Grayson Wagstaff , dean, School of Music; Simeone Tartaglione , orchestra conductor; Leo Nestor , chamber choir director; alumni; and students were featured in a Wall Street Journal video on musicians preparing for the Pope's Mass. Other outlets also detailed CUA's role in providing music for the Mass. Listen to coverage by an American University student.
From: Wall Street Journal Date: Sept. 21, 2015
From: The Washington Post Date: Sept. 22, 2015 Author: Anne Midgette
For Catholics, this is hardly a new discussion. "Like the Great Books, there is the great music of the church: Gregorian chant, Palestrina, my own Latin [American] music," says Grayson Wagstaff, dean of the Benjamin T. Rome School of Music at Catholic University. "Alongside that, there are many different virtuoso traditions associated with the Catholic Church: Gospel, mariachi, many African traditions. Part of the issue in the United States is balancing what we would consider these more educated traditions, including gospel and mariachi, [with] more singable congregation pieces."
From: Catholic News Service (via Catholic Courier) Date: Sept. 21, 2015 Author: Kurt Jensen
How do you choose the music for the first canonization in the United States?First of all, slowly, said Grayson Wagstaff, dean of the Benjamin T. Rome School of Music at The Catholic University of America.The selection process began back in February, and all of the music had to be approved by Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl of Washington. "It's his vision for the Mass," Wagstaff observed in an interview with Catholic News Service. There will be as much original music as the schedule permits....