Program Goals
- Demonstrate the capacity to foster the Church’s treasury of sacred music in a Catholic parish or school with pastoral care, prudently applying the Church’s principles through servant leadership.
- Perform, rehearse, and conduct the Church’s treasury of sacred music with musical excellence.
- Teach the Church’s principles of sacred music as contained in the treasury of sacred music and the Magisterium’s guidance thereof with theological and philosophical integrity, faithful to the mind of the Church.
Admission Requirements
Students wishing to apply to the MSM program must submit the following to the Registrar before the mid-January deadline.
- Electronic application
- 2 letters of recommendation, including one from a current priest with whom the applicant works, preferably as a supervisor/superior
- Personal statement explaining desire and reasons for entering into this plan of study, including the desire to serve in a Catholic parish or school
- Acknowledgement of receipt of sample curriculum completion plans and statement of intention to complete the degree program in 3–5 summers once admitted
- Acknowledgement of having read course rotation schedules and brochure outlining tuition, room, and board costs
- Statement of financial capability to fund the course of study
- Interview
- Live remote audition
◦ Preparation of 3 pieces in contrasting styles; can include the student’s line in a motet or a solo chant
◦ Sight-reading
- International students must take the TOEFL: minimum score of 550, paper-based exam; 215, computer-based exam; 80, internet-based.
Students are also expected to demonstrate initial competence in sight-reading, music theory, and Latin, and to continue their growth in these topics by independent learning throughout their course of study so that they can complete an exit exam. Entrance exams are administered in-person on the Saturday before the student’s first class, and exit exams are administered in-person on the Saturday after a student’s final class. If students fail the music theory portion of the entrance exam, they will need to study for it on their own and retake it again before the next summer’s classes begin. Students must pass the music theory portion of the exam before their last summer of study.
Entrance Exams
Solfège
- Modal: sight singing several chants in different modes
- Tonal: sight singing several hymns and motets
Music Theory
- Roman numeral analysis of a Bach chorale
- Completion of a 1st- and 2nd-species counterpoint example with a given cantus firmus
Latin
- Translation of texts of the Ordinary of the Mass
Program Requirements
The 36-credit curriculum has an academic, lecture-based core. A second group of courses provides indepth study of Gregorian chant, the music “specially suited to the Roman liturgy” (Sacrosanctum Concilium, par. 116). A third group of courses grounds students in the conducting, rehearsing, and singing of sacred choral music (cf. Sacrosanctum Concilium, par. 116). Students hone their skills in an individualized way in applied voice lessons. A weekly uncredited colloquium draws students together online to discuss various topics while they are not in the midst of intensive study. Electives in the pipe organ ensure that all students can utilize the instrument “held in high esteem” by the Church (Sacrosanctum Concilium, par. 120). Finally, a capstone project ensures that a student can integrate all he or she has learned in a real, pastoral context.
Academic
- History of Sacred Music (2 credits)
- Liturgical Theology (2 credits)
- History of the Roman Rite (2 credits)
- Sacred Music and Canon Law (1 credit)
- Vocal Pedagogy (2 credits)
- Parish Sacred Music Program Management (1 credit)
- The Psalms (2 credits)
- Fundamental Philosophical Questions about Beauty (1 credit)
Chant Praxis
- Introduction to Gregorian Chant (2 credits)
- Teaching Gregorian Chant to Children (2 credits)
- Advanced Chant Seminars x 4 (1 credit each)
Choral Praxis
- Choral Institute x 2 (1 credit each)
- Choral Literature Survey I and II (2 credits each)
- Choral Repertoire Conducting Practicum (co-requisite with Choral Literature Survey I and II)
- Choral Preparation: Choral Conducting, Rehearsal Techniques, and Group Vocal Pedagogy (2 credits)
Miscellaneous
- Applied Voice Lessons x 4 (1 credit each)
- Capstone Project (1 credit)
- Organ Electives x 2 (1 credit each)
- MSM Colloquium x 4
Total 36 Credits
Organ Electives (1 credit each)
- Organ Improvisation
- Organ Literature
- Introduction to the Organ for Pianists
- Organ Accompaniment of Chant
Electives not counting towards degree or certificate
- Composition Seminar
Additional Requirements
Students must pass an exit exam with musical and language elements at the level of 80% or higher
Sight Reading
- One’s own voice part’s line from 4 Renaissance motets while playing another line at the keyboard
- 4 Gregorian chants: an Introit, a Gradual, an Offertory, and a Hymn
- A piece of service playing at the organ (hymn or Mass ordinary accompaniment)
- Count sing and conduct at sight 2 Gregorian chants: an Introit and a Kyrie
Latin
Translation of several texts from the Proper of the Mass (from the Book of Psalms), at sight
The exit exam will be administered in-person on the Saturday following the last day of study in a student’s last summer.
