Reviews of Events Relating to Religion and the Arts.

28/2/10
On Thursday light I found my way to Colfer's pub in Carrig-on-Bannow, Co. Wexford for a gig by American Cajun band L'Angélus. I first came across the band when they appeared on Today With Pat Kenny last summer and when they played for Catholic Underground during that first Irish visit. I enjoyed their Sacred Hymns Collection (see review here), and wasn't disappointed hearing the live for the first time.
This was vibrant, high-energy stuff from Katie, Paige and Stephen Rees - I've rarely seen a concert where the performers were enjoying themselves so much. It was mostly the "secular" material - Cajun two-steps and waltzes, country songs, Texas Swing, New Orleans Jazz and a touch of soul, but they also gave a beautiful rendition of Be Thou My Vision, from the "Sacred Hymns" album.
The original material, like the poignant Waltz of St Cecilia, was mixed with standards like Jambalaya, Peggy Sue and My Girl, and relatively unfamiliar songs like Wait a Minute (see video clip). I always like to get more at a live gig than just a performance of CD album material, and it was a great delight to see how much fun there was in this performance - Stephen Rees in particular was a howl, moving from sensitive ballads to growling shouting blues. His fiddle and sax playing was superb, while Paige's bass playing and Katie's rhythm guitar dove the music along, completing the excellent vocals. I was great to get to talk to the trio during the break and hopefully they will get back to Ireland this summer.
On the night I bought their album "Ca C'est Bon", and will give it a mention here after a few turns in the CD player.

8/2/10
Well, I did a bit for Catholic School's Week, but it didn't help that we were in the middle of Mock Exams, with no school assemblies as a result. Still, we did make use of our Prayer Room for some class services and conducted some classes on the theme. Apart from the discussions, I got students doing some artwork - e.g. posters to highlight the event, which got them thinking, I hope. At the prayer services I used the folllowing songs: Where To Now Edmund from the album "Islands of the Heart" by Peter Kearney - it's about the vision of Edmund Rice (it's a CBS); Be Thou My Vision by Cajun Group L'Angelus from their excellent "Sacred Hymns Collection"; and the very appropriate Salt and Light Amy Delaine from the compilation album "Songs From the Loft" (a must for every RE Dept!).

1/2/10
This week is Catholic Schools Week in Ireland. The resource materials have been sent to schools but are also available here. The secondary schools booklet includes a poem St Brigid, A Blessing by Christy Kenneally. I tried it in a few classes today and it went well I think. For the feast of the Presentation tomorrow T.S. Eliot's Song for Simeon might be useful , but probably too complex to use as a prayer. In the resource materials there are also prayers, readings, full services, fun activities and even recipes! Would be interested in hearing from anyone trying some interesting activities this week.

21/11/09
Have just been watching this morning's live coverage on EWTN of Pope Benedict's meeting with artists in the Sistine Chapel. Loads of food for thought there and I suppose, I hope, in a way it's a validation of the work of Faitharts and similar ventures!
The event was flagged as the first of many efforts to rekindle the relationship between religion and artists, surely a worthy and even urgent ambition. Around 300 artists from various disciplines gathered in this most appropriate of venues and when they weren't watching the Pope they were staring at the ceiling - not a bad idea when you're in the Sistine Chapel. It wasn't just the visual art that was on show - the chapel choir sang some of Palestrina's work at the beginning and end of the event, though we didn't see much of them as they were tucked away in the loft! It was the 10th anniversary of Pope John Paul II's Letter to Artists and the event started with a reading of that letter by an Italian film director, followed by an introduction from Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, President of the Pontifical Council for Culture, who spoke of the desire to renew the special relationship between religion and the arts. As we travelled a path of beauty and light the arts could open souls to the eternal. Pope Benedict himself was also inspiring in his address. But he was also realistic - accepting that some of those present might be remote from the practice of religion. Yet his language was the language of friendship, dialogue and collaboration. He stressed that the world needs beauty if it's not to fall into despair, and that the artists were the custodians of beauty. He was also conscious that there were problems, that there could sometimes be an escape into mere aestheticism, there could be the guise of indecency, and gratuitous gratification. But the pursuit of authentic beauty wouldn't go down those roads, in fact it could even wound us, which I found a rather striking idea, but makes sense if you think of a pained reaction to the depiction of suffering in a film for example, and indeed you wouldn't have to go much further that the Sistine Chapel art works to find examples of that. Finally, against the amazing backdrop of Michelangelo's Last Judgement he called on the artists to be aware of their responsibilities and grateful for their gifts as their God-given talents glorified the Creator and challenged them to be heralds of hope for humanity. As soon as I find video of the event and the text of the address I'll post the links, but it should be up on YouTube soon at www.youtube.com/vatican

16/11/09
Today in school we had a retreat with the Net Ministries team, most of whom are young Canadians visiting Ireland. We used the local parish centre and students thought it was helpful to get out of the school for the day. The team was excellent - dedicated, courteous and professional. I was glad to see them using plenty of arts resources - they sang, involved the students in the singing, and used short dramas to illustrate their points. I joined the team and students for a prayer service in the local church, which was a special experience for me too. One of the team sang at the prayer service, while there was some beautiful reflective music during the time for individual prayer (I hope to draw attention to some of this music when I can track it down - it was a compilation from various sources). I have rarely seen my senior students so quiet, reflective and focussed!

22/6/09
I went to the MAD (Make a Difference) Christian Music Festival in Glenealy Co. Wicklow last Sunday and caught some good performances. I didn't catch every band, but Emmaus was the best of what I did see. Fronted by Ronan Johnston they performed some driving Christian Rock as well as some meditative worship music. Particularly impressive were their new version of St Patrick's breastplate (Patrick's Shield) and the moving You Have Never Let Me Down, both on their new album Mountaintop. Ben Cantelon and Soul Survivor, returning from last year, were similar in style. Also returning was Shel Perris. Her material was very dance orientated, sung to backing tracks, which wasn't my cup of tea, but she impressed in the few slower, ballads-type, songs she performed with her band.
Many T-Shirts proclaimed "God Loves Hip-Hop", but I found that group LZ7 way too loud and took a walk to the Mad Café tent, one of the best new ideas this year, a new stage which featured (apart from the food) some more low key and acoustic groups. The Revival Gospel Choir from Arklow livened the place up big time, while groups Just Mercy and Water's Edge produced good music without being the least bit flashy. Two members of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal sang a few heartfelt spiritual songs and seemed to go down well with the audience, a majority of which was probably non-Catholic Christian.
As a non-denominational Christian event it was quite interesting - evangelical prayer groups in some areas (even to the side of the main stage), the Franciscan Friars having impromptu prayers in another corner of the field, and everybody having a great time in the sunshine. And what a great venue - a huge flat field, plenty of room, more than adequate parking and toilet facilities. Great place to be on the longest day!

8/10/08
Yesterday I gave a workshop to teachers on using poetry in Religious Education, and what a great venue - Glendalough! Where better to go for spiritual inspiration. The event, organised by the Diocesan Advisors for Dublin (thanks Brigid and Mary!) took place in the excellent Brocagh Centre, with a tasty lunch at the nearby Wicklow Heather restaurant. The materials I used are available on request (Word documents) - see contact details above. We looked at some older poems by the likes of Patrick Kavanagh, Hopkins, Donne and Herbert, and how their poems could be used teaching various topics in RE. I was delighted at some of the topic suggestions I hadn't thought of myself. Then we got a flavour of the teachers' acting skills as we got a taste of some modern Christian performance poems. I enjoyed it anyway! Check out the various Blog entries for poetry for accounts of how I use poetry in class. Also on the arts front I enjoyed Sr Bernadette Sweeney's workshop on using religious music with our students - my favourite new piece (new to me) was Standing on the Shoulders by Earth Mamma.

16/9/08
Taizé was the focus of interest on a recent Sunday morning when RTE 1 broadcast a prayer service from the Pro-Cathedral in Dublin, with special guest Bro Alois, the new Prior of the Taizé community in France. I've already used clips of this service in RE class - we were loking at a variety of holy places in preparation for our RE journal, and I though Taizé was worth a mention. Fr Damien McNiece provided an introduction which included a little background information on Taizé, while Archbishop Diarmuid Martin introduced the service. As usual it was wonderfully prayerful, calm and relaxing. The distinctive Taizé chants were hugely evocative, especially for anyone who has previously experienced the music in a prayerful setting. Despite the rise of gospel and contemporary Christian music, the simple music of Taizé, much of it in Latin, is exceptionally popular with young people, who comprised a large proportion of the congregation.

20/7/08
Yesterday's Vigil at World Youth Day got off to a great start with a warm up set from Judy Bailey and her band. Judy is a gospel/reggae singer with an African-Caribbean groove! She also played WYD 2005 at Cologne. Her set from the vigil in Sydney can be seen at the official WYD website - it's the video segment "Prelude to the Evening Vigil" and is well worth a look.

18/7/08
Today's main event at World Youth Day was the Stations of the Cross - a dramatic re-enactment on the streets of Sydney. (Video clip on left gives a flavour). I can see myself using this in school in the coming year - at least one new resource of substance! It lasted about three hours but highlights will be shown on RTE 1 on Sunday (20th July) at 10.30 am, and there are also highlights at the official WYD website.
As for the Stations, it was a most striking presentation - the actors playing Jesus and the apostles were in the usual outfits we expect, but to see them walking through the highways of Sydney made the story entirely contemporary. Each station took place at key locations in Sydney (Opera House, Art Gallery, etc). At one stage Jesus, carrying the cross, was carried by barge across Sydney Harbour, a most unusual setting for the stations.
The main actors did an excellent job - there weren't speaking roles but the physical gestures and facial expressions were spot on, especially as the sufferings of Jesus increased (the sufferings were portrayed quite realistically). The actress who played Mary was particularly good, reminding me of Olivia Hussey from Jesus of Nazareth.
Though it was a vast canvas there was also a sense of intimate theatre in the close-ups. Throughout there was beautiful music accompanying the presentation - I was particularly struck by the windswept choir in black.

17/7/08
Today I started watching some of the coverage of World Youth Day from Sydney. The main events are streamed live at EWTN and RTE's Live service. The music was excellent as Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Sydney Harbour, with its distinctive Opera House as a backdrop. I particularly liked the youth choir's rendition of Servant Song by Richard Gillard. As the Pope's "boat-a-cade" made it's way along the harbour there seemed to be plenty of live music, including rock and light orchestral but unfortunately the cameras didn't let us see where it was coming from or who was performing - the focus was on the Pope himself chatting informally with the young guests on the boat. In his address I was glad to hear him praise "the creativity reflected in the arts". I'm sure we'll see more examples of this creativity over the next few days.

16/7/08
I'm ashamed to say it but when I visited the National Gallery in Dublin a few days ago it was to eat! There's a good restaurant - I especially enjoy the smaller one upstairs. Hadn't got much time - just enough for a quick look around the new exhibition, Revelation, running until 28 Sept. I might return for a more in-depth look. This features 29 contemporary prints on the revelation theme. Not surprisingly the introduction makes it clear that in this case it's not just revelation from God that's in question. However there are quite a few religious works, and a few stick in my mind - there were at least two very different treatments of St Paul's Road to Damascus conversion, a few colourful works in Eastern Icon style, including one on the birth of Christ, a rather peculiar "Crucifixion menu" (a crucifixion scene superimposed on a mirror image menu - have to think more about that - a statement about a la carte Christians?), some works featuring the monastic site at Glendalough, some Christ figures, a striking flower picture "Annunciation Lillies", and a reflection on the Light of the World - a stained glass window design embossed on what seem to be white card. There was a humorous Garden of Eden cartoon with a rather well endowed Eve, and just a hint of a lesbian relationship in one of the prominent works. More info here.

16/6/08
MAD 2008: Went yesterday to this new Christian Rock festival near Glenealy Co Wicklow, and what an enjoyable afternoon it was. I arrived in time to hear the Elation band (Irish group that has played before for Youth 2000 and youth events at Knock) - hadn't heard them before and they were really good - lively, driving soft rock hymns, when a excellent line up of vocalists and musicians. Also impressive, and quite similar to Elation in many ways, was Ben Cantelon and the Soul Survivor Band. Shel Perris had a good voice and lively Christian message but sang to backing tracks, which is not my cup of tea, though the younger people in the audience seemed to be enjoying themselves. The audience was quite varied with I'd say a slight predominance of teens and young adults, but plenty of parents and youth leaders as well. The venue was excellent - loads of space and toilets, free parking right beside the main tent, and very efficient stewarding. If there was a fault it was that the music was way too loud! I saw some people fleeing the tent and listening from outside, and I saw one fellow strategically using cotton wool!
The event was nondenominational but coming mainly from an Evangelical Protestant background. However, this Catholic founds lots to admire and nothing to offend! Pics from the event here.

16/12/07
Went to a great concert last week! Beth Nielsen Chapman was playing in Whelans of Dublin, and I’d say it’s not often that venue gets such a spiritual experience. Yet the spiritual content was subtle enough at times. Mainly the concert was a really enjoyable musical treat. Her songs have such beauty and depth, some really serious stuff at times, but she’s a great personality on stage, full of fun. And what a band! Apart from the two great guys in the mini wind section, and a guitarist, it was a family affair - her son Ernest on keyboards, guitar and excellent backing vocals, his cousin Trip on drums, his wife very effective on bass and miscellaneous percussion. She played several songs from her recent album of spiritual songs, Prism, including the playful God Is In, Shine All Your Light, and the haunting That Mystery. The second disc on that album has songs in many different languages from different spiritual traditions, and in this concert she joined them all in a long medley, which I thought worked really well. Of course there were plenty of old favourites, like Sand and Water, All I have (very romantic – a song with a very low divorce rate she said!) and the seasonal Every December Sky. All in all a great night – the icing on the cake was getting to talk to her at the end and get an autograph.

30/10/07
Got to the Cork Jazz Festival again this year. Went to the Blind Boys of Alabama concert in the Cork Opera House, and what a night! The support group was fantastic for starters. The Campbell Brothers performed some foot stompin', soul stirrin' black gospel music, with enough energy to light up Cork for a week. There was plenty of singing about judgement day and the morning train to take you there. A highlight was the praise song Lord I Just Want to thank You!, and slowing down the tempo a soulful version of I'll Fly Away, more commonly heard as an up tempo bluegrass song. And there was a cautionary tale - Don't Let the Devil Ride! This introduced as a "service announcement for Cork" - don't let the devil ride 'cause he'll want to drive! The Blind Boys of Alabama, singing gospel for six decades, received a great welcome from the packed theatre as they launched into spirited versions of gospel classics like People Get Ready, When the Stars Begin to Fall (a beautiful acapella version), Amazing Grace (to the tune of House of the Rising Sun!). There was plenty of banter and gospel exhortations between the songs, and the audience was on its feet for the last few songs - I'm a Soldier in the Army of the Lord was particularly good. After the encore the Blind Boys stayed on stage to greet the fans for a long while after. For both groups the message and the vocals were central, but both had the hottest of bands as well. See video clips page for a sample of the work of The Blind Boys.

21/10/07
Went to see John Michael Talbot in concert last night – at Mt Argus Church in Dublin. It was a beautiful prayerful experience. It seems he rang the parish priest and asked if he could do the concert there – an offer not to be refused! It was a short event, a very holy hour. I particularly liked his version of Make Me a Channel of Your Peace, and Cave of the Heart. The familiar favourites were there too, allowing people to pray/sing along. He didn’t say a lot on this occasion but I liked his words of introduction to a song from his new album – Come Home Little Children from the album Living Water (his 50th) called us to come home if we have drifted, from Jesus, from Church, from humanity. Sound clips from this album can be heard here. Great to meet some friends and acquaintances there too – thanks Yvonne for the guided tour of that wonderful church and its Saint Charles of Mount Argus exhibition.

9/10/07
Lots to report on from the last few days. First off it was great to meet some of the people who use Faitharts at the RE Congress in St Pat’s Drumcondra over the weekend. From keynote speakers and some workshops there was plenty of reinforcement of the idea that creativity and imagination are important in religious education. And there were quite a few artistic touches in the liturgies, especially the music.

21/4/07
Yesterday I started on the religion and music module, with an in-class concert with Peter Kearney. Peter is an Australian singer-songwriter living in Carlow, who specialises in faith inspired songs. This is the third time we've had him in school with the Transition Year classes. For a double class he sang and played guitar, and it was the most relaxing class of the week. All I had to do was sit at the back of the class and enjoy! Peter also tells the stories behind the songs, which suits perfectly what I'm trying to do in this module - to highlight the religious themes in music and to raise awareness of the issues relating to the different contexts in which music and religion meet creatively. This year Peter also brought a handout which divided his songs into different categories which helped to show the diversity of possibilities in this area - e.g. songs for liturgies, songs inspired by scripture, songs about social issues, songs for meditation. Peter has also written a musical about the life of St Francis of Assisi, Good Morning Good People! which he will perform with flute player Roma Dix in St Michael's Church Gorey, Co. Wexford on Thursday May 31st at 7.30 pm. Go along for some aesthetic nourishment! For more information on Peter's work see his website http://www.hinet.net.au/~peterk/

31/10/06
Just back from the Cork Jazz Festival, great music and atmosphere as usual. Struck me on Sunday morning that it was a pity there wasn't a high profile Jazz mass during the festival. I don't think there was any. Some mightn't like the idea, but I think with thousands of musicians in the city for the weekend there was a chance to involve them, even minister to them. I'm no jazz expert, but there are plenty of spiritual trends in Jazz, which isn't a million miles from gospel music. The Harlem Gospel Choir featured in one of the main concerts on the Friday night (unfortunately I wasn't down on time for that) so the festival wasn't bereft of spiritual input. I've come across liturgical/spiritual work by the likes of Oscar Peterson and Dave Brubeck, so let's hope that next year some imaginative parish will take on the task. There's a Church right down the road from the main venue, (the Metropole), St Patrick's parish I think, which would be an ideal venue. Though not jazzy, the choir there at Mass Sunday at midday was in fine form and there was a great sermon about the extra light we need to get us through these complex times. Funny how jazz, once regarded in some circles as immoral, now seems downright respectable compared to, say, the excesses of heavy metal! And there are spiritual nuggets in heavy metal too, but that's another story.

20/9/06
The inservice day in Laragh went well I think, at least I enjoyed it. The setting didn't seem so idyllic with the rotten weather. But I met some old friends and some new teachers signed up for the faitharts email list. The session was about using Music DVDs in religion class, either to illustrate themes under discussion or as a study of religious themes in music, or the search for meaning in modern culture (Part A of the NCCA's framework document for non-exam classes at senior cycle). The teachers seemed to enjoy the music and came up with some good ideas for dealing with this material in class. I can send the materials I used as Word document attachments on request (see contact link on left) - song words, worksheets, full list of songs used and on what DVDs. Might put these on site as download anyway.