So You Want to Sing Sacred Music

Matthew Hoch is associate professor of voice and coordinator of voice studies at Auburn University. He is the author of several books, including A Dictionary for the Modern Singer. He holds the BM from Ithaca College, MM from the Hartt School, and DMA from the New England Conservatory. Dr. Hoch is the 2016 winner of the Van L. Lawrence Fellowship, awarded jointly by the Voice Foundation and NATS. He actively performs art song, opera, chamber music, and in professional choral settings.Evan Kent is an oleh chadash ("new immigrant”) to Israel, having moved in the summer of 2013. Previously, he was the cantor at Temple Isaiah in Los Angeles for 25 years, also serving on the faculty of Hebrew Union College (the seminary for the Reform movement of Judaism) for 15 years. Dr. Kent’s publications have appeared in the Journal of Reform Judaism, Sh’ma Magazine, and Conservative Judaism. He also holds a doctorate in music education from Boston University. He is currently on the faculty of Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem, where he teaches classes in both contemporary and historic Jewish music. In addition to his musical and educational pursuits, Evan is an avid runner, having completed multiple marathons and ultra-marathons.Sharon L. Radionoff is director of the Sound Singing Institute, as well as singing voice specialist/voice technologist at the Texas Voice Center in Houston. She is an active clinician, lecturer, researcher and author. She is the author of two books—The Vocal Instrument (Plural Publishing) and Faith and Voice (Inkwater Books)—as well as many articles and book chapters. Dr. Radionoff earned a BME from Eastern Michigan University, a MM from Southern Methodist University, and a Ph.D. from Michigan State University. She also completed a professional fellowship at the American Institute for Voice and Ear Research Center in Philadelphia under Dr. Robert T. Sataloff.Fr. Anthony Ruff, OSB is a monk of St John’s Abbey and associate professor of theology at St John’s University/School of Theology and Seminary in Collegeville, Minnesota. He is the founding director of the National Catholic Youth Choir. He chaired the international committee that wrote the English chant for the 2011 Roman Missal. He has published several books and articles in his specialties of hymnody, Gregorian chant, liturgy, and liturgical music. He is moderator of the popular liturgy blog “Pray Tell.”

• Chapter 1 – Jewish Traditions, Evan KentChapter 2 – Gregorian Chant and Polyphony, Anthony RuffChapter 3 – Contemporary Catholic Directions, Anthony RuffChapter 4 – Sacred Choral Traditions, Matthew HochChapter 5 – Contemporary Christian Music, Sharon L. RadionoffChapter 6 – Singing and Voice Science, Scott McCoyChapter 7 – Vocal Health and the Singer of Sacred Music, Wendy LeBorgneChapter 8 – Using Audio Enhancement Technology, Matthew Edwards

So You Want to Sing Sacred Music covers a great deal of material. For all its breadth, this book definitely possesses depth. Overall, this book forms a good introduction to an enormously complex, and frankly under-appreciated, field of musical performance. RECOMMENDED.