Liturgical musicians will learn about the opportunities and challenges presented by the new translation of the Roman Missal at the 2010 Southeastern Liturgical Music Symposium.

In March, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments gave the final approval, or “recognitio,” of the revised English translation of the Roman Missal. Changes in the Mass in the Atlanta Archdiocese are expected to take effect with the beginning of Advent in 2011.

Nationally recognized music leaders will speak at the daylong event, which draws musicians interested in improving Catholic liturgical music. This year’s symposium is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 21, from 8:30 a.m.- 4:30 p.m., at Holy Spirit Church, Atlanta. The annual event, a gathering of liturgical musicians who share an interest in advancing the quality of Catholic liturgical music within the Southern parishes, is sponsored by the Atlanta Archdiocese’s Office of Divine Worship.

The keynote speaker is Father Andrew Wadsworth, executive director of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL), the organization responsible for the missal translation.

Breakout sessions will include talks by renowned presenters David Haas, Jerry Galipeau, Will Breytspraak, and Jeffrey Tucker. Representatives from leading publishing houses and suppliers will also be present with their latest products.

Advance registration is $55 for those who register before Aug. 1, which includes lunch, with group discounts and hotel accommodations available. Cost at the door is $75.

Father Wadsworth, a priest of the Archdiocese of Westminster in the United Kingdom with graduate studies in music, is to present “The Music of the Roman Missal,” including the chants of the third edition of the Roman Missal and the approach to liturgical music proposed as an authentic interpretation of Sacrosanctum Concilium and the insights of the liturgical movement. He will discuss the importance of singing the Mass rather than singing at Mass and the benefits and challenges of singing the texts of the proper.

Other speakers and talks include:

David Haas, the director of the Emmaus Center for Music, Prayer and Ministry, will present “Liturgical Music and the New Missal and Translations: Challenges, Opportunities, and Resources,” during which he will discuss background information, strategies for catechesis and implementation, and the sharing of musical examples and new contemporary settings and revisions that will be released in the coming months. There will be time for questions, sharing, learning, and singing through samples of some new Mass settings, as well as other new compositions.

An associate publisher at World Library Publications, Jerry Galipeau, will give a talk on “New Music for a New Translation: A Publisher’s Perspective,” providing his view of the upcoming changes and how his company is planning to provide musical settings for the new translation. Before coming to World Library, he served for 15 years as director of liturgy and music at parishes in Florida and Illinois. He earned the doctorate in ministry with a concentration in liturgical studies from Catholic Theological Union at Chicago in 1999, where he is presently an adjunct faculty member.

Will Breytspraak, the director of the School of Performing Arts and assistant director of music at First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta, will present sight-reading and ear training in the choral rehearsal. From 2003-2007 he directed the choirs at Atlanta’s Pebblebrook High School.

Participants will learn new ways to engage groups of students in an invigorating sight-reading regimen. The practices of this regimen were designed to succinctly address musicians’ individual strengths and weaknesses within a safe and thought-provoking class environment. Each exercise will work in tandem with the methods and melodic material that participants already use, as well as actual choral repertoire.

Jeffrey Tucker, managing editor of Sacred Music, a journal of Catholic music, will lead a seminar entitled “Chant Is for Everyone,” which introduces how chant is the essential musical structure of the Roman Rite and how chant (English and Latin) is the indispensable part of this structure, both in its style and content.

The class will present an accessible approach to Mass propers, ordinary chants, and dialogues with the celebrant, using voice-only music rooted deep in Christian history, with particular attention given to chants of the new translation of the missal.

He is on the faculty of the Sacred Music Colloquium held at Loyola University Chicago, and is a director of the St. Cecelia Schola Cantorum in Auburn, Ala.