"Gregorian Chant in Honour of the Virgin Mary"

GIC Fifth Annual Colloquium – August 12th to 15th 2010, Chicoutimi (QC)

presented in collaboration with the Conservatoire de musique de Saguenay

and the Gregorian Choir Una Voce of Saguenay

Servantes du Très Saint-Sacrement Monastery, Chicoutimi

The Gregorian Institute of Canada settled on the magnificent Saguenay region of Quebec for its Fifth Annual Colloquium, to be held from August 12th to 15th 2010 at the Servantes du Très Saint-Sacrement monastery in Chicoutimi. GIC has been working closely with the Una Voce Gregorian Choir (Saguenay) over the past few months to prepare the event, organized in collaboration with the Conservatoire de musique de Saguenay. Colloquium program, the theme of which will be "Gregorian Chant in Honour of the Virgin Mary", will include practical Gregorian chant workshops open to all levels of experience, liturgical offices, concerts, and to conclude, Solemn Mass for the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Sacré-Coeur Church in Chicoutimi.

Sacré-Coeur Church, Chicoutimi

Our guest speaker will be Juan Carlos Asensio Palacios, Director of the Schola Antiqua of Spain and renowned musicologist. In addition, chant workshops will be led by Raymond Laforge and Guy Lemire, respectively Director and Assistant Director of Una Voce Gregorian Choir, Jean-Pierre Noiseux, Director of the Schola Saint Grégoire of Montréal, Pascale Duhamel, Director of Montreal based Scholastiques Neumatiques, and Stephanie Martin, Director of the Schola Magdalena of Toronto.

Participants will be invited to sing the following monastic liturgial offices: Compline, Terce, Sext, None, and First Vespers for the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The opening concert entitled "Louanges mariales" will be performed by Una Voce Gregorian Choir under the direction of Raymond.  Gala concert dedicated to the music of Hildegard of Bingen will take place in the magnificent Saint-François-Xavier Cathedral of Chicoutimi, and will feature Toronto Schola Magdalena, directed by Stephanie Martin.

Saint-François-Xavier Cathedral, Chicoutimi

Preliminary Program (pdf)

Registration is now open and will close on July 11^th 2010.

GIC wishes to address a special welcome to chant beginners!

Register now!

Registration Form (pdf)

For information:

Virtual Exhibition

"Chant in Colonial Canada"

The Gregorian Instiute of Canada presents "Chant in Colonial Canada", an exhibition designed by Library and Archives Canada for GIC's 4th Annual Colloquium, which was held from August 13th to 16th 2009, at McMaster University, Hamilton (ON).

Click here to visit the exhibition

GIC Returns to Kalamazoo

The Gregorian Institute of Canada will be sponsoring two sessions at the 45th International Congress on Medieval Studies, May 13-16, 2010, at The Medieval Institute of the Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan. The sessions are: "The Liturgical Office of Saint Thomas Becket: Current Research Projects", and "The Liturgical Office of Saint Thomas Becket: Chant Selections (A Performance)".

The Congress is an annual gathering of over 3,000 scholars interested in Medieval Studies. It features over 600 sessions of papers, panel discussions, roundtables, workshops, and performances. There are also some 90 business meetings and receptions sponsored by learned societies, associations, and institutions. The exhibits hall boasts nearly 70 exhibitors, including publishers, used book dealers, and purveyors of medieval sundries.

Hamilton Colloquium: a unique experience! 

 Traditions in Western Plainchant

4th Annual Colloquium of The Gregorian Institute of Canada
August 13-16, 2009
McMaster University, Hamilton (Ontario, Canada)

The occasion was a rare one: musicologists and performers participating in the same event; theory and practice united, for the space of one hot and intensely busy weekend, under the common theme of Gregorian chant. People came from Canada, the United States, and Europe to share their knowledge and passion, to learn from one another, sing, and weave bonds of friendship.

On Thursday August 13th 2009, the Hamilton Schola Cantorum offered a charming mini-concert of plainchant at McMaster University’s Convocation Hall, inaugurating the Fourth Annual Colloquium of the Gregorian Institute of Canada, “Traditions in Western Plainchant”.

During three days of intense activity, conference papers and practical workshops concurrently unfolded without an interruption. More than fifty registered participants equally attended one or the other, and all participants appreciated the high calibre of the presentations, particularly those of our two special guests, musicologist Joseph Dyer from the United States, and Juan Carlos Asensio Palacios, Director of the Schola Antiqua of Spain. An exhibition from the Rare Books and Manuscripts collections of Library and Archives Canada, illustrating the importance of plainchant in Colonial Canada, was open to all. Many participants also came to sing, sometimes very early in the morning, at various liturgical offices led either by the Cantualis Choir of Kitchener/Waterloo, or by the members of the Hamilton Schola Cantorum

One of the colloquium’s high points was undoubtedly the Gala Concert presented at Hamilton’s Christ’s Church Anglican Cathedral by Montreal’s Schola Saint Grégoire, directed by Juan Carlos Asensio. A selection of works chosen from a wide range of plainchant traditions, interspersed with well-chosen organ pieces performed with distinction by Stillman Matheson, delighted the audience.

Other memorable events during this extraordinary weekend were the Saturday night banquet that provided an ideal occasion for socializing and enjoying a copious meal, and Sunday Mass, which was sung in the majestic Christ the King Cathedral of Hamilton.  Once the Mass had ended, it was finally time to say goodbye, but not without one last group picture on the steps of the Cathedral.

Colloquium program.pdf

Gala Concert program.pdf

Photo Gallery