Gregorian Chant Network launched
A new organisation - The Gregorian Chant Network - has been launched to organise training in Gregorian Chant and to link singers and choirs singing Gregorian Chant for the Catholic liturgy, with the support of the Latin Mass Society, Una Voce Scotland, the Association for Latin Liturgy, and the Schola Gregoriana of Cambridge.
At a meeting at the London Oratory, on 30 January, 35 Chant directors, Gregorian Chant experts, and interested parties, including representatives from more than twenty Gregorian Chant scholas from all parts of England, Wales, and Scotland, and the Schola Gregoriana of Cambridge, met to launch a new association to coordinate and promote Gregorian Chant training initiatives, and to facilitate mutual support, both moral and practical, among chant scholas. They were addressed by Dr Joseph Shaw, Chairman of the Latin Mass Society, which sponsored the meeting, and Colin Mawby, the composer and former Director of Music at Westminster Cathedral. The meeting ended with Vespers in the Little Oratory, led by Fr Anthony Alexander.
Dr Shaw introduced the Gregorian Chant Network and outlined its practical work, which was further discussed in an open forum. Mr Mawby gave a paper on the importance of Chant, and led a practical session on conducting a chant schola.
The GCN's first training event will be a three-day course at the Oratory School, Reading, 9-11th April, directed by Nick Gale, the Director of Music at Southwark Cathedral. The course will cater for beginners and more advanced singers alike.
More details can be found on the GCN website: www.gregorianchantnetwork.org