National conference will help diocesan music ministers improve their knowledge and skills

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SALT LAKE CITY — The 2024 Hispanic Pastoral Musicians Conference will be held July 24-27 in Houston, Texas at the University of Saint Thomas, with the theme “Singing your faith: the mission is harmony.” Its purpose is to help participants “learn more about the Catholic liturgy, improve their knowledge and skills for music ministry, learn new music from accomplished composers and gain renewed enthusiasm for excellence in their ministry,” according to https://swlc.org/hpmc.

Lorena Needham, director of the Diocese of Salt Lake City’s Office of Worship, is encouraging local musicians to attend this conference. “In every diocese and for every Catholic, music is an essential part of the liturgy,” she said.

“This conference provides an opportunity to learn about the published music that is available (through showcases by the publishers), by meeting some of the composers, and learning about the Church’s teachings on the proper text and music for the Mass,” she added. “As we have now returned to in-person worship, we need to relearn the basics of liturgical music.”

Most of the presentations at the conference will be given in Spanish, but some will be in English, according to the website.

In Utah, “For Mass in Spanish, in particular, we have people coming together from many different countries,” Needham said, which can sometimes be a challenge because each country has a conference of bishops that sets the rules for liturgy and liturgical music, so “when music ministers from other countries come to the United States, they need to learn the rules guiding liturgy in this country.”

 Musicians also need to “learn which hymns are most appropriate here and which hymnals may be used,” Needham said adding that every four years or so, “hymnals are updated with new compositions. It is important to freshen up and expand the repertoire of hymns to ensure worship is vibrant and meaningful.”

In the Diocese of Salt Lake City, Bishop Oscar A. Solis has asked the faithful to improve their ability to sing, as well as their knowledge of and ability to sing liturgical music, Needham said. “The bishop asks that we work together for more vibrant worship that is holy and reverent, participative and joyful. Music is thus an important aspect of vibrant worship.”

The Hispanic Pastoral Musicians Conference, which is held every other year, is sponsored by the Southwest Liturgical Conference. “These are the same people that put on the bilingual liturgy Study Week each year in late January/early February,” Needham said.

The conference is supported by publishers of liturgical music in Spanish such as the Oregon Catholic Press and GIA Publications. Presenters will include Dr. Dolores Martinez, Jaime Cortez, Stella and Rude Lopez and Peter Kolar, among others.

WHAT: 2024 Hispanic Pastoral Musicians Conference

WHEN: July 24-27

WHERE: University of Saint Thomas, Houston, Texas

Visit https://swlc.org/hpmc-2024 for information and registration.