Free music workshops and lectures by Kevin Allen

Jun 05, 2014

KUALA LUMPUR (Herald Malaysia): Kevin Allen, a highly regarded composer of modern Catholic Church music will be providing free workshops and lectures at the Church of St Thomas More, Subang Jaya on July 5, 2014.

The first session Sacred Music - Beyond an Issue of Taste will be held at 9.30am - 12.30pm. It is catered towards youth and young adults who have questions about sacred music and the liturgy. Topics covered will include why our liturgical tradition is important, and why some of the music styles that we have been singing for the last few decades have been under a lot of criticism. There will also be learning how to sing some chant and choral music in a way that is not boring or ‘outdated’.

The second workshop, The Treasures of the Church - Can we really sing this? from 1.30pm - 4.30pm is an interactive workshop specifically catered for Music Directors. It will cover the basics on how to sing and sing chant and choral music and cover basic conducting skills. It will also involve discussions on how to ensure music of this genre is accessible to a congregation that has been listening and worshipping to very different music for the past 50 years, and how to work pastorally with fellow musicians and clergy.

This session will accept only 30 participants and priority will be given to Music Directors in Catholic Churches. However, you can also register as an observer. There will also be a dinner with Kevin Allen on Saturday night open to the 30 participants of the second session in a restaurant to be specified later.

All sessions are free, but participants for both sessions are required to register at [email protected] by June 29, 2014. Please state which session you wish to attend. For the second session, please specify if you are registering as a participant or observer, and if you will be attending the dinner (Open to participants only. Participants will be expected to pay for their own meals).

Bio: Kevin Allen has developed a unique reputation as a composer of church music for the Roman Rite. His sacred works have been performed in churches and concert halls throughout the United States and Europe. Based in Chicago, he is the founding director of the Collins Consort, American Composers Project, and Schola Immaculata.. Mr Allen is also the choir master of the Monastery of the Holy Cross in Chicago.

-- This event is privately organized, and made possible by generous benefactors and the Church of St Thomas More.