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| Scott Turkington channeling his inner liturgical dancer |
So, we’re about to start second day chant session after a traditionally long (looooonnnnnnnggggg) first night and Scott Turkington walks up to me and my bunkmate and sez, “Do you think we ought to re-arrange the seating, it seemed like some of you guys only had a view of my backside?” Scott’s back!
And he’s, as one would expect, at the top of his form! We’ve got a mighty experienced men’s schola with folks from the UK to Uganda taking in not only the thoroughly founded, but humorously grounded expertise of one of the finest chant pedagogues and practicioners on the planet.
I don’t really have to tell Cafe folk about Scott’s breadth of wisdom and knowledge. But there was an very interesting and telliing little anecdote I’ll share from later in the morning. Among the assigned texts to us was one that employs “mihi.” So as we were sight-reading through the whole proper, those of us who’ve trained with Turkington naturally sang “MEE-kee” as many of us had that conversation years ago. But, of course, its phoneme was challenged. Scott really doesn’t seem to want to have to reiterate the pronunciation again, and the inestimable Fr. Christopher Smith chimes in. Scott asks Fr. Smith upon whose instruction does he cite when his choristers in South Carolina challenge the Hebraic/Germanic “ch” as “that’s how we learnt it!” Fr. Smith didn’t miss a beat, he answers, “I have it on authority of SCOTT TURKINGTON.” Hearty laughter ensues!
But, it really is a joy to have him return to colloquium, he compliments the same generosity and levity as well as true devotion to the cause and the faith that folks like Buchholz, Cole, Morse, Donelson, Treacy, (even Meloche!), bring to the sacred treasury table of tunedom.
And while we on other faculty, Scott and many others (myself included) have been truly inspired by the absolute beauty of the advanced women’s schola under Jonathan Ryan.
There were so many new hands raised at Monday’s gala dinner of first time attendees who have no idea what monumental strides colloquium has made in seven years!
And as a brief follow up to my first report from Indy, in talking to the millenial priests, deacons and seminarians who are here in force, these young men to a person absolutely believe what Fr. Smith foretold of his vision of RotR et cetera: pervasive change for the better will be achieved in this country, if not the world, within this century. Amen, young brothers!
