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Today we're chatting with Anselm Black, a cantor at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes in Spokane, Washington, lifelong Byzantine Catholic, and dear friend from college. Anselm gives us an insight into the use of music in the Byzantine Divine Liturgy and his own experience with it, and we explore the ethereality of Eastern liturgical music. We also have a great discussion towards the end on discernment regarding secular music choices.

Bio: Anselm Black was born & raised in Seattle in a family of 11, and grew up playing cello and piano. He joined choir in high school and started studying voice when he went to university. At Catholic University of America, Anselm majored in philosophy and music (and also studied abroad in Italy, in case he hasn’t told you already). Anselm now lives in Spokane, sings at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes, and cantors occasionally at Saints Cyril and Methodius Byzantine Church.

What we're listening to:
Anselm: anything by the Arcadian Wild
Cecilia: the Nutcracker Suite
Tara: Heart We Will Forget Him – Aaron Copland

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When life gets crazy, it's very tempting to put prayer on the back burner. We've all done it – no shame! But God calls us to relationship with Him regardless of how busy we are, and even if we haven't been the most successful at continuing to pray during busy seasons in the past, we can always try again. God's always waiting for us with open arms!

This week on the podcast, we're chatting about maintaining a prayer life during busy seasons of life. There's no coincidence that we're airing this episode before Thanksgiving – regardless of whether you've got lots of church gigs and performances of the Messiah booked or not, the holiday season is crazy for everyone. We're sharing our best practical tips for incorporating prayer into busy seasons, so if you're looking for some practical things to implement this holiday season, tune in!

What we're listening to:
Cecilia: The Boy Who Flew Away – a delightful instrumental album
Tara: the soundtrack to the 1994 Little Women film 

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In this short bonus episode, Cecilia addresses the difficulties musicians often have in wrapping up their identities with their profession. She shares her own personal journey with this difficulty, and passes on a helpful insight from her freshman year theology class. 

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Today on the podcast, we're discussing the purpose of liturgical music, and why understanding the purpose of liturgical music matters. We chatted about how liturgical music also includes music for the Liturgy of the Hours, took a detour into Eucharistic miracles, and touched on the difference between sacred music and liturgical music. 

This is a scratch-the-surface episode on liturgical music, so here's what this episode isn't:

• An authoritative guide on liturgical music
• A deep dive into Church documents on liturgical music
• Us telling you exactly what music should be played at Mass

What this episode is:

• A discussion on how the function of liturgical music is to reflect what's happening in the Mass
• A chat about how contributing our musical gifts to the liturgy is a great honor and privilege, but also a great responsibility
• An opportunity for us to talk about Eucharistic miracles, aka one of our favorite topics *ever*

Cecilia's favorite work of liturgical music: W.A Mozart's Vespers
Tara's favorite work of liturgical music: Roman Hurko's Vespers

Links:
Music and Meaning in the Mass, by Annamaria Cardinalli
Sing the Hours

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We brought on mezzo-soprano Julia Janowski for a chat on the podcast today. She and Tara met at SEEK 2019 and have been good friends ever since, and Cecilia's just meeting her for the first time today after hearing about her from Tara for four years! We had a fantastic time chatting about her musical journey, mezzo soprano roles, Edward Elgar's The Snow, and those profound moments when we're making music and realize what a profound gift from God it is to make music. Julia's a wonderful person and a wonderful musician, and we're truly so blessed to have had this chat with her.

What we're listening to:
Cecilia: the 4th movement of Haydn's London Symphony
Tara: Billy Joel's Lullabye
Julia: Yebba's Love Came Down
Honorary mention: Edward Elgar's The Snow

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When we hear the words "Theology of the Body", we're most likely going to do one of two things. Either we ask what it is, or we associate it with Pope St. John Paul II's teachings on human sexuality. But while human sexuality is a key aspect of theology of the body, there's so much more to it. Theology means study of God; and so theology of the body is what the body tells us about God.

Today Cecilia and Tara dive into this broader sense of theology of the body, sharing their experiences while studying music that made them see theology of the body through this broader lens, and how this broader lens can help every musician (1) advocate for themselves better and (2) be a better teacher.

Resources:

These Beautiful Bones, by Emily Stimpson Chapman
What Every Pianist Needs to Know About the Body, by Thomas Mark
Playing (less) Hurt: An Injury Prevention Guide for Musicians, by Janet Horvath

What we're listening to:
Cecilia's pick: the whimsical soundtrack to Emma, by Isobel Waller-Bridges, especially the track "Mr. Knightley".
Tara's pick: A Space in Time by Irish band Cuig

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Today we're super excited to chat with Bridget Gindhart, a songwriter located in Harrisburg, PA and a dear friend of the Hildegard Collective. She shared some beautiful perspective on glorifying God through the creation of secular music and how she desires to bring God to her listeners regardless of their faith and beliefs. She also shared how experiencing a guitar-related injury helped deepen her spiritual life and bring her to the music she creates today.

We're also sharing what we've been listening to lately! Here's picks from Cecilia, Tara, and Bridget to check out this week:

Cecilia's pick: Ghost of a King and Band of Gold by The Gray Havens
Tara's pick: Robert Parsons' setting of Ave Maria
Bridget's pick: Nothing Else Matters from Metallica's joint concert with the San Francisco Symphony

Short bio: Bridget Gindhart is a 23 year old songwriter and guitarist located in Harrisburg, PA. She's been playing music since she was six years old and went on to receive a BA in Music from The Pennsylvania State University. Bridget has a YouTube channel called "RidgeBits" that has received over 1.3 million views across her channel. Most recently, Bridget received an endorsement as a Pulse Artist for PRS Guitars and has been writing/recording music and playing gigs locally in Harrisburg as she develops her career in the secular pop music industry.

Follow Bridget on Instagram
Follow Bridget on YouTube
Follow Bridget on TikTok

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Join Cecilia and Tara for a chat about the life and legacy of St. Hildegard von Bingen, the impact she had on the Church and continues to have today (cough cough pumpkin spice cough), and what she can teach us about authentic self care. 

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In this episode, Tara and Cecilia chat about Pope St. John Paul II's Letter to Artists, a beautiful letter released on Easter Sunday, 1999, to artists worldwide. They especially chat about the creative streak in every human (whether they realize it or not), the capacity of genre of music to lead someone towards God, and the Church's embrace of all that is good, beautiful, and true.

We had some slight technical difficulties in recording this episode and the audio quality is not always as good as we'd like it to be! We figured out what the issue was and shouldn't have that problem moving forward. 

Links to Tara & Cecilia's favorite renditions of Ave Maria:

Franz Biebl's rendition:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7C-VXZVSTw

Kevin Memley's rendition: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97btQwPP8ck

Rihards Dubra's rendition: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28NzGYAvsoQ

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Learn more about the Little Sparks podcast, our co-hosts Cecilia Leskowicz and Tara McDermott, and what to expect from the show!