercise in the "hearing of the heart."
The Pope said this Friday following a concert in his honor performed by Alpine choirs at the Castle of Mirabello, near where he is vacationing until July 27.
"Training in singing, in singing in choir, is not only an exercise of the external hearing and voice; it is also an education of interior hearing, the hearing of the heart, an exercise and an education in life and peace," the Holy Father said in his improvised remarks.
"Singing together in choir and with other choirs together, demands attention to the other, attention to the composer, attention to the conductor, attention to this totality that we call music and culture. And," he added, "in this way singing in choir is a training in life, a training in peace, a walking together."
Seven different choirs from Cadore participated in the concert, offered by Bishop Giuseppe Andrich of Belluno-Feltre.
Before the beginning of the concert, Bishop Andrich spoke of the dramatic stage of the First World War in which the Dolomites were also a theatre.
The Pope too spoke of those dramatic moments "when this mountain was a barrier, a terrible and bloody theatre of war."
"Let us thank the Lord because there is peace now in our Europe and let us do everything to make peace grow in us and in the world," he urged. "I am certain that precisely this beautiful music is a commitment to peace and a help to live in peace."
Applications for the 2007 Hands-on Choral Worshop of the CCP are ongoing. This will be held in the various venues of the CCP on 23rd of October until the 27th (from Tuesday to Saturday) from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.
The said workshop is an intensive choral clinic that is open to all amateur choirs and conductors who wish to develop their skills in choral singing, conducting, and performance. Trainers are members and alumni of the world-renowned Philippine Madrigal Singers. Moreover, workshop sessions include vocalization techniques, sectional rehearsals, conducting techniques for conductors, individual choir sessions, note reading sessions and plenary sessions.
This year's workshop shall include, for the very first time, a festival component. Registered choir participants and possibly other invited choirs shall render performances in different CCP venues in the afternoon and evening, within the 5-day period. The culminating concert will be held at the Main Theater on the afternoon of the last day of the workshop.
Registration will be on a first-come-first-served basis and limited slots are available. Please contact the CCP Music Division at 832-2314 (direct line) or 8321125 loc. 1604/1605 for more information.
Watch the homecoming concert of the UP Manila Chorale after their successful European tour last summer this Friday, 20th of July, 2007 at the UCCP Cosmopolitan Church along Taft Avenue.
The show starts at 7:00 pm. Their repertoire ranges from European-based works and OPM songs.
This is our schedule of mass services for the month of July. Please save these dates on your calendars.
Thanks, guys! See you then!
15, Sunday - 5:00 pm
15, Sunday - 6:00 pm
22, Sunday - 5:00 pm
29, Sunday - 5:00 pm
