Mags GarganThe primary music maker at Mass should be the congregation, Ian Callanan tells Mags Gargan
A choir does not perform at Mass, it “prayforms”, says Ian Callanan, coining a new phrase to explain his vision of a music ministry which gets Catholics singing.
“The choir is there to support the congregational voice, but what happens in reality is that the choir sings and the congregation listens. If we always approach it from a congregation point of view and the choir secondary, that will help us shift our thought process.”
Ian is one of Ireland’s leading composers of liturgical music and travels the country as a concert performer, workshop speaker and retreat leader. He holds an honours masters’ degree in Religion and Culture from Mater Dei, Dublin and an honours degree in Music from NUI Maynooth. Ian is an active member of the Irish Church Music Association and the director of the Emmanuel programme, for the Dublin diocese, and the Seinn programme for the Limerick and Killaloe dioceses, which involve over 3,000 secondary students learning new liturgical music and performing it in concert.
Ian’s latest project is as director of Music Ministry Together, a new national liturgical music formation programme for young people and adult leaders, which he hopes will transform parish music ministry.
Liturgies
“I look at liturgies in Ireland and think we could do so much more. In general they tend to be drab and dreary, and that upsets me because I know the potential that’s there,” Ian says. “I think as an institutional Church, we fail music ministry terribly. I think part of that is that people consider themselves choir members or choir leaders rather than ministers. So they don’t see it as a ministry. But it is just as important as being a Minister of the Word or a Minister of the Eucharist.
“The new course is for choir leaders and members to learn and understand the liturgy. It is primarily about music but there will be other inputs too, with guest speakers talking about scripture or mission and looking at various areas of ministry as a collection. It will also provide new resources for parishes, especially contemporary music.”
Ian has been involved in liturgical music since his early teens in Ballincollig, Co. Cork when he joined the local folk choir at 13. This led him to attend a folk liturgy course which “opened up a whole world”.
“After a week of learning music I came away really enthusiastic about it. Just something about the music really caught my attention. When I came back I decided to try and teach myself guitar and pestered the folk group to let me play guitar. What I loved about it was the various different styles of music. You could have everything from a ballad to something rocky. Also comparing it to pop music, there were more chords and they were more intricate. It was nicer sounding I suppose,” he says.
“From that curiosity got a hold of me. I would see a scripture reference in a song and look it up in the Bible, and then one thing led to another and I started writing songs. I think it just naturally happened that I started writing songs to scripture when I was about 14 or 15.”
Ian taught some of his friends the guitar and they ended up joining local rock bands, but while Ian wrote a few pop songs, he was always drawn to liturgical music and by the age of 18 that is what he concentrated on. “I kept exploring and buying music of the St Louis Jesuits and people like that. Their music was very scripture-based and it drew me in to the scriptures. I was intrigued by the idea of ritual music. I was curious about what happens at Mass and what the various parts of Mass were. It drew me towards religious life and I joined the Dominicans when I was 20 for six years.”
Faith through song
While Ian decided religious life was not for him, he continued to be involved in liturgical music. “I kept writing music, being involved in choirs and expressing my faith through song. I wanted to share what I had learnt – the joy I had found through music. That’s why I started teaching and doing workshops. It’s about getting the resources out there and educating people,” he says.
His involvement in Emmanuel and Seinn has shown Ian how music can introduce young people to the beauty of liturgy. “Young people are used to instant entertainment and they are not very good at quiet time, so music is a good hook to engage them with the Church,” he says.
“If we invested resources into our music ministries, then I think we can start building up our communities again and making them places where people can connect and that means working with congregations as well. I don’t like to go to Mass where I am passive, I want to be active; I want to participate in it. People won’t sing unless you invite them to sing.”
* Music Ministry Together is a new five-day summer school held at Cistercian College Roscrea, for youth and adult leaders who have a passion for liturgical music and the desire to serve as ministers in their parishes, schools and communities. The minimum age to attend the course without an adult supervisor is 15.
It is an experiential course, where the participants not only learn new music but are also introduced to various styles of liturgy, the Eucharist, sacraments and catechesis. Nightly entertainment is provided while afternoon activities range from swimming to football.
The course costs €250 (including course materials, accommodation and all meals). A day attendance rate of €40 is also available. For an application form or more information visit www.musicministry.ie or call 086-249 0779.
Application deadline: July 1.