St. John Paul II Choral Ensembles
"The treasure of sacred music is to be preserved and fostered with great care. Choirs must be diligently promoted." (Sacrosanctum Concilium 114)
Parish Sunday Choir
The St. John Paul II Scioto Parish Sunday Choir is an open-membership, volunteer choir (with the assistance of professional choral scholars/section leaders) whose primary function is to sing for weekly Sunday Mass, as well as Holy Days of Obligation and other important feast days. The Sunday Choir alternates between Holy Redeemer and St. Mary’s churches on a quarterly basis (Holy Redeemer Feb-Apr & Aug-Oct; St. Mary’s Nov-Jan & May-Jul).
​
The Sunday Choir focuses on learning and singing proper chant antiphons for each Mass, traditional hymnody in both unison and SATB, and beautiful chant settings of the Ordinary of the Mass (Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus, etc.). Additionally, as rehearsal time allows, the Sunday Choir learns choral motets to add further beauty to the liturgy.
The Sunday Choir is open to any parishioners interested in serving the liturgy who can consistently match pitch and carry a tune, follow direction, and commit to regular weekly rehearsal attendance. Rehearsals are 1.5 hours on Thursday evenings at 7pm. Ability to read music is a plus, but not required.
Vox Gaudium
Vox Gaudium is the parish chamber choir dedicated to learning advanced polyphonic music of the Catholic sacred music patrimony, and especially the great corpus of polyphony from the Renaissance period (e.g. Byrd, Victoria, Palestrina, et. al.). Vox Gaudium rehearses twice monthly on 1st and 3rd Thursdays at 6pm, and brings these beautiful polyphonic works to special Masses and occasional Sunday Masses across all four of our parish churches.
​
Membership in Vox Gaudium requires singing experience and confidence, strong music reading, willingness to study scores and learn parts at home, and ability to commit to regular rehearsal attendance.
Men's Chant Schola
The Schola Cantorum is a small men's ensemble dedicated to learning and singing traditional Latin Gregorian Chant. Membership is open to any men in the parish who can match pitch, carry a tune, and can commit to twice-monthly rehearsals on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays at 8:15pm. Reading music is not required, and no prior chant or choir experience is necessary.
Parish Cantors
Parish Cantors lead congregational singing for weekend and feast day Masses without choir, especially focusing on the Responsorial Psalm and Alleluia. They also learn and lead the Communion Antiphon chant and other music at non-choir Masses.
​
All parish cantors must attend annual formation to develop musicianship and ensure consistent and appropriate musical and liturgical practices.