Homeward bound - Mater Dei High School Chorus is returning to Santa Ana after singing in the Sistine Chapel

Time surely flies when you are having fun. The 140+ singers, handbell ringers and members of the Visual Arts Departments from Mater Dei High School sure kept busy while touring Italy these past 11 days and what better way to end their 2011 Performance Tour and Pilgrimage with Incantato, then by participating in a special mass at St. Peter's Basilica in honor of the late Pope John Paul II followed by a private visit of the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel.

You should have seen the look on the students and parents faces when the choirs from Santa Ana, California presented an exclusive recital surrounded by Michelangelo's master work. This was truly the highlight of the journey and a very emotional moment for many performers and also their audience. Many cried tears of happiness after hearing the beautiful sound of their voices echo in the Sistine Chapel.

After a farewell with Roman specialities and the opportunity to bid farewell to the Vatican and Rome by night, the travelers are now homeward bound on various airlines and all of us at Incantato say Grazie mille and Arriverderci.

Mater Dei High School Chorus enchants Rome audience with handbells and Paukenmesse

Mater Dei HS Chamber Choir sings Mass at St. Peter's Basilica honoring the late Pope John Paul II on April 2 at 5 pm

Being the featured guest choir for Mass at St. Peter's Basilica once is already a life-changing experience for most singers, especially Catholics. After today, about 40 of the Mater Dei High School Chorus members, the Chamber Choir to be precise, will be able to say they sang twice at the magnificent cathedral in Vatican City. The girls and boys under the direction of Mr. Scott Melvin will be singing in honor of the late Pope John Paul II on Saturday, April 2, 2011 at 5 pm at the beautiful Chapel of the Santissimo within St. Peter's Basilica. Together with members of the other four choirs, the students from Santa Ana, California already sang the day before at the main Altar of the Cathedral as the featured guest choir for Mass as part of their 2011 Incantato Italy Performance Tour and Pilgrimage. And if those weren't already enough special moments on this journey that is about to come to an end as the group returns home on April 3, there is another and very exclusive highlight scheduled still: a private recital in the Sistine Chapel.  

And here are some pictures from April 1:

Mater Dei High School Chorus performs in the gorgeous Teatro di Todi

After a week of performing in beautiful churches and cathedrals, the Mater Dei HS Chorus had the experience of performing in a beautiful secular venue on Thursday night in the Umbrian hill town Todi as part of their 2011 Incantato Tour. The singers under the direction of Scott Melvin performed at the charming Teatro Communale, a 19th-century public theater with a sloped stage, red velvet seats, four tiers of tapestry-accented theater boxes, and a gorgeous ceiling featuring a glittering chandelier and frescoes of cupids dedicated to famous philosophers like Machiavelli, Aristotle, and Socrates.

The special venue meant that the students could experience how to adjust their voices for different acoustics, since theater acoustics tend to be more dry than a church's live, resonant sound. And because the theater had access to a piano (unlike many Italian churches, who forego pianos for organs or other instruments because cold weather makes pianos expensive and time-consuming to maintain), the students also were able to include songs with piano accompaniment, much to their (and pianist Kent Helwig's) delight.

Though gorgeous, the Teatro Communale stage was small for a group of 140, but Scott Melvin made magic with his carefully planned "human tetris," beginning with the hand bell choir entering the theater from the back and playing several pieces at the front of the stage, followed by a rotating combination of singers (just girls, just boys, just Chamber Choir) positioning themselves at different parts of the stage, and concluding with singers surrounding the audience and filling the aisles for an inspired concert-in-the-round experience. Highlights of the night's program included a lively, unusual African piece performed by the men that had even the two grey-habited nuns in the audience bobbing their heads; the Chamber Singers' rendition of "Battle of Jericho," including a gorgeous soprano solo; and "Set me as a Seal" hich director Scott dedicated to his "dear sweet wife and little girls," who watched the show lovingly from a theater box on the second floor. Another show-stopper for audience and performers was the finale, "My God is a Rock," which Kirina S. says always "feels very communal."
The small but appreciative crowd gave the performers a standing ovation, and many of the parents on the tour presented their children with roses and chocolates they'd purchased earlier in town. All were smiling as they took pictures in the gorgeous theater before packing up the buses and heading towards dinner, sleep, and another exciting day on Italy tour that started on March 24. But many of the parents' smiles were bittersweet.

"Kirina is graduating this year," said Chamber singer's mom Karen. When speaking about getting to spend this time touring Italy with her daughter and sharing the choir experience, she teared up. "I know how special this is."
Here is an Incantato Impression Slideshow from the concert in Todi

140 singers from Mater Dei HS the featured guest choir for Mass at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican on April 1 at 5 pm

All 140 singers of the Mater Dei High School Chorus will be the featured choir for mass at Saint Peter's Basilica in Vatican City at 5 pm on Friday April 1, 2011 - the Chamber Choir will sing at the same time on Saturday, April 2.

The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter is located within the Vatican City. St. Peter's Basilica has the largest interior of any Christian church in the world, holding 60,000 people. It is the symbolic "Mother church" of the Catholic Church and is regarded as one of the holiest Christian sites. It has been described as "holding a unique position in the Christian world" and as "the greatest of all churches of Christendom".

In Catholic tradition, it is the burial site of its namesake Saint Peter, who was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus and, according to tradition, first Bishop of Rome and therefore first in the line of the papal succession. Tradition and some historical evidence hold that Saint Peter's tomb is directly below the altar of the basilica. For this reason, many Popes have been interred at St Peter's since the Early Christian period. There has been a church on this site since the 4th century. Construction of the present basilica, over the old Constantinian basilica, began on April 18, 1506 and was completed on November 18, 1626.

St. Peter's is famous as a place of pilgrimage, for its liturgical functions and for its historical associations. It is associated with the papacy, with the Counter-reformation and with numerous artists, most significantly Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (1475-1564), an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer. Michelangelo took over a building site at which four piers, enormous beyond any constructed since the days of Ancient Rome, were rising behind the remaining nave of the old basilica. He also inherited the numerous schemes designed and redesigned by some of the greatest architectural and engineering brains of the 16th century.

Incidentally there are over 100 tombs within St. Peter's Basilica, many located in the Vatican grotto, beneath the Basilica. These include 91 popes, St. Ignatius of Antioch, Holy Roman Emperor Otto II, and the composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina. Exiled Catholic British royalty James Francis Edward Stuart and his two sons, Charles Edward Stuart and Henry Benedict Stuart, are buried here, having been granted asylum by Pope Clement XI. The most recent interment was Pope John Paul II, on April 8, 2005.

Student Impressions of the Mater Dei 2011 Italy Performance Tour - Josh Paz

"This trip has been an eye opening experience! From singing to the Pope, to traveling and sightseeing historical places like Pompeii, the choir has been on a nonstop journey through Italy. People are meeting new friends and having to experience new things, like Italian food. Although it might not be liked by some people, it is wonderful to get to know the different culture that is around the world. Our tour managers have also been amazing and informative, each of them giving a little bit of their personality to the tour and making it interesting as we travel through Italy. We definitely miss our families and friends a lot, and we look forward to seeing them all again and telling the memorable experiences in Italy!!!"

Josh Paz

Singers from La Canada High School the featured guest choir for Mass at St. Mark's Basilica in Venice on April 1 at 6:45 pm

After landing only yesterday in Italy, the La Canada High School Concert Choir and Chamber Singers from La Canada, California, will sing High Mass at Saint Mark's Basilica in Venice on Friday, April 1, 2011 at 6:45 pm under the direction of Mr. Jeff Brookey.

The Patriarchal Cathedral Basilica of Saint Mark is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Venice. It is the most famous of the city's churches and one of the best known examples of Byzantine architecture. It lies on Piazza San Marco adjacent and connected to the Doge's Palace. Originally it was the "chapel" of the Venetian rulers, and not the city's cathedral. Since 1807 it has been the seat of the Patriarch of Venice, archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Venice. For its opulent design, gilded Byzantine mosaics, and its status as a symbol of Venetian wealth and power, from the 11th century onward the building has been known by the nickname Chiesa d'Oro (Church of gold).

The original Saint Mark's was a temporary building in the Doge's Palace, constructed in 828, when Venetian merchants stole the supposed relics of Saint Mark the Evangelist from Alexandria. This was replaced by a new church on its present site in 832; the first St. Mark's Campanile (bell tower) dates from the same century. The new church was burned in a rebellion in 976, rebuilt in 978 and again to form the basis of the present basilica since 1063.

The spacious interior of the building with its multiple choir lofts was the inspiration for the development of a Venetian polychoral style among the composers appointed maestro di cappella at St. Mark's. The style was first developed by a foreigner, Adrian Willaert, and was continued by Italian organists and composers, Andrea Gabrieli along with his nephew Giovanni Gabrieli, and later Claudio Monteverdi.

More pictures added to the Mater Dei HS Chorus Tour Photo Album

Incantato Video: Mater Dei High School Chorus sings for the Pope

Orange County Register reports about the Mater Dei HS Chorus Incantato Italy Tour on March 30

Mater Dei choir sings for pope in St. Peter's Square

By Andrew Galvin
The Orange County Register

Josh Paz was a little nervous as the Mater Dei High School choir waited for the pope to arrive in St. Peter's Square, Vatican City, on Wednesday morning.
"What if we mess up?" he thought. "What will pope's reaction be?"

The Mater Dei High School Choir prepares to sing for Pope Benedict on Wendesday morning at St. Peter's Square at the Vatican in Rome.

About 130 members of the choir, along with about 100 parents and eight visual-arts students, have been traveling and performing in Italy since last week. Singing at this papal audience was to be one of the highlights of their trip.

The students were rousted from their beds at 5 a.m. and most of them were ready, in tuxedos and dresses, when their bus was scheduled to leave their hotel at 6 a.m.
Scott Melvin, the choir director, rushed around collecting a few kids who had overslept. "We had to throw them on the bus in their pajamas," he said. "They had to get changed on the bus."
By 7 a.m., the group had arrived outside St. Peter's Square, queuing up to get through security with about 20,000 other pilgrims. They took seats in the front rows, about 50 yards from where the pope would preside on the steps of St. Peter's Basilica.

Then they waited. Some made last-minute purchases of rosaries that the pope would bless.
To help pass the three hours before the audience was to begin, the choir sang Hosanna in Excelsis by Brent Pierce (see video below). The crowd's response was warm and enthusiastic. A man approached the group saying "Complimenti, complimenti," Italian for "compliments."
At about 10:30 a.m., Pope Benedict XVI arrived in his popemobile, driving around the audience in the square.

"When he finally came out everyone was just waving," said Sara Rezner, 17, a junior from Orange. "When he got to the front, he got out and sat down and started talking. They had different groups from all over the world there, and he introduced us."
It was time to perform. "I was very nervous when we were singing because I couldn't believe we were singing for the pope," she said.

As it turned out, they had nothing to worry about. Their performance of the spiritual My God Is a Rock was perfect.

"I actually heard our voices resound off the walls of the Vatican," said Paz, 18, a senior who lives in Santa Ana. "It was the most beautiful thing."

Pope Benedict applauded and waved. "We thank the choir for their beautiful gift of song," he said.

The group returns to the United States on Monday. Before they do, the choir is scheduled to perform high Mass in St. Peter's Basilica and also sing in the Sistine Chapel.

Choir members are posting to a blog about their experiences at materdeihs-incantatotour.blogspot.com

La Canada High School Choirs have an exciting tour coming up!

The Incantato Concert Postcard is just one of many marketing tools we distribute prior to the choirs' arrivals in Europe. This handy overview lists all the performances and also shows the official support for our traveling singers from many local partners whose logos we proudly feature.

Mater Dei High School Chorus present third formal concert at the stunning Teatro di Todi

The Mater Dei High School Chorus will perform at Il Teatro Comunale in Todi at 7 PM on Thursday, March 31, 2011. Todi’s Il Teatro Comunale, or Community Theater, is considered one of the most beautiful theaters in the entire Umbrian region. Designed by architect Carlo Gatteschi and completed in 1872, the theater opened in 1876 with a performance of Giuseppe Verdi’s “Un ballo in maschera". The auditorium boasts the traditional Italian horse-shoe design. The interior details were designed by Annibale Brugnoli, decorator of the Rome Opera House. Brugnoli adorned the stage with a vast curtain fresco depicting Italian poet Ludovico Ariosto’s 1531 visit to Todi. The theater, located near the center of town just off the Piazza del Popolo, accommodates up to 500 spectators.

Mater Dei High School Chorus at the Papal Audience

Mater Dei High School Chorus will sing twice at St. Peter's Cathedral and in the Sistine Chapel

Being the featured guest choir for Mass at St. Peter's Basilica once is already a life-changing experience for most singers, especially Catholics. After this weekend, about 40 of the Mater Dei High School Chorus members, the Chamber Choir to be precise, will be able to say they sang twice at the magnificent cathedral in Vatican City as  Incantato Tours and Concerts managed to get the singers under the direction of Mr. Scott Melvin invited to sing on both Friday, April 1 and Saturday, April 2, 2011. 5 pm or alle ore 17 as the locals would say is the magic time. All 140 girls and boys that form the Mater Dei High School 2011 Italy Touring Chorus sing on Friday at the Altare della Cattedrale San Pietro, followed by the auditioned Chamber Choir on Saturday in the precious Cappella del Santissimo. And if those weren't already enough special moments on their 2011 Italy Pilgrimage and Performance Tour, there is another and very exclusive highlight scheduled still: a private recital in the Sistine Chapel.  

Mater Dei High School Chorus takes Amalfi by storm

600+ Audience for Mater Dei High School Chorus at Santa Maria a Mare in Maiori

Incantato proudly presents the Mater Dei High School Chorus at Santa Maria a Mare in Maiori on Saturday, March 26 at 7 PM

On Saturday, March 26 at 7 PM the Mater Dei High School Chorus presents the first concert of their 2011 Incantato Italy Performance Tour and Pilrgimage at the beautiful hilltop at Chiesa di Santa Maria a Mare in Maiori.

Maiori, a delightful seaside resort overlooking one of the largest and most beautiful beaches in this area, is one of the gem of the Amalfi Coast. Today it offers various cultural, recreational and leisure activities, you will love walking to the historic centre. Maiori has been a popular tourist resort since Roman times, with the longest unbroken stretch of beach on the Amalfi coastline. The patron saint of the city is Santa Maria a Mare - the name giver of the cathedral also known as La Collegiata and the saint day is August 15. Santa Maria a Mare was originally erected in the 12th century, but has since been reconstructed. It is the largest church in town and thus the perfect venue for the ensemble of 130+ singers from Santa Ana, California under the direction of Scott Melvin.

Singers from Mater Dei HS receive a lot of press for their 2011 Italy Performance Tour

A Maiori un coro californiano di Spiritual e Gospel

GIOVEDÌ 24 MARZO 2011 13:20

All’insegna della speranza e della pace, Maiori si appresta ad accogliere per il secondo appuntamento, gruppi corali provenienti dagli Stati Uniti, in tour in Italia, per la rassegna “Incantato Choral Festival 2011”, che si protrarrà con diversi appuntamenti fino a maggio.

Protagonisti indiscussi, con ensemble a cappella e formazioni di jazz band, ben 5 gruppi studenteschi provenienti da prestigiosi College e High Schools della California, Kentucky, Rhode Island e Canada.

“Songs of Hope, Peace, and Praise" è il titolo del programma presentato dalla Mater Dei High School Chorus, gruppo proveniente da Santa Ana in California, che si esibirà in concerto nella Collegiata di S. Maria a mare sabato 26 marzo alle ore 19.00. Mentre, domenica 27 marzo, il coro americano riproporrà mottetti a cappella e spirituals durante la messa delle 11.00 nella chiesa di S. Francesco.

La “Mater Dei High School” è fra le compagini corali cattoliche più attive in Sud California, coinvolgendo oltre 200 studenti in un’offerta formative che va dallo studio del canto corale all’ensemble strumentale di campanelle. Ogni ensemble effettua ogni anno tournée concertistiche per gli Stati Uniti, partecipando ad importanti festival, rassegne e concorsi.

Tra questi, degni di nota sono i riconoscimenti ottenuti all’ Heritage Festival of Gold di New York (2008), al prestigioso Festival Disney di Orlando, Florida (2007). Di recente il coro è stato “guest choir” in occasione della Convention Nazionale “Catholic Educators”.

Il repertorio del gruppo spazia ampiamente, pur focalizzando l’interesse nella letteratura a cappella e nel repertorio per grandi compagini corali: dalla Messa in Sol maggiore di Schubert, la Coronation Mass di Mozart, l’Hodie! Di Vaughan William fino alla Paukenmesse (Missa ‘in tempore belli’) di Haydn, proposta in tour per questo anno.

In programma la celeberrima “Missa in tempore belli” di Franz Joseph Haydn, diretta da Scott Melvin e l'accompagnamento organistico frutto della trascrizione e revisione critica di Giuseppe Di Bianco, musicista e compositore di Maiori che da qualche anno collabora con l’organizzazione di Incantato Festival. Haydn compose la messa nel 1796, quando le truppe dell’esercito napoleonico invasero l’Austria minacciandone la stessa capitale.

Il coro, formato da ben 150 giovani cantanti, sotto la direzione del M° Scott Melvin, sarà in tour in Italia da fine Marzo ai primi di Aprile, con concerti previsti tra la costa di Amalfi (25-28 Marzo), Montecassino (29 Marzo), Umbria (Teatro di Todi, 31 marzo), Roma e Città del Vaticano (1-3 Aprile).

The Mater Dei HS Chorus is sure keeping busy on their 2011 Italy Performance Tour

The Incantato Concert Postcard is just one of many marketing tools we distribute prior to the choirs' arrivals in Europe. This handy overview lists all the performances and also shows the offcial support for our traveling singers from many local partners whose logos we proudly feature.

Mater Dei High School Chorus on our minds

Things are busy over at Incantato headquarters as we gear up for next week’s exciting tour with The Mater Dei High School Chorus, the award-winning choir and handbell ensemble from Santa Ana, California. The touring group is so big we’re leaving LAX next Thursday, March 24, in five subgroups on three different airlines. We can’t wait to reunite with all, and their Incantato tour managers - Stefania, Michela, Rosalia, Constanze and Paola - in Rome on the 25th!

But that's just the beginning. We're really looking forward to all aspects of the trip, from visiting Capri to singing at the Vatican. Check out some highlights from the first few days of the itinerary:

March 25 - Benvenuti in Italia! The choir and entourage groups travel to the gorgeous Amalfi coast and stay in seaside hotels like the Hotel Reginna Palace

March 26 - Tour of historic Pompeii and first concert at Santa Maria a Mare

March 27 - A big day! High Mass at Chiesa di San Francesco followed by Haydn's Paukenmesse at Duomo di Amalfi

March 28 - Cultural exchange and free time on the famous Isle of Capri

March 29 - Morning recital at Montecassino Abbey, the birthplace of the Benedictine Rule

Performance, history, culture, relaxation - and that's only the first five days! Check back to find out about the rest of the tour, including stops in Rome and a concert at the Vatican, and for daily updates about how the tour is going.

We can't wait!

Announcement: Government grant deadline April 29!

We have good news! You may be eligible for government grant monies to make your tour with Incantato next year even more affordable! The government-sponsored American Music Abroad program announced last week that they've earmarked $1,500,000 for eligible institutions and organizations who apply by April 29, 2011. (Click this link to apply.) And if you're awarded those monies, you can use them to subsidize your tour next year.

Incantato veterans already know that our trips bring a special magic to the choir tour experience. Our expert coordinators book special venues with fantastic acoustics; produce beautiful marketing materials and effective publicity campaigns that ensure large, supportive audiences; create well-paced-yet-flexible itineraries that include a variety of activities and have room for the unexpected; locate exceptional accommodations, restaurants, and local hidden gems; and manage your entire trip with a positive attitude and genuine concern for your group's personal needs.

If you're new to Incantato and want to know what makes us so special, check out the first-hand experiences of some of this year's choirs:

• Bellarmine University


• JSerra High School


• La Canada High School


• Mater Dei High School Chorus


• Providence College


• San Marino Chamber Choir


• St. Bonaventure's College


• UGA Chamber Choir


• University of Miami Frost Chorale


• University of South Carolina


• YPAS Concert Choir

Or, if you have questions, don't hesitate to contact us by phone or email, or check out our info page. We'd be happy to help you design the perfect choir tour experience for you and your group.

A meaningful visit: Bellarmine University sings at Parish of Santo Roberto Bellarmino in Rome

University of South Carolina sings Mass at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican