Sign up for an in-depth Gregorian chant workshop with Fr Guy Nicholls, Cong. Orat.
The chant course will run from 9:45 to 16:45, culminating with Vespers at 5pm - 1st Vespers of the feast of St Birinus.
the schedule is as follows:
9:45 start at Dorchester Village Hall: 7 Queen St, Dorchester, OX10 7HR
10:45 break for 11am Mass in Dorchester Abbey, followed by picnic lunch at St Birinus Catholic Church in the gardens (bring your own)
2pm second chant session in St Birinus Catholic Church
3:30pm break
3:45 third chant session in St Birinus Catholic Church
5pm break
5:15pm Vespers
The chant course will be led by Father Guy Nicholls Cong. Orat. He has exceptional expertise in the history and modern practice of Gregorian chant. He is an accomplished Choirmaster, Organist and Harpsichordist. He also has particular expertise in music from the 16th, 17th & 18th Century repertoires.
Born in Wolverhampton in 1955, holds a first degree in Classics from Cambridge, an STL from the Gregorian University, Rome, and a D.Phil from Oxford.
He is the Founder and Director of the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music, and a Lecturer at Oscott College, the Birmingham Diocesan Seminary.
His current projects include the production and publication of the Graduale Parvum, of which the first volume of Introits was published in April 2018, consisting of simple Gregorian chants of the Propers of the Roman Missal and Gradual in Latin and English for parish choirs and congregations to sing.
He has co-authored a volume on Blessed Cardinal Newman as an educator in the Continuum Library of Educational Thought, and has contributed articles to many journals on a wide variety of liturgical subjects. He is presently preparing for publication a book on Cardinal Newman’s aesthetics, Unearthly Beauty.
Of particular note:
Buried in our cemetery is Dr Mary Berry, a Cambridge musician and musicologist. She founded the Schola Gregoriana of Cambridge in order to ensure that Gregorian Chant should continue to be taught, and that all those who wished to sing and study this profoundly spiritual and ancient music should be able to do so.
Mary Berry was a Roman Catholic nun (Canoness Regular of St Augustine) and held positions at Newnham College, Cambridge, and was a respected authority on early music. She Founded the Schola to promote, teach, and perform Gregorian Chant. The group became known for its high-quality recordings and research.
She was awarded a CBE for her services to plainsong and the Papal Cross Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice. She is the author of the influential book Plainchant for Everyone and a long-time contributor to Gramophone magazine.
Mary Berry died in 2008. Her funeral was held here in Dorchester Abbey and she was buried in the St Birinus church cemetery. We owe her an enormous debt, in the preservation and performance of chant. During the festival, do take a moment to visit her grave and pray for her.
