St. Athanasius of Alexandria believed that singing is essentially a spiritual discipline and an important practice in spiritual formation. Singing allows us to use the core elements out of which the world came into being and through which it is sustained: breath, tone, intentionality, and community.
This retreat offers intensive spiritual work on the fundamentals of singing: posture, breath, tone production, and diction. Br. Josép will use a variety of practical methods to help participants find their best tone production and range. Participants will explore the spirituality of singing through a variety of musical styles. All who would like to explore singing as a spiritual practice are welcome, as well as clergy who do not feel comfortable with their singing, those who wish to get in touch with their singing voice, and those who feel out of practice and want to get back into it.
Br. Josép has been a theatre director and voice teacher for more than 25 years. Before entering the Order of the Holy Cross, he worked as a voice teacher and theatre director in NYC for 18 years. He founded The Pied Piper Children’s Theatre of NYC in 1999, and Delphi Theatre in 2004. With those two organizations he produced over 130 plays, musical, and operas, and taught acting, scene study, and musical theatre repertoire classes. As a singer/actor he has performed in operas, oratorios, musical theatre, concerts, recitals, cabarets, and theatrical plays throughout the United States.