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with Practitioner's Tracks

Augment your proficiency and value as a musician with knowledge shared by recognized experts. Register for one, or a whole series.

Introducing Practitioner's Tracks!

These optional tracks include live, unrecorded Zoom sessions in small groups, designed for clinicians to support musicians in the field as they develop new musical skills. Content will include special conducting considerations, methods for teaching free rhythm to a choir, tuning techniques, psalm pointing, and much more.​.

  • Chant AND Polyphony with Dr. Horst Buchholz - January 11 at 10 am CST*

  • Fauxbourdon February with guests Tim Braithwaite and Nicholas Lemme - February 15 at 10 am + 12 noon CST*

  • Anglican Chant with Dr. Horst Buchholz - March 15 at 10 am CDT*

  • Music of Hildegard von Bingen - coming May or June

 

* use the Time Zone Tool (bottom of page) to determine time in your own time zone

Subscribe and check "upcoming courses and lectures" to be the first to know when more lectures and experts are introduced.​ For past lecture subjects and descriptions, click here.

"It was absolutely everything I could’ve asked for, and a lot of the concepts we discussed I have implemented into my accompaniments. It was helpful for me as I continue to learn more about chant and its musical nature, as well as the role I have in laying a harmonic foundation from the organ. I really liked the examples you used (Salve Regina, Stabat Mater) to compare the different accompaniment structures."

- Charlie M., organ scholar at the Cathedral of Saint Paul in Birmingham, Alabama

after attending Organ Accompaniment of Gregorian Chant [Part I]

Chant AND Polyphony

with Dr. Horst Buchholz

Lecture: Saturday, January 11, 2025 at 10 am CST* (90 minutes, includes Q & A)

In the context of musical performance, we frequently face decisions regarding the choice between singing a mass ordinary in chant or polyphony. This lecture will explore the possibilities of integrating both genres. Numerous historical precedents exist, along with a multitude of options that can be formulated for practical applications. This includes but is not limited to Requiem settings, Credo inserts, expanded chant Kyries, and alternating Glorias.

 

​USA: 11a EST | 10a CST (UTC - 6) | 9a MST | 8a PST

Europe: 4p CET (UTC + 0)

*For instructions to determine lecture time in your own time zone, click here.

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Click here for tuition and requirements.

Chant AND Polyphony

Fauxbourdon February
with Tim Braithwaite and Nicholas Lemme

Fauxbourdon (ˈfōbə(r)ˌdän), falsobordone, falsi-bordoni, faburden, and other related musical “F” words refer to particular forms of harmonized chant. Miserere by Allegri (listen) is perhaps the most well known example of this genre. These choral techniques, which work best with Latin texts, were popular especially in the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance. When paired with plainchant tones, fauxbourdon tones bestow an invigorating air of solemnity upon the Liturgy.​

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Benefits of learning fauxbourdon psalm tones include: 

  • More mileage out of rehearsal time, as the tones can be re-used throughout the liturgical year, in multiple parts of the liturgy

  • Cadences provide opportunity to the build skill sets necessary to sing full polyphony

  • May be used at Mass and at choral Vespers

  • Builds interest for choirs and congregations who are less enthusiastic about plainchant, and frequently paired alternatim with plainchant psalm tones

  • Can be sung with 3-4 voices or 60 voices

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Composers: Check out the Practitioner’s Session with Nicholas Lemme, designed for composers.

Saturday, February 15

1) Main Lecture by Tim Braithwaite at 10 am CST*( 90 minutes, includes Q & A)

History and terminology, basic technique (“sighting”), simple parallel models, examples from the period, practical examples and practice!

​USA: 11a EST | 10a CST (UTC - 6) | 9a MST | 8a PST

Europe*: 4p CET (UTC + 0)​ 

2) Supplemental Lecture by Nicholas Lemme at 12 noon CST* (one hour)

Introduction to the modes, antiphons, anatomy of a psalm tone, and free rhythm.

​USA: 1 pm EST | 12 noon CST (UTC - 6) | 11 am MST | 10 am PST

Europe*: 6 pm CET (UTC + 0)

 

*For instructions to determine lecture times in your own time zone, click here.

Practitioner’s Session

with Nicholas Lemme

Tuning, phrasing and timing, keeping singers together, programming, and an overview of Nick's own fauxbourdon compositions. Familiarity with chant notation recommended, but not required.

Choose one:

  • Tuesday, February 18* (90 minutes; ends with additional 30 minute composer’s session) USA: 8p EST | 7p CST (UTC - 6) | 6p MST | 5p PST

  • Wednesday, February 26* (90 minutes): USA: 1p EST | 12 noon CST (UTC - 6) | 11a MST | 10a PST | Europe: 6p CET (UTC + 0)

*For instructions to determine meeting times in your own time zone, click here.

 

Click here for tuition and requirements.

Limited seating for Practitioner's Sessions. Register early.

video: members of Cappella Pratensis improvising fauxbourdon

Fauxbourdon
Tim Braithwaite
Tim Baithwaite - photo by Sander Heezen.png

Tim Braithwaite ~ guest lecturer

is an English singer, conductor, and music theorist based in the Netherlands. In 2025, Tim will be appointed artistic director of the Gramophone Award-winning ensemble Cappella Pratensis, a Dutch vocal ensemble specialising in the performance of Renaissance polyphony from historical notation. The ensemble has been praised for its practical explorations of historical performance practices, particularly its engagement with historical notation and traditions of improvised counterpoint.​​

 

As a singer, Tim maintains an international concert schedule, appearing both as a soloist and with leading ensembles in the field of Early Music, including Amsterdam Baroque, Vox Luminis, and the Nederlandse Bachvereniging. Alongside his work as a performer, Tim teaches Renaissance counterpoint and analysis

Photo by Sander Heezen

at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, as well as classes on historical solmisation and singing from historical notation. He is widely sought after as a visiting teacher, having delivered workshops and lectures at universities and conservatoires throughout the UK, USA, and Europe.

 

Fauxbourdon
Tim's expertise lies at the intersection of practical and theoretical aspects of Renaissance and Medieval performance practice, with a particular focus on improvised traditions of counterpoint. Complementing his extensive practical experience, his scholarly contribution includes the publication of his article “Quhat is Faburdoun” in the Journal of the Alamire Foundation (2022). For more info, visit www.cacophonyhistoricalsinging.com.

 

back to Fauxbourdon February

Nicholas Lemme ~ guest lecturer

is a composer, singer, and professor of music based in the shire of Lincoln, NE.  His works range from sacred choral music to cafe Americana.  Nicholas has written for, and collaborated with, a number of choirs, most notably The Singers—Minnesota Choral Artists; Schola Cantorum of St. Joseph’s Seminary, Archdiocese of NYC; the Church Music Association of America; the Polyphonic Choir of Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary; and The Choir of St Charles Borromeo Seminary, Philadelphia.

He has also been privileged to write for church and high school choirs around the country.

 

Nicholas was composer, mandolinist and a founding member of the Minneapolis-based genre-bending quartet Spaghetti Western String Co.  His compositional pen can be heard on their three critically acclaimed albums.  Nicholas has written music for stage and theater companies such as Epiphany Studio Productions (Scrutiny Passions), Open Window Theater (Allesandro, Vitae Monologues), Live Action Set (The Percussionist), and choreographer Vanessa Voskuil (The Silents). 

 

Aside from his formative years as a musician, Nicholas has sung, played, and recorded music with Spaghetti Western String Co. The Dale Warland Singers, The Singers—MN Choral Artists, Jordan Sramek (Rose Ensemble), Abbie Betinis, Haley Bonar, The Pines, Peter Wolf Crier, Fat Kid Wednesdays, and Paul Fonfara (Painted Saints). 

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Fauxbourdon

Nicholas was first introduced to the technique of the fauxbourdon (harmonized psalmody) as a section leader in an Anglican (Episcopalian) Church during his college years, and then later when singing and directing music for the Traditional Latin Mass of the Roman Rite. As a composer and choir director he noticed the efficacy of these simple fauxbourdons when employed within the more solemn liturgies (e.g. the Magnificat, and Communio propers), and sought to create his own set of unique fauxbourdons. While remaining within the modal confines but also using a modern harmonic dialect, Nicholas' Eight Fauxbourdon Tones are designed to pair with the traditional ecclesiastical modal antiphons and the psalmody that accompanies them.

Nicholas is currently setting in fauxbourdon the texts of Communios (Communion propers and their psalms) for the entire liturgical year. With these simple compositions, he hopes the plainchants which they accompany may be heard with renewed solemnity, and their corresponding texts may express more of the mysteries they represent, that they may enter the recesses of the human soul more deeply. More info can be found at www.nicholaslemme.com.

 

back to Fauxbourdon February

Headshot LEMME.png
Nicholas Lemme

Anglican Chant - Roots, Historical Performance, and Liturgical Applications
with Dr. Horst Buchholz

The musical form of chant has extraordinary ability to breathe life into a sung text. Since each language has its own distinctive characteristics, a challenge naturally arises: How does one fit the text of one language to a chant tone or melody that was developed for use in another language? More to our purpose: How does one align texts in English (a language with far more single syllable words than Latin, lacking consistency in word accents, and exhibiting sizable range in sentence length) to chant tones and melodies which were composed for use with Latin texts?

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We will trace the historical treatment of this problem, from the development of fauxbourdon (a harmonized form of chant) into today’s Anglican chant. An analysis of the workings of Anglican chant will ensue. We will also touch briefly on other tones which are better adapted to the English language than their Latin counterparts.

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Lecture will conclude with a Q and A session and an abundance of digital materials for further study.

Lecture

Saturday, March 15, 2025 at 10 am CDT* (90 minutes, includes Q & A)

​USA: 11a EDT | 10a CDT (UTC - 5) | 9a MDT | 8a PDT

Europe: 3p CET (UTC + 0)

Practitioner’s Session

Fitting an English text to an Anglican chant setting ("pointing"), and special considerations for accompaniment and conducting of the chants. 

Choose one:

  • Monday, March 17* (90 minutes) USA: 8p EDT | 7p CDT (UTC - 5) | 6p MDT | 5p PDT (UTC - 5)

  • Wednesday, March 19* (90 minutes): 2p EDT | 1p CDT (UTC - 5) | 12 noon MDT | 11a PDT | Europe: 5p CET (UTC + 0)

 

*For instructions to determine meeting times in your own time zone, click here.

 

Click here for tuition and requirements.

Limited seating for Practitioner's Sessions. Register early.

example of Anglican Chant

Anglican Chant

ICA Lecture Series and Practitioner's Tracks

Technical Requirements

A desktop computer, laptop, or tablet (the larger the screen the better) equipped with videocamera (no cell phones, please), and Zoom app installed. Reliable access to high-speed internet is a must. Student is responsible for working technology. 

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Tuition

One Lecture = $100 USD (both Fauxbourdon lectures = $150)

One Practitioner's Session = $75 limited seating

 

Bundle 2 lectures and receive $50 off

Bundle 3 lectures and receive $75 off

 

Your tuition payment reserves your seat, and may be made via PayPal, Venmo, credit card, or check.

 

Ask your parish whether funding is available for continuing education.

Tuition may also be tax deductible for professional (compensated) musicians.

 

back to   Chant AND Polyphony   Fauxbourdon February   Anglican Chant

Tuition

Time Zone Tool

When will this event meet in my time zone?

 

​Gather the date and time in USA Central Time / CST / CDT listed on the event. You will need this information to plug into the tool.

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Click here and then enter the following:

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1. Event Location: type "Chicago" and then click "Chicago - Illinois USA" in dropdown box

 

2. Enter Month / Day / Year of event  (example: 02 / 10 / 2025)

 

3. Hour of event: choose the time in USA Central Time from the dropdown box​ (example: 14 - 2 pm)

 

4. Click the button: "Show Result"

IMPORTANT: If your location will undergo a time change during a course, be sure to check the new time of your class after the time change.

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back to   Chant AND Polyphony   Fauxbourdon February   Anglican Chant

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