When I was fourteen, I began playing at Mass once a month at my home parish, Holy Rosary in Cedar, MI. My older sister, Kirsten, who is also a Church musician, taught me how to plan music that was both appropriate for the liturgical season and fitting for the day's particular set of readings. A year later, Kirsten went off to study at the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music (PIMS) in Rome. This left me as the primary organist at Holy Rosary, a position I held until I graduated from high school in 2019. During that time, I planned music for both the Ordinary and the Extraordinary Forms of the Mass.
In June of 2018 I visited Kirsten in Rome. While I was there, the choir from PIMS went to the island of San Giulio in Northern Italy to sing a concert of Gregorian chant. Professor Prassl, the choir director, said that I could rehearse with them. After the first rehearsal, he invited me to sing the concert with the choir. I gladly accepted. Singing with the PIMS choir opened my eyes to a world of chant I had never been exposed to before. They sang the chant according to semiology, which means that each note gets a distinct value instead of each note being of equal value. It was on that trip that I realized I wanted to study Gregorian chant and its history on a deeper level.
There is such a wide variety of music for the liturgy, including chants, hymns, choral music, propers, Mass settings, and even instrumental music that, when used wisely, can elevate the Mass as a whole. My goal when planning music for the liturgy is to choose music that the congregation can participate in while directing their thoughts and prayers to God.
Leading a church full of people in worship in the liturgy, which is the source and summit of our faith, is something that I’m grateful to be a part of. My favorite part of playing for Mass is when the organ is blaring and everyone in the church is singing their hearts out. I enjoy playing for the on-campus Mass as a way to give back to the community that has given me so many of the parts of life that matter, like real friendships, a deeper relationship with the Lord, and my faith as a whole.
Kelli Trudeau is a junior from Suttons Bay, MI. She is studying Organ Performance and Classical Studies. Kelli works as the organist and music director at a parish near her hometown. At Hope College, she sings in the Chapel Choir. Kelli spent the summer working on a cherry farm.