National Liturgical Music Conference Helps Form Hispanic Music Ministers
Lorena Needham
Director, Office of Worship
Rubbing elbows with Hispanic liturgical music composers, two bishops and a cardinal for three days was heavenly. The 2024 Hispanic Pastoral Music Conference (HPMC) was held July 25-27 at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas. Attendees included about 200 Hispanic musicians, diocesan directors of worship and a cadre of professional workshop presenters.
This was the third time I attended the biennial HPMC; the first was in 2007. Each time I was blessed by the experience of learning first-hand from composers of liturgical Hispanic music. They freely share their wisdom and publicly proclaim their faith through their ministry.
Hosted by the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston and the Southwest Liturgical Conference (SWLC), this was the first HPMC since 2019; the pandemic caused the cancellation of our diocesan efforts to host the conference in 2021, although our ideas were transferred to Texas via Ruth Dillon, previous director of our diocesan Office of Worship and past president of the SWLC, who mentored the Texas organizers over the course of a year.
While the focus of this year’s gathering in Texas, named “Canta tu Fe,” was improving the quality of singing and providing liturgical and musical formation, composer Jaime Cortez connected the conference’s goal with his personal passion: “promoting better Hispanic liturgies and fostering cultural unity through worship.” Cortez, a prolific composer of bilingual liturgical hymns, was born in New York and raised in El Salvador but now lives and ministers in Arizona.
If you haven’t included their music in your Spanish Mass, I strongly encourage you to become familiar with composer-musicians like Rudy and Estela Lopez, Julio De León, Peter Kolar, Dr. Dolores Martinez, and Koren Axel Ruiz. They are published by Oregon Catholic Press in the new hymnal Flor y Canto 4 and by GIA Publications in Celebremos/Let Us Celebrate. Their presence at this conference renewed my passion and hope for the formation of Hispanic musicians in our diocese and beyond.
Their hymns meet the challenges set forth by the keynote speakers and by our own Bishop Oscar A. Solis, who encourages us to celebrate more vibrant worship. His Eminence Daniel Cardinal DiNardo, metropolitan archbishop of Galveston-Houston, presided at Mass in Houston’s Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart. He delivered a homily echoing the message to sing well, select hymns to support the liturgical action, learn the skills of music, be missionary disciples, go forth from Mass as priests, prophets and servants of the kingdom, and be faithful to the heritage of faith from our mothers who taught us to sing to the Lord with all our hearts.
With an engaging smile and holy message, the Most Reverend Bishop Anthony Celino, Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of El Paso, encouraged Hispanic musicians to motivate the assembly to carry out Jesus’ mission of justice and peace. After visiting more than 100 parishes with Mass in Spanish he drew this conclusion: Worship music should not reflect a “saccharin soupy spirituality” but must proclaim a God of justice who cares, loves, protects, and blesses us. Hymns should “evoke in us our discipleship” connecting us with our mission to serve the poor. “This is good acompañamiento (accompaniment)” and also unites us with “the lives of those we serve … making their sufferings and joys our own” because “love of the poor is directly love of God.”
Bishop Celino explained the success of music ministry is not the number of people singing at Mass, but the ability of the music to immerse the assembly in an encounter with the Divine Presence at Mass and “move us to mission.” He closed by acknowledging the essential ministry of musicians to support authentic worship and create “a place deep in our souls where our joy explodes and provokes our mission.”
Dr. Dolores Martinez inspired us with an energetic teaching on the Church’s guidance for music in the liturgy, including the goal of supporting full, active and conscious participation and the judgments required for the selection of hymns. She not only encouraged us to constantly grow in our skills and musical knowledge, but she herself models a life of professionalism and dedication. Dr. Martinez is a liturgical composer, liturgist, musician, columnist and presenter of bi-lingual and Spanish workshops. She has a Ph.D. in Fine Arts, and degrees in performance and music education. She is chairperson of the board of directors for the National Association of Pastoral Musicians and has served as the director of worship for the Archdiocese of San Antonio since 1983.
The final keynote speaker was Peter Kolar, editor for Spanish and bilingual resources at GIA Publications. During the conference, he was recognized with the prestigious Mary Frances Reza Award for his 30 years of dedication to Hispanic liturgical music. Reza, for whom the award is named, is the pioneer and grande dame of Hispanic liturgical music composition in the United States.
Kolar’s talk emphasized that music within the Mass is neither a show nor a competition. It is a way of worshiping God. It takes all our talents to touch hearts in the assembly and help them to praise God. In an original and humorous parody, he sang about the wrong way to practice music ministry. Loud instruments, lyrics with focus on a personal relationship with the Lord, pop rhythms like cumbia and worldly songs have no place in the liturgy, nor do songs highlighting the solo performance of a musician, he said. The “star” of the Mass is Jesus Christ, and the goal of liturgical music is to unite us as the mystical Body of Christ.
Conferences like the HPMC are critical for our formation as music ministers. Should the opportunity arise in the future, please consider attending.
© Copyright 2024 The Diocese of Salt Lake City. All rights reserved.
Stay Connected With Us