Podcast: Play in new window
One of the cool things about working at GIA, besides the warehouse full of music that makes me feel like a kid in a candy shop (“look! I need this! And I need this too! And I wonder if my choir could do this? And I didn’t know he had another book!”…that’s my internal dialogue whenever I head into the warehouse with a post-it in my hand. It’s like going grocery shopping—I had two little item numbers written down, but I come back with a big pile…)…
(…one of the things about blogging, is I tend to digress a little from time to time. You’ll get used to it. Or start skimming…) (I am also unapologetically addicted to parentheticals, ellipses, and em dashes—I drive editors crazy, which is ironic, considering I now am one…)
Okay, back to it—one of the cool things about working at GIA is that how frequently these really impressive and even famous people come into the office, working on new books or collections or projects. And one of the cool things about this podcast is that now I have an excuse to sit down with them and ask every question I ever had about how they do what they do, and what they feel about their work, and what they feel is important, and what they love, and what the challenges are…it’s a lovely thing.
For this first full-length SingAmen! podcast episode, we are featuring a recording of a wonderful conversation I had with Fr. Michael Joncas I had last April. When I listen back to it now I think, “Wow, Jenn, you sound like a complete fan-girl,” which isn’t too off-base; this is Michael Joncas, after all. Whatever room he’s in, he’s probably the smartest one in it, and liturgical music today owes him a huge debt for the way he has aided and shaped our song since the Second Vatican Council—and at the same time, he is incredibly humble and gentle, and very easy to talk to. As a composer myself, I learned a lot from this conversation, and I hope it will bring some insight and enjoyment to listeners as well.
–Jennifer
Credits:
You Have Searched Me (Psalm 139), by J. Michael Joncas. ©1989, GIA Publications, Inc. G-3241
SingAmen! the Podcast, with Jennifer Kerr Budziak
Sound by Jim Bogdanich
SingAmen! opening music: Promenade, by Bob Moore (from Let Every Instrument Be Tuned for Praise, CD-491, from Liturgical Suite #4, G-4789.. ©GIA Publications, Inc).
SingAmen! closing music: Amen, (from More Sublime Chant, CD-459, The Cathedral Singers, Richard Proulx, conductor. ©GIA Publications, Inc.)
