September 10, 2024 at 3:39 p.m.
THERE WILL BE SINGING!
Calling all music directors, pianists, organists, choir members and anyone involved in the sung liturgy, a first-of-its kind music conference is coming to the Diocese of Albany.
“Singing the Liturgy, Renewing the Call” Music Conference, sponsored by the Albany Chapter of the National Association of Pastoral Musicians (NPM), will take place on Sept. 26-28 at St. Edward the Confessor Church in Clifton Park.
The conference, modeled after national music conferences, has been a long-held dream of Richard Putorti, co-chapter director for membership of the Albany Diocese’s NPM chapter, which is also celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.
“There has never been something to this degree focused only on music people with a national speaker coming in, and with multiple workshops focused on music ministry,” Putorti said. “I have done some things in the days of spring enrichments and we might have a little session on leading music, the psalms or something like that. You get a little snippet, but what we attempted to do with this conference is model it after a national convention.”
The national speaker, who will lead three keynote sessions, one each day, is Father Ricky Manalo, CSP, a Paulist priest, liturgical composer and author. Father Manalo was the recipient of the 2018 Pastoral Musician of the Year Award and some of his best known hymns include, “The Mass of Spirit and Grace,” “Many and Great” and “Worthy is the Lamb.”
“We were so happy to get Father Ricky Manalo,” Putorti added. “He is the keynote speaker every day and I also saw him do a session (“Toward a More Perfect Union: Catholic Faith in a Time of Polarization”) at a national conference and the moment I saw him, I said we have to get that in the Diocese.”
Along with Father Manalo, there will be daily Mass opportunities on Friday and Saturday, a 30th anniversary concert, Taize Prayer Service and an OCP Music Showcase, hosted by Oregon Catholic Press, on Sept. 27, and a GIA Music Showcase, hosted by the Gregorian Institute of America Publications, on Sept. 28. There will be numerous breakouts sessions each day as well led by diocesan talent such as Marie Bernadett, director of music at St. Vincent de Paul in Albany, Marie Woodward, principal cantor at Christ the King in Westmere, Justine Crevatas, director of music at St. Madeleine Sophie in Schenectady and NPM’s social media coordinator/webmaster, and Brian Glikes, organist at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Albany. Putorti, director of music at Siena College and at St. Mary’s Crescent, will also lead a break session and Father Joe Cebula, Father Matthew Duclos and Father David Mickiewicz will also lead or be part of sessions as well.
The conference will highlight the need for ongoing musical formation as well as NPM’s local chapter.
“We want to publicize this thing because it is for everyone in this Diocese; it is for all the musicians. I am a big proponent of ongoing formation and I have been screaming from the rooftops for years … but what do we have? What do we have for our people? Where can they go? Ask anybody, you want to be a liturgical musician in this Diocese, where do you start? Where do you go?” Putorti said.
“We have something and it is a big deal and I am like, I want to scream from the rooftops, ‘Hey folks, we have something for you and it is in your backyard.’ ”
Fellow NPM chapter members Anthony Koslowski, co-chapter director for programming, Melinda Cestaro, secretary and treasurer, along with Crevatas and Putorti have been working nonstop organizing the conference as well as promoting NPM, which is not as well known as one would think.
It was three decades ago that Putorti, LuAnn Cleary, Pat Rein and Mark Paige were driving home from a national convention and “we were so on fire and so excited that we said, ‘We have to start a chapter in Albany.’ That is where NPM began from the excitement that we experienced at a national convention.
“Everyone in a parish in the Diocese should know NPM and that we have had a chapter here in Albany for 30 years,” said Putorti, who has gone to vicariates around the Diocese promoting how NPM can help parishes from teaching your pianist to be an organist to how to be a better singer.
And singing is one thing participants can expect to do a lot of at this month’s conference.
“The most successful thing we have done as a chapter, in other words, what gets people to come out are musical events. Whenever we are singing, they will come,” Putorti said. “You are going to come to an opening event and we are going to sing. (Father Manalo) says anytime he does a presentation, he incorporates his music into that. There will be singing in all of his keynotes, there will be singing at the concert, there will be singing in Taize.
“There will be singing in the sessions that they go to. I am doing a session on connecting youth to music and we are going to be singing. It is not just come and sit and listen. There will be constant opportunities to sing.”
For more information and to register for the conference, head to albanynpm.com.
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