Chorale beginning second decade of liturgical music

With the retirement of its founder and original artistic director, Tom Savoy, the New York Catholic Chorale is embarking on a new year of performance and education surrounding the Catholic musical tradition.

"We're busy, we're versatile, and we need singers," said Bill Helmer, a tenor and board member.

The Chorale, which performs traditional Catholic sacred music in both concert and in liturgical settings, was founded in 1997 to introduce singers and musicians to a long tradition of sacred music and to perform such music as close to its original context as possible.

Main theme

In the intervening years, they were named artists-in-residence at Siena College in Loudonville and even began their own radio show.

Currently, the Chorale's 20-plus auditioned members take on what Mr. Helmer calls an "aggressive" performance schedule.

As artists-in-residence at Siena, the Chorale is involved with a full slate of activities, including singing for school Masses and hosting a radio program on Siena's radio station, 88.3 FM.

The Catholic Chorale is also well-known to members of St. Mary's Church in downtown Albany, where, a number of times every year, the choir, accompanied by an orchestra, sings a Vatican II-rite Latin Mass.

Recapitulation

Until recently, the group also sang Gregorian chant as a schola -- church choir -- for the Tridentine-rite Mass at St. Peter's Church in Troy once a month.

A member of the Catholic Chorale is now forming an in-house schola to assume that duty.

Other planned events include a restoration concert for the Shrine of the North American Martyrs at Auriesville, an Advent/Christmas lessons-and-carols concert, a Lenten concert focusing on polyphony, and Siena alumni and baccalaureate Masses.

The Chorale also intends on forming a Siena student booster club to help expand awareness of Catholic sacred music. Students will sing with the Chorale, help with the radio show and do other tasks to support the musicians.

Variations

Mr. Helmer, an attorney, was introduced to the Catholic tradition as a tenor in the Hamilton College choir and a graduate student in Renaissance literature

He said that he "loves" the music the Chorale sings, especially music by English polyphonists, such as Thomas Tallis and William Byrd.

"I love the tradition of beautiful liturgical music," he said. "I felt that an extra effort needed to be made to reconnect to the great tradition that is our heritage, to use our trained musical skills to grow in our own faith and act as ministers -- doing something beautiful for God."

Finale

This year, the Chorale is welcoming a new director, Muriel Maharidge, who has directed Chorale concerts and events in the past.

Dr. Maharidge, who earned a doctoral degree in music from the University of Santa Barbara, also studied musicology, oboe and choral conducting at national conservatories in her native country, France.

This year, Mr. Helmer said, will be "a lot of fun. The joy of what we do is what keeps us coming back. We're headed for bigger and better things."

(Contact Tom Herrmann, 399-8904, to audition, or visit www.nycchorale.org.)

(9/20/07)