“He who sings, prays twice.” Christendom’s music program has taken these words of St. Augustine to heart with the launch of a new women’s schola, providing female singers with an opportunity to enrich the college’s liturgical musical life by singing polyphony and chant for several Masses each semester.
The college already offers a men’s schola that sings chant for occasional weekday Masses and a mixed choir that sings for Sunday Mass, but an all-female schola is a first for Christendom. Liturgical music professor Dr. Sara Pecknold, who leads this new initiative, emphasized the essential role of music in a liberal arts education.
“Music is one of the seven liberal arts — it belongs to the ‘Quadrivium,’ alongside arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy,” says Pecknold. “The ancients understood that there is a right order to the art of music which adheres to an objective reality that transcends mere sentiment or emotion. The ancient legacy was inherited by the Christian West, so that, through the centuries of Christendom, musical education came to be included in the studies of all our great Christian figures.”
Why the special emphasis on Gregorian chant and polyphony? “Church documents have repeatedly emphasized the primary role of Gregorian chant and the importance of polyphony in liturgical celebrations, especially for more solemn, holy days,” explains Pecknold. “The Second Vatican Council teaches us that ‘the musical tradition of the universal Church is a treasure of inestimable value, greater even than that of any other art.’ As a Catholic, a musician, and a scholar, I always want to share this treasure with others as much as possible.”
Members of the new schola are eager to share this musical gift as well. Senior Meaghan Pierce reflects, “One of the biggest things I learned at Christendom was that, since humans are a unity of body and soul, everything we do should involve our minds, emotions, and bodies all at once. Very often, as a student, the only person who sees your work is your professor, or at best, your classmates. Through the schola, I’ve been given a unique opportunity to share what I’ve learned with the whole Christendom community.”
This semester, the Schola has four performances in total, with the Solemnities of Saint Joseph and the Annunciation of Our Lord already under its belt, and upcoming performances planned for Easter Tuesday and Thursday as well.
Female students do not need to be pursuing a music degree to participate in the schola. Pecknold emphasizes that both singing and hearing sacred music are vital components of a well-rounded education.
“As Benedict XVI so eloquently writes, the ancients understood that music could elevate man or subject him to base, disordered passion,” says Pecknold. “It is to the former category — the elevating — that good liturgical music belongs, and by singing repertory from this category, students partake in a centuries-long tradition, helping to form, elevate, and edify their listeners, while also receiving these benefits themselves.”
Because of this, Christendom’s musical opportunities are open to all students, not just those pursuing a music degree. With a male schola, mixed choir, student-run folk group, and small orchestra already active on campus, the women’s schola adds yet another opportunity for students to use their musical talents to enrich the Christendom community.
Students interested in joining the women’s schola may schedule a brief audition with Pecknold by contacting her at sara.pecknold@christendom.edu.
Learn more about Christendom’s Liturgical Music Track in Theology here.
Contributed by Bridget Palm ’28.