In The Heart of Our Music, master practitioners of the art of liturgical music come together to offer enriching insights, a stirring vision, and practical new ideas that will change the way you think about liturgy and liturgical ministry. These reflections are written with the needs of parish liturgists and liturgical musicians in mind. This volume includes reflections on the role of composition, the role of music, the kind of language we use, the missionary dimension of our texts and music, whether esthetic beauty is the only quality needed, and how we think about and name God in the songs we sing. Contributors and their articles include: "A Sacrifice of Praise: Musical Composition as Kenosis" by Alan J. Hommerding; "'The Word Is Near You, in Your Mouth and in Your Heart' Music as Servant of the Word" by Bob Hurd; "The Songs We Sing: The Two Languages of Worship" by Tony Barr; "Moving to Metamelos: A New Heart, a New Church, a New Song" by Rory Cooney; "Beauty and Suitability in Music in the Liturgy" by Paul Inwood; and "From 'God Beyond All Names' to 'O Agape' Images of God in Liturgical Music" by Jan Michael Joncas.

In The Heart of Our Music, master practitioners of the art of liturgical music come together to offer enriching insights, a stirring vision, and practical new ideas that will change the way you think about liturgy and liturgical ministry. These reflections are written with the needs of parish liturgists and liturgical musicians in mind. This volume includes reflections on the role of composition, the role of music, the kind of language we use, the missionary dimension of our texts and music, whether esthetic beauty is the only quality needed, and how we think about and name God in the songs we sing. Contributors and their articles include: “A Sacrifice of Praise: Musical Composition as Kenosis” by Alan J. Hommerding; “’The Word Is Near You, in Your Mouth and in Your Heart’: Music as Servant of the Word” by Bob Hurd; “The Songs We Sing: The Two Languages of Worship” by Tony Barr; “Moving to Metamelos: A New Heart, a New Church, a New Song” by Rory Cooney; “Beauty and Suitability in Music in the Liturgy” by Paul Inwood; and “From ‘God Beyond All Names’ to ‘O Agape’: Images of God in Liturgical Music” by Jan Michael Joncas.

In The Heart of Our Music, master practitioners of the art of liturgical music come together to offer enriching insights, a stirring vision, and practical new ideas that will change the way you think about liturgy and liturgical ministry. These reflections are written with the needs of parish liturgists and liturgical musicians in mind. This volume includes reflections on how the music we sing and play comes across to the people, processes for bringing different cultures together, the way we think about liturgy, and the way we think about ourselves in liturgy. Contributors and their articles include: "How Music in the Liturgy Is Perceived and Received: An Anthropological/Semiological Perspective" by Paul Inwood; "Collecting Harmony: Three Approaches to Cultural Diversity for Worship Music Today" by Ricky Manalo, CSP; "The Mothering Wing: Catholic Imagination and Liturgy" by John Foley, SJ; and "To Be Known as We Are Known: A Possible Future for Liturgical Engagement" by Roc O'Connor, SJ.

In The Heart of Our Music, master practitioners of the art of liturgical music come together to offer enriching insights, a stirring vision, and practical new ideas that will change the way you think about liturgy and liturgical ministry. These reflections are written with the needs of parish liturgists and liturgical musicians in mind. This volume includes reflections on who sings, the kind of music they sing, the acoustic qualities of our worship spaces, the act of singing itself, the sort of idioms we use, the challenges of multicultural music, how we might better evaluate what we do, and music in the US church today. Contributors and their articles include: "With One Voice: The Voice of the Church, the Body of Christ" by Columba Kelly, OSB; "Vox populi: Voice of People, Voice of Thunder" by Steven C. Warner; "Essentially Vocal Music for the Liturgy" by Cyprian Consiglio, OSB Cam; "The Spirit Breathes in the Multiplicity of Liturgical Music Styles" by Lynn Trapp; "Reflections on Multicultural Celebrations and the Composition of Their Music" by Jaime Cortez; "Three Judgments, One Evaluation" by John Foley, SJ; and "Composing for the American Church" by Tom Kendzia.

Arriving in East Harlem, New York City h 1980 with her two young sons, soon after a painful divorce, Roberta Guaspari doesn't know what she will do to support her family and move forward with her life. All she does know is that she has managed to hold on to the 50 violins she bought with her family's savings as part of her dream to be a music teacher. But as the future will prove, these 50 violins, along with Guaspari's unrelenting passion for music and teaching, are the basis for what will become her triumphantly successful program to teach the children of her community the power of music and put hundreds of them on the pith toward personal success. In The Music of My Heart, Roberta Guaspari tells the story of how her ultimate success and that of the children she taught does not come without years of hard work to overcome personal and community adversity. In 1993, Guaspari and her students hold a concert at Carnegie Hall and are accompanied by the world famous violinists Itzhak Perlman and Isaac Stern. East Harlem is only three miles form Carnegie Hall, but the work required to make this journey takes years. In The Music of My Heart, Guaspari takes the reader back to relive her own personal journey, how it becomes entwined with the lives of many of her students, and how together they fight for a future full of hope end music.

For Abby Renard, the plan was supposed to be simple-join her brothers' band on the last leg of their summer tour and decide if she's finally ready for the limelight by becoming its fourth member. Of course, she never imagined stumbling onto the wrong tour bus at Rock Nation would accidentally land her in the bed of Jake Slater, the notorious womanizing lead singer of Runaway Train. When he mistakes her for one of his groupie's, Abby quickly lets him know she sure as hell isn't in his bed on purpose. Jake Slater never imagined the angel who fell into his bed would resist his charms by promptly kneeing him in the balls. Of course, the fact she seems like a prissy choir girl makes her anything but his type. So he is more than surprised when after betting Abby she wouldn't last a week on their tour bus, she is more than willing to prove him wrong. But as Jake's personal life begins to implode around him, he finds an unlikely ally in Abby. He's never met a woman he can talk to, joke with, or most importantly make music with. As the week starts to come to a close, neither Abby nor Jake is ready to let go. Can a sweetheart Country songstress and a bad boy of Rock N Roll actually have a future together?

Music from the Heart follows Emile Benoit, a fiddler from French Newfoundland, through a rapidly changing musical milieu as he moves from a small rural community to international musical and folk festivals. Seeing himself as a representative of French Newfoundland, Benoit viewed his music as an expression of that identity. In Benoit's tunes one finds reference to the people, places, communities, roads, and natural landmarks that have framed his life. The compositions included represent a range of work that evokes his youthful experiences and follow his career as he leaves home, plays with other musicians, and presents his stories to audiences around the world. Quigley has based his study on years of observation of Benoit's compositional practices, his own experiences performing with Benoit, interviews, and analysis of the thoughts and conceptions of the artist himself.

Jean-Michel Pilc, jazz pianist and faculty member of Steinhardt School, New York University, has written a remarkable book about the artistic and creative process in the arts. The conversational style well suits the wide ranging topic which draws examples from art and music both classical and jazz. A beautifully expressed work on a subject otherwise impossible to write about. Hailed by musicians around the world as enlightened and inspirational.

"The music of the heart is a collection of poetry written over a period of thirty years. Many of them resulted from conversations I had with myself or surfaced during periods of relaxation and sleep. Some were inspired by my granddaughters ... Like a personal diary, these poems serve as a reminder of my own identity and awareness. May these poems help others know themselves better and stir up within them a burning desire to utilize their imagination to improve and transform their lives"--Page 4 of cover