Imagine finding yourself at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome with someone who is simply bored with the whole thing and can't wait to get back to the hotel to watch TV. You would no doubt be annoyed, but also disturbed that the person could be unmoved by so much beauty, history and religious grandeur. This is the way I frequently feel when I see a young person bored by the amazing wealth of the musical tradition of the West. What a sad state for students who can only find enjoyment in the latest Pop-corn or even the Beatles!

 

 

In Western society, music education has been valued since the beginning precisely because, as Plato wrote in the 4th century BC, it penetrates deeply into the mind and takes a most powerful hold on it, and, if education is good, brings and imparts grace and beauty, and if it is bad, the reverse (Republic, 401d). Music has also been at the heart of conversion.

 

 

I hadn't heard the St. Augustine Academy school choir for some time until recently, when I was blown away by these recordings from their recent Dinner Auction. So I began an investigation into what has been going on musically there, which led me to the instigator of recent developments, Miss Laura Roberts. Laura, a long-time English teacher for St. Augustine's Academy, was inspired by her participation in the Sacred Music Colloquium in 2008 to begin a sacred music choir at St. Augustine's.

 

 

Finding a resource on music to feature is not difficult; so many are now available just on-line that picking one is what is really difficult. . . The Story of Christian Music by Andrew Wilson-Dickson stands out, especially as a resource for schools that recognize the importance of integrating various subject areas.