Festival celebrates liturgical music with a variety of choirs
DRAPER – On Feb. 22 Saint John the Baptist Catholic Church in Draper was the scene for the Diocesan Musical Festival, welcoming musicians, choirs, composers and liturgical music lovers from all over the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City.
The performances of the day were by the choir from Saints Peter and Paul Parish, directed by Peter Falemaka; the St. Vincent Schola Cantorum, directed by Scott Larrabee; two Saint Ann Parish musicians, Marianne Rozsahegyi and John Van Wagoner; the Saint Ambrose Parish choir, directed by Christopher Huntzinger; the Saint Thomas More Parish choir, directed by Deborah Castor; the Saint Mary of the Assumption choir, directed by Joe Demers; and the choir from Saint John the Baptist Parish, directed by Ruth Dillon, who is also the liturgical music director of the diocese as well as the organizer of the event.
Dillon welcomed everyone and thanked them for sharing their talents at the event.
"This is great, sharing and enjoying all this wonderful music and all the talents of these wonderful musicians," said Dillon, who also thanked Monsignor Joseph M. Mayo, pastor, and the St. John the Baptist Parish family for hosting the event.
After the performance of some of the pieces, Dillon shared her emotions with the audience, saying, "This is how the Holy Spirit works."
Among some of the highlights of the event was the spotlight of two composers.
Scott Larrabee, director of St. Vincent Schola Cantorum, took the opportunity to explain why and how the musical pieces that he writes were produced.
"I presented a piece that I wrote for my son’s baptism," said Larrabee; this piece is very emotional for him.
"I am very happy to be able to share this piece," said Larrabee, who also said that the festival was a great opportunity to promote his music. "Sometimes I get so busy in my life with working that sometimes I forget to promote it and put it out there. It’s nice that other people can hear it and maybe use it themselves."
Larrabee also shared the piece that he wrote for his parish’s 50th anniversary.
"For the Jubilee I really wanted to write something and I wanted to present something that could be used during the whole year," said Larrabee, who went on to explain that one day when he woke up he had the melody for the piece.
"The tune was there but there was no text. … Everything that I was trying to write on was a mess, so I decided to look at the Book of Psalms and Psalm 48 popped out, and when I first got into it, paraphrasing, it totally made sense," said Larrabee, adding that he believes that "God always gives us what we need."
Christopher Huntzinger, director of the Saint Ambrose choir, also had a Composers’ Spotlight presentation in which he was very emotional.
"It’s great; it’s nerve-wracking to put it all out. … Music is emotional, as well, so it kind of puts you out there," said Huntzinger, who shared his piece "The Glory of God."
"It’s an honor to be able to do that in this setting. I hope it helps people in their liturgical journey. That’s why I chose ‘The Glory of God,’" said Huntzinger.
Kaylee Neves, a St. Thomas More parishioner, was among the attendees at the event. For her the event was simply fantastic.
"It was great to see the different choirs and the different sets of music. Some were going back to the more traditional," said Neves.
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