Choir festival brings together Catholic elementary and middle school aged students

Students from four Catholic schools and from the Psalterium Institute in Lisbon Falls came together on March 28 for a daylong Catholic School Choir Festival held at the Basilica of Ss. Peter & Paul in Lewiston.

The festival was an opportunity for elementary and middle school students to grow in appreciation of sacred music, to learn techniques to help them become more accomplished singers, and to perform in a beautiful and soaring sacred space.

“The priority for me is just to get kids singing more and more -- there’s not enough singing from a young enough age -- and to get them to fall in love with the Church’s music. We want them all to sing from their pews and maybe to join their choirs later,” says Leon Griesbach, executive director of the Psalterium Institute and director of music and choir at St. John the Baptist Church in Brunswick.

Workshops during the day were led by Griesbach and by Jennifer Runge, director of sacred music for the Parish of the Holy Eucharist in Falmouth. They were accompanied by Scott Vaillancourt, music director for Prince of Peace Parish, which hosted the festival.

“The specialness of today is that the students are coming together from different little school classrooms and finding the value of singing in the sanctuary, with these acoustics and with these words,” says Runge.

The participating schools included St. Brigid in Portland, Saint Dominic Academy in Lewiston/Auburn, St. John’s in Brunswick, and St. Michael in Augusta.

During the course of the day, the students learned new hymns, which they rehearsed together, and then performed during a closing concert, which was open to the public.

“We were kind of like separate schools, but then we got into rehearsing, and we really just kind of bonded over the music. The instructors were great. We learned a lot of great techniques,” says Tristan, a seventh grader from St. Michael School.

“It helps me become a better singer. I wasn't originally wanting to go, but now it's actually pretty fun,” says Margaret, a sixth grader from St. John’s.

“It was good to have so many different voices,” says Stella, who attends the Psalterium Institute.

“It was just a wonderful experience, just singing with all the younger kids. And when I first heard the choir, it was just breathtaking. It was so beautiful,” says Maddy, a tenth grader from Saint Dominic Academy.

In addition to the benefits to the students, the day was also an opportunity for school principals and music directors to meet and to help them expand opportunities for the choirs at their schools.

The festival was first held prior to the pandemic, and now that it is back, the hope is to make it an annual gathering.