An Irish Christmas at Kylemore, Part 3: Sacred Music for Advent and Christmas: From Gregorian Chant to Jazz Improvisation

Episode Topic: Week 3: Sacred Music for Advent and Christmas: From Gregorian Chant to Jazz Improvisation

Join Professor Mark Doerries, Director of the Notre Dame Children's Choir and Director of Graduate Studies for Sacred Music at Notre Dame, a graduate degree program that trains tomorrow's vocalists, organists, and conductors to reinvigorate music in the church, concert hall, and stage. In 2015, Doerries commissioned Grammy award-winning jazz pianist J.J. Wright ’14 M.S.M., ’17 D.M.A. to compose a work for Advent for children's voices, graduate vocal soloists, orchestra, and jazz trio. The resulting work, "O Emmanuel," fuses historic genres of Catholic sacred music, chant, carols, and classical music with jazz improvisation. Ten-time Grammy winner and jazz trumpeter Arturo Sandoval joined the choirs and vocalists of Sacred Music at Notre Dame in 2018 for a new album of classic Christmas carols with a jazz twist.

Featured Speakers: 

• Mark Doerries, Director of the Notre Dame Children's Choir and Director of Graduate Studies for Sacred Music, University of Notre Dame
• J.J. Wright, Jazz Pianist and the Director of the Notre Dame Folk Choir, University of Notre Dame
• Lisa Caulfield, Director of the Notre Dame Global Center at Kylemore Abbey, University of Notre Dame

Read this episode's recap over on the University of Notre Dame's open online learning community platform, ThinkND: go.nd.edu/45c13c.

This podcast is a part of the Kylemore Book Club ThinkND Series titled “An Irish Christmas at Kylemore”.

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