Square Notes: The Sacred Music Podcast

Channel

About

You've got questions about sacred music? Here's your chance to learn what the Church teaches and envisions for music in the sacred liturgy. Welcome to Square Notes: The Sacred Music Podcast with your host Dr. Jennifer Donelson-Nowicka. We address topics of interest both to priests and liturgical musicians, as well as a general audience of Catholics interested in learning more about the Catholic Church's teachings and treasury of sacred music. Our topics range from discussion of Church documents on sacred music, to the music of certain composers or eras, Gregorian chant, the role of music in Catholic education, and techniques for directing a better choir rehearsal. We'll interview bishops, priests, music directors, composers, teachers, philosophers, and theologians. We'll talk to people who found a home in the Catholic Church because they heard the call of Christ in the Church's sacred music. We'll ask questions about how really great music programs are doing their work. We'll introduce you to Catholics who love their faith and, through sacred music, offer all their efforts for his glory and the sanctification of all who hear them. We aim for our podcast to be thoughtful, encouraging, and informative. We hope, too, that it will inspire and motivate you to work for the renewal of authentic beauty in sacred music—whether you're a working church musician or an average Catholic in the pews wondering what's going on. With the prayers of our patronesses, Our Lady, Seat of Wisdom and Saint Elisabeth of the Trinity, we hope to help draw souls to Christ through the beauty of the Church's sacred music. Square Notes is the official podcast of the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music. http://catholicinstituteofsacredmusic.org/

117 Episodes

SE08 EP10 - All About Sarum: Ceremonial, Chant, Sources, and Processions from Medieval England - with Dr. Christopher Hodkinson

52 min • 16 Apr 2026

SE08 EP09 – Is Beauty a Transcendental, Why Beauty Matters, and Can We Be Wrong About Beauty? Philosophical Questions Every Church Musician Should Consider with Dr. Margaret Hughes

41 min • 08 Apr 2026

SE08 EP08 - Chant Accompaniment, Organ Building, and Fundraising for Organ Projects - with Dr. Christopher Berry

40 min • 26 Mar 2026

SE08 EP07 - Developing Great Vocal Technique for Singing Chant - with Dr. Rosemary Heredos

43 min • 24 Mar 2026

SE08 EP06 - What Did American Sacred Music Sound Like in the 19th & Early 20th Centuries? A Snapshot from St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York - with Salvatore Basile

37 min • 20 Mar 2026

SE08 EP05 - Lenten Reflection for Church Musicians - with Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone

56 min • 18 Mar 2026

SE08 EP04 - From Chant to Counterpoint: How to Improvise Polyphony - with Dr. Charles Weaver

38 min • 25 Feb 2026

SE08 EP03 - The Art of Organ Improvisation: Insights from Martin Baker

38 min • 21 Feb 2026

SE08 EP02 - From Puebla Cathedral to Today's Spanish-Speaking Pews: The Legacy of Juan Gutiérrez de Padilla - with Fernando Gil

44 min • 16 Feb 2026

SE08 EP01 - Building a Beautiful Homeschool Curriculum for Art and Music - with Elizabeth Lemme

55 min • 11 Feb 2026

SE07 EP12 - A Feast for Ear and Eye: The Alamire Manuscripts - with Dr. Emily Thelen

33 min • 30 May 2025

SE07 EP11 - A Church Musician's Guide to the History of the Pronunciation of Latin - with Dr. John Pepino

57 min • 25 Apr 2025

SE07 EP10 - Should Postludes Be Loud? And Other Organ Repertoire Questions for the Catholic Parish Organist - with Prof. Christopher Berry

40 min • 23 Apr 2025

SE07 EP09 - Meditating on the Mysteries of the Lives of Mary and Jesus: Music of Heinrich Bieber and Franz Joseph Haydn - with Fiona Hughes

42 min • 14 Apr 2025

SE07 EP08 - A Catholic Curriculum: A Model Music Program in a Classical High School - with Dr. Alexis Kutarna

39 min • 09 Apr 2025

SE07 EP07 - Is Formality Inauthentic or Insincere? Understanding Excellence in Ars Celebrandi in American Catholic Parishes - with Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone

42 min • 29 Mar 2025

Episode 1 - An Archbishop's Reflections on Sacred Music - with Archbishop Alexander K. Sample

32 min • 24 Feb 2019

SE07 EP06 - The Liturgical Compositions and Eucharistic Poetry of St. Thomas Aquinas - with Fr. Innocent Smith, OP

47 min • 25 Mar 2025

SE07 EP05 - Short on Singers or Dough? Enter Concertato Motets. - with Dr. Janet Hunt

33 min • 10 Mar 2025

SE07 EP04 - When and Why Did Ut Change to Do? And Other Historical Questions about Solfège - with Dr. Charles Weaver

41 min • 03 Mar 2025

SE07 EP03 - Singing the Credo: Historical Origins and Development - with Dr. Harrison Russin

43 min • 24 Feb 2025

SE07 EP02 - How Did the Parts of the Mass Ordinary Get Arranged into Groups in the Kyriale? with Dr. Andrew Kirkman

36 min • 18 Feb 2025

SE07 EP01 - Building a Great School & Parish Sacred Music Program in a Rural Community - with Kelsey LaCour

52 min • 12 Feb 2025

SE06 EP17 - The "Viennese" Orchestral Mass and the Work of Johann Michael Haydn - with Dr. Erick Arenas

37 min • 19 Jun 2024

SE06 EP16 - Music and the Eucharistic Revival - with Bishop Earl Fernandes

49 min • 19 Jun 2024

SE06 EP15 - Medieval Irish Chant: Sources and Liturgical Practice - with Dr. Ann Buckley

44 min • 06 Jun 2024

SE06 EP14 - Liberal Arts and Fine Arts: Understanding the Trivium, Quadrivium, and the Place of Music in Catholic Education - with Mark Langley

43 min • 28 May 2024

SE06 EP13 - What is Sacred Music, & Why Does It Matter? with Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone

34 min • 21 May 2024

SE06 EP12 - The Final Flowering of Late Renaissance Venetian Choral Music - with Charles Cole and the London Oratory Schola

41 min • 14 May 2024

SE06 EP11 - Sacred Music and the "Sunday Experience" - with Bishop Michael Barber, SJ

34 min • 06 May 2024

SE06 EP10 - Integrating Scholarship and Praxis in the Life of the Catholic Singer - with Dr Charles Weaver

37 min • 30 Apr 2024

SE06 EP09 - Gregorian Chant and the Art of Memory: Chant Books (Tonaries) and Florilegia - with Dr. Anna Maria Busse Berger

30 min • 22 Apr 2024

SE06 EP08 - The Sacramentality of Sound: Bells and Their Place in Catholic Life - with Fr. Christopher Gray and Carl Zimmerman

43 min • 15 Apr 2024

SE06 EP07 - Your Questions, Answered: Liturgical Q&A about Sacred Music - with Christopher Carstens

44 min • 12 Apr 2024

SE06 EP06 - 3 Warmups, 3 Motets, and 3 Polyphonic Masses Every Choir Should Learn - Choral Institute Preview - with Prof. Christopher Berry

36 min • 11 Apr 2024

SE06 EP05 - Tenebrae and the Lamentations of Jeremiah - with James Monti

33 min • 13 Mar 2024

SE06 EP04 - Fundraising for an Amazing Sacred Music Program - with Dr. Lucas Tappan

47 min • 03 Mar 2024

SE06 EP03 - Marian Chant: The Music of Lady Masses - with Dr. William Mahrt

38 min • 27 Feb 2024

SE06 EP02 - It's All Greek to Me (Until It's Latin): The Evolution of Language in the Roman Rite - with Fr. Nicholas Schneider

38 min • 25 Feb 2024

SE06 EP01 - Priests and Musicians Working Together: Salaries, Contracts, and All the Practical Stuff - with Michael Olbash

43 min • 24 Feb 2024

Episode 2 - Beauty and Catholic Culture: a Story of Conversion – with Vida and Josh Hernandez

34 min • 11 Mar 2019

Episode 3 – The Role of Sacred Music in Catholic Education – with Charles Cole

37 min • 17 Mar 2019

Episode 4 – Introduction to Gregorian Chant – with Dr William Mahrt

46 min • 24 Mar 2019

Episode 5 – The Spirituality of Gregorian Chant – with Fr. Cassian Folsom, OSB

29 min • 31 Mar 2019

Episode 6 – Historical Techniques for Teaching Music to Children – with Charlie Weaver

31 min • 08 Apr 2019

Episode 7 – The Role of Sacred Art in Evangelization and Church Patronage of Art – with Dr. Elizabeth Lev

31 min • 18 Apr 2019

Episode 8 – Evangelization and Catechesis through Music: South American Jesuit Missions and Working with Underserved Populations – with Lisa Knutson

34 min • 30 Apr 2019

Episode 9 - Modern Sacred Music - with Kevin Allen

32 min • 06 May 2019

Episode 10 – Teaching Sacred Music in Nigeria - with Fr. Jude Orakwe

21 min • 14 May 2019

Episode 11 – Developing a Sacred Music Program, St Vincent Ferrer, NYC - with James Wetzel

30 min • 22 May 2019

Are you a Catholic creator?Share your content with the Tabella community.

Submit your podcast