�One gigantic voice�

By Jim Davis - Florida Catholic

Photography: M. QUARONI, J. DAVIS | FC

MIAMI | Music took wildly different forms recently at St. Mary Cathedral � from the ardent chords of “Ave Verum Corpus” to thick harmonies of African music to the squeak of a toy mallet � all in service to liturgical worship.

The occasion was the Miami Choral Festival and Mass, featuring the voices of 300 students from eight Catholic middle and high schools in South Florida. With 16 pieces ranging from Gregorian chants to responsorial psalms to traditional African songs, the Feb. 25 Mass embraced centuries of Catholic musical heritage.

They were among an estimated 3,000 children and youths scheduled for 15 such festivals around the U.S. this year, part of a movement called Pueri Cantores. The century-old organization aims to stimulate youthful interest in church music, and to groom the youths for leadership as adults.

For Lee Gwozdz, festival conductor, the reasons were both simple and lofty.

"I want them to experience a beautiful liturgy and great treasures of our Church, as well as contemporary music," said Gwozdz, also president of the American Federation Pueri Cantores. "When they go back to their churches, they can continue the tradition."

Singers at the festival came from the schools of All Saints, Cardinal Gibbons and St. Thomas Aquinas, all in Fort Lauderdale; Our Lady of Lourdes Academy and St. Mary Cathedral, both in Miami; and St. Bonaventure in Davie. Also there were two schools from the Diocese of Palm Beach: St. Joan of Arc, Boca Raton, and St. Ann, West Palm Beach.

That night, their audience was not only the community, but Archbishop Thomas Wenski, the Mass celebrant. But like his fellow singers, Mateo Vaquero-Morea was looking forward to it.

"I like to have other people singing with me � it's inspirational," said Mateo, a fifth-grader at St. Bonaventure. "And it's a good experience to sing for the archbishop."

Several choristers spoke gleefully of the festival as a "field trip," but it was no walk in the park: It included six hours of rehearsal, with short breaks, before the concert in late afternoon. And they'd already rehearsed at their schools.

Among the 16 pieces were "Agnus Dei" from the Missa de Angelis, "With a Voice of Singing" by Martin Shaw, and “Lift Up Your Heads” by William Mathias. The program even borrowed from Africa, with a traditional Zambian song titled "Bonse Aba."

Like her fellow singers, ninth-grader Amanda Toledo of Our Lady of Lourdes Academy was up to it.

"It's fun, and everyone in the music community is accepting," said Amanda, who just started chorus fulltime this academic year, and has already decided on a musical career. "Yes, there's pressure to learn. But today, I'm together with my schoolmates."

During rehearsal, Gwozdz bolstered his instruction with a grab bag of toys. He beat a squeaky plastic hammer to keep time. He tossed a Velcro ball against a circular mitt pad while telling how to make a note stick.

He expanded and contracted a Hoberman Mini Sphere, showing how the diaphragm affects breath control. He threw punches with a hand puppet, prompting the kids to sing shorter notes. The props were all from his own copyrighted Singing Fundamentals Kit.

The students nimbly followed Gwozdz as he put them through their paces. Girls voiced steady tones and reached even the higher notes easily. Boys produced resonant, gutsy support.

"You have to try and put the best you can into it," said Gabriella Baez, a third-grader at St. Bonaventure. "It's a chance to express my voice."

Her school brought 42 of its 60 singers to this year's event, music director Ysomar Granados said.

"It's a great way of sharing their faith with the choral community and the archdiocese," she said. "This repertoire is challenging. And it's rewarding to conquer that challenge."

The singers' skill and work ethic came as no surprise to Michael Olbash, the festival coordinator and board member of the American federation.

"Children are attracted to beauty," said Olbash, a conductor in the Archdiocese of Boston. "They understand things that are true and larger than themselves. They know how to have a good time; but when it's time to work, they want to do quality things for the Lord."

Gwozdz then separated the singers into sections � soprano, alto, tenor, bass � mixing them beyond their school identities. For Jonathan Franzese of St. Thomas Aquinas High School, that was actually one of the best parts.

"You can appreciate different kinds of kids more and form bonds," said Jonathan, a freshman. "We're competitors with Gibbons High School, but I'm friends with Gibbons students."

During a break, Gwozdz praised the joint choir and the school instructors. "They're amazing � they're one of the best I've conducted in a long time. There are some gifted conductors in this diocese."

Wanda Drozdovitch, music instructor at Aquinas, returned the praise. "This is a wonderful opportunity to expose our kids to choral music. The kids say it's incredible to be part of one giant voice."

Several choristers saw music as an aid toward other goals. Victoria Cantens, a ninth-grader at Our Lady of Lourdes, said she was taking singing and theater.

"I'm kind of shy, but singing brings out that crazy, outgoing part of me," she said. "We have concerts together every other day."

Pueri Cantores broadens that group spirit every five years, when it holds an international gathering in Rome for the worldwide movement. It's meant to reinforce the uniting power of music, said Jan Schmidt, executive director of the American federation.

"They stand next to choirs from Rwanda, Latvia, Poland," Schmidt said. "And they understand immediately the need for a universal music."

The last such trip was late December 2015 and early January 2016, when South Florida youths joined more than 5,000 fellow singers in Rome for the 40th international congress of Pueri Cantores. Among the events was a papal Mass at St. Peter's Basilica, a lifetime memory for many of the children.

Pope Francis also sat in on a rehearsal at Sala Nervi, an auditorium next to St. Peter's. Isabella Lopez of St. Bonaventure held out her hand as the pope plunged into the crowd to shake hands.

"I got to touch him," she said with a big smile. "I felt so proud."

Lee Gwozdz, president of the American federation, had his own fond memory of that visit. "Your voices here are like choirs in heaven," he heard Pope Francis tell the choristers. Francis then added, with a touch of self-deprecation, that his own parents didn’t want him to sing: "They said I sounded like a donkey."