You don’t have to compose by yourself. Join in the DSJ Composers’ Forum!ugh

Monday, November 11, 7:00p to 9:00p
Chancery (
1150 North First Street, San Jose, 95112)

We have many liturgical music composers in the Diocese, but we don’t always have a chance to hear each other’s work and give each other feedback. The goal of this composers’ forum is to gather local liturgical composers to do just that so that we can be better at composing music that serves the liturgy and helps the assembly participate more fully in it. Composers of all abilities are invited. Non-composer music ministers are also invited to hear some new music and to give their feedback.

For more information and to RSVP, please contact Diana Macalintal. Please specify if you would like to share one of your pieces. We’ll have time to hear only four or five compositions at each meeting. If we have more compositions signed up for the evening, we’ll have a random drawing to see which pieces we’ll hear at that meeting. But over the months, we’ll make sure that everyone has a chance to share their work and get feedback.

Guest Composer: Rev. Ricky Manalo, CSP

Rev. Ricky Manalo, CSPJoining us will be Fr. Ricky Manolo, CSP, Ph.D., a Paulist priest currently teaching at Santa Clara University and the Jesuit School of Theology (Berkeley, CA). He studied composition and piano at the Manhattan School of Music, theology at the Washington Theological Union, liturgy and culture at the Graduate Theological Union and sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. An accomplished liturgical musician, his music can be found in Catholic hymnals as well as in numerous collections from Oregon Catholic Press. Some of his most well-known compositions include “Ang Katawan ni Kristo,” “Many and Great,”  “Worthy Is the Lamb,” “With One Voice,” “By the Waking of our Hearts,” “Beyond the Days,” and “Mass of Spirit and Grace.”

Some immediate help for composers

At our first gathering, we started looking at these 10 suggestions from Marty Haugen for liturgical music composers. It’s an excellent list for anyone who wants to write for the Church assembly. Also, if you’re on Facebook, check out this amazing conversation about liturgical music composing with so many of our Church’s best current composers! This is a composition class in itself!

Please share this post with your composer friends and let them know about this gathering.