Featured Artist: Will Hickl
Our July featured artist is Will Hickl: husband, producer, songwriter, DJ, author and more.
Leading Liturgical Song
Christmas is a feast of restored creation. It is in this context that the Fathers interpret the song of the angels on that holy night: it is an expression of joy over the fact that the height and the depth, Heaven and Earth, are once more united; that man is again united to God. It is the encounter with Jesus Christ that makes us capable of hearing the song of the angels, thus creating the real music that fades away when we lose this singing-with and hearing-with. In the stable at Bethlehem, Heaven and Earth meet. Heaven has come down to Earth. For this reason, a light shines from the stable for all times; for this reason joy is enkindled there; for this reason song is born there.
Featured Artist: Emma Fradd
Emma Fradd first bred music into the world back in 2009 with her debut album ‘Search Party’. It’s been 9 years since Emma released her second studio album ‘How The Other Half Live’ and since then has toured Canada twice over, the later time with her band Interior Castle before their England tour with Luke Concannon. In the past 5 years she has been working with her Dance Pop band Heaps Good Friends, touring Australia a dozen times, helped spearhead an album of Psalms written by songwriters in the Brisbane Archdiocese, and more.
A Parishioner's Guide to Music
At a recent Mass, the Lord humbled me greatly when, at the homily, the priest reflected deeply on the universality of the Church. He shared, “You cannot achieve unity through destruction.” I recognized how often my desire for beauty and excellence in the Church turns militant to a fault, and actually becomes antithetical to the unity God truly desires us to have in this great gift of music.
Serving the Servants: How to Fill the Hearts of Music Ministers
As music directors, we have a duty to steward excellent music, yes, but this has to come first from a care of the person. Musicians who feel crummy, or who are spiritually exhausted, won’t consistently bring excellence to the liturgy. Beyond just the outcome of bringing excellence to the liturgy, though, we care for their personhood because we simply care for their personhood.