The Gilbertine Academy and Holy House hold as integral to their daily community life one of the oldest academic traditions in Catholicism: the singing school - schola cantorum. The venerable tradition of the schola cantorum attributes its origins and patronage to St. Gregory the Great. The Gilbertine Academy and Holy House will strive to cultivate this ancient tradition along with the patrimony of the celebrated Anglican choral tradition.
In order for any schola cantorum to sing the Lord’s praises capably, the choristers must learn vocal technique and sight singing as well as music theory and history.
The Schola Cantorum of The Gilbertine Academy and Holy House will consist of three choirs: the St. Nicholas Choir for pre-readers, the St. Cecilia Choir for treble voices, and the St. Gregory Choir for intermediate and high school students.
Each choir practices the skills mentioned above as appropriate to its level. Each choir also learns its own repertoire as well as repertoire for the combined choirs.
Generally, choristers will be assigned listening homework which consists of listening to YouTube links of the music they are studying. In addition, St. Cecilia and St. Gregory choristers will have music theory homework and regular theory exams at the end of each of the four terms.
“A beautiful breathing instrument of music the Lord made man, after His own image. And He Himself also, surely, who is the supramundane Wisdom, the celestial Word, is the all-harmonious, melodious, holy instrument of God. What, then, does this instrument—the Word of God, the Lord, the New Song—desire? To open the eyes of the blind, and unstop the ears of the deaf, and to lead the lame or the erring to righteousness, to exhibit God to the foolish, to put a stop to corruption, to conquer death, to reconcile disobedient children to their father. The instrument of God loves mankind.”