Rev Anna Stuttard and Dr Leah Stuttard will lead a day exploring chant in the Western tradition, both ancient and modern.
In the morning, medieval harpist, singer and musicologist, Leah, will introduce medieval chant, showing early notations and leading singing of psalms with their antiphons, focusing on the experience of breathing and how that relates to meditational practices. In monasteries across Christendom, men and women spent their time singing the full book of psalms, cycling through the entire book each week, a kind of hugely long mantra.
Anna will then introduce Taizé chant and lead the group singing some of these easily learnable and repetitive songs. This will allow the development of a different mantra-like meditative state of flow through music. These will be accompanied by Leah on the harp.
Leah and Anna are sisters who began their musical lives singing as choristers in Blackburn Cathedral. This immersion in beautiful music and the Christian faith led one to become a musician and the other to become a priest, but both share a great interest in the other’s area of expertise.
Please joi us for what promises to be an utterly unique day.
