MSM 5330: Practicum

1) MSM students will be invited to two or three larger Houston-area parishes with thriving amateur choral programs for adults and children to observe rehearsals and liturgies directed by professional church musicians. 2) MSM students will be mentored by musicians who have worked in the field and better understand how clergy and church musicians collaborate to prepare meaningful and thoughtful music appropriate for the liturgical year. They will accomplish this by attending worship committee and/or liturgy planning meetings; by learning fundamentals of administration, including planning, finances and budgeting; by developing procedures for forming a choir and engaging the congregation in the musical life of the church. 3) MSM students will write a paper on a topic related to observations made. 4) The MSM student will be required to plan and conduct or accompany a mass with appropriate liturgical music in the Chapel of St. Basil on the UST campus, with the permission of the clergy of the Chapel. 5) It is strongly suggested that the student sing with the RC Diocesan Choir as well as being more fully connected to the larger diocesan community. In the Houston area there often are opportunities also to sing larger oratorio and mass settings with an orchestra.