Dedication of St. Gregory Choral Hall

Today, the community at Gonzaga University dedicated and blessed St. Gregory Choral Hall. Fr. Spitzer, our honored university president, was in attendance. Fr. Gary Uhlenkott, of the Music Dept., was on hand to chant the blessing. The University Choir, Gregorian Schola, and Chorale all sang. After a reading from the Book of Sirach, the Choir sang Beati quorum via by Charles Villiers Stanford. We sang the Litany of Saints and the Lord's Prayer, and the Schola sang Asperges me while Fr. Gary did the sprinkling. After the concluding prayer, the Alma Mater (text Wallace Orr, class of 1936) was sung, and Benedicamus Domino. Finally, the Choir, Chorale, and Schola all sang Hallelujah from Messiah (Handel, in case you forgot). There is a pretty dedication plaque in the front hall which tells about St. Gregory. It's the first time I've seen a dedication plaque dated today.

The acoustics of the new rehearsal room are quite lovely, though very, very sensitive. Dr. Schaefer says this is good for us, because it will make us more aware of diction and tone. Thankfully, for today's purposes, the 500 extra yards of fabric in the robes we all wore, added to the extra bodies, made the room a little drier. The new hall is pretty, and it's nice, as Dr. Schaefer said, not to have to rehearse in an attic anymore (which we've done for the last 65 years). Everyone oohed and ahhed over the building and said how nice the lobby and kitchen are. It will be a nice place for the choir students to just "hang out." It'll be perfect if we get some more comfy chairs and a refrigerator, but that can wait.

Happy feast of St. Gregory!