NEW FACES
Greetings, Floriani faithful!
We have exciting news, so let’s just cut to it—we are thrilled to announce both the addition of two new members and acquisition of a major asset. As most of you know, Floriani was founded a little over two years ago by Giorgio, Thomas, Joe, and myself—singers and teachers, with a little bit of formal business background thanks to Joe. We had a vision for what we wanted to accomplish, a more or less rough outline of how we wanted to accomplish it, and a fervent love for the mission itself. Thanks to God’s providence and the generosity of our beloved supporters, Floriani has traveled the country and beyond, sharing this precious gift of music and tradition to churches, schools, and the online community, making strides in kindling a counterculture of sacred music.
To ensure the roots of this renaissance are firmly established and nurtured, education has always been a vital focus of our work. However, due to our mortal limitations, we can only be in few places and, what’s more, not for very long periods of time. Thus, it had always been our intention to create an online resource, accessible to anyone within arm’s reach of a computer with internet; but to create something of the magnitude we envisioned could take years. Enter Christopher Jasper and his Gregorian Chant Academy.
A childhood friend of Giorgio’s, Chris has been in love with Gregorian chant since a young age, pursuing it relentlessly throughout his youth and adulthood, even having the opportunity to study with renowned masters of the chant in the Abbey of Solesmes in France. Around the same time as we began Floriani, Chris started an online chant course which he called the Gregorian Chant Academy. Garnering a substantial following on YouTube, he has succeeded in creating a community around the learning of Gregorian chant, in addition to the creation of several chant courses on his website. Given the synchronicity of our mission and the complementarity of our focus, and after a few months of deliberation and coordination, we decided to merge our two projects, combining our resources and bolstering both of our missions.
The Gregorian Chant Academy is now officially a division of Floriani, and we have hired Chris as the fifth member of our ensemble. Chris lives in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho with his four children and wife; he will therefore travel to meet with us a few times throughout the year, both to record and to teach at our sacred music collegium. The bulk of his work, however, will be in developing and perfecting the Gregorian Chant Academy’s new online platform, soon to be released (stay tuned!).
Further, the Gregorian Chant Academy is hosting his second annual Online International Gregorian Chant Conference, which will feature lectures by highly respected names in the world of chant, such as Msgr. Alberto Turco and Dr. William Mahrt. The academy will be held September 24th-29th from 3pm to 4pm each day, and the theme of this year is “Preserving and Proclaiming the Faith through Gregorian Chant.” Anyone and everyone is welcome to register and participate. Oh, and Floriani will be capping the conference with a virtual concert. Don’t miss it! For more information and to sign up, visit gregorianchantacademy.com/conference .
We want to welcome Chris to our family in this mission to change the musical fabric of our Catholic culture, and recommend that our supporters brace themselves as we embark with an added engine of creativity, passion, and love for sacred music.
KEEPING IT IN THE FAMILY
In continuation of the groundbreaking news, Chris Jasper is not the only new hire! With the increasing workload of internal and external communications and trip organization, the need for a task manager/assistant/secretary became ever more evident. And the perfect person for the job happens to be my better half.
We are grateful to Sarah Crawley for taking on the job as our organizational assistant. Having just completed two years of teaching the Great Books to high schoolers, we thought her experience in turning scatterbrained teenagers into veritable amateur philosophers fitting to our purposes, and anyways, it's about time Floriani added a touch of that feminine practicality to its daily churnings. Even after just two weeks, her influence on overall productivity and communication is apparent, and we predict her continued incorporation into our operations to be like a healthy spritz of WD-40 to a rusty bike chain.
WHERE WE'VE BEEN
Floriani singing for a concert during in July during Napa Institute's 13th Annual Conference
The men of Floriani with Jim Caviezel in Cincinnati, OH after singing for a private Mass celebrated by Bishop Strickland in a hotel room.
Presenting on the role of sacred music in the liturgy for the students of Bourgade Catholic High School. Shout out to Catholic Community Foundation for funding our work with schools around the Valley!
LENDING A VOICE
Last month, Joe traveled to Princeton University to sing for a sacred music conducting institute hosted by the Catholic Sacred Music Project (CSMP). It was an intense, four-day dive into some beautifully complex repertoire with terrific musicians and conductors from around the country. The impressive faculty included Dr. James Jordan from Westminster, Dr. Timothy McDonnell from Hillsdale, and Gabriel Crouch, alumnus of The King's Singers.
The concluding concert (see below) begins with a heartbreakingly gorgeous setting of the Our Father in Old Church Slavonic. Definitely check it out. Special thanks to Peter Carter, director of the CSMP.
A FRIENDLY REMINDER: The impact of your support
Here's our friend Ronan to share with you what he loves about Floriani.
JERUSALEM Pilgrimage '23/'24
It’s January 2024, and you’re entering an ancient church in an ancient land. The distant din of holy chant draws you deeper into the sacred enclosure. The holy melodies sweep over you, diffusing through sense and soul, awakening that primordial desire to praise the Living God.
This could be you.
Floriani is joining with Holy Land Travel Center to take you on an unforgettable pilgrimage to the sites where our faith was founded. Spots are still available, but rapidly filling up!
For more information, check their WEBSITE
WISH LIST
Thanks to your continued support, Floriani’s mission has picked up speed and continues to grow. With our two additional hires, we are in need of some new tools of the trade, particularly:
a 2024 iPad Pro/Apple Pencil/Logitech iPad Keyboard ($1600) for Chris’s continued development of the Gregorian Chant Academy and his participation as a member of the ensemble
a refurbished 2021 MacBook Pro ($1000) for Sarah’s administrative and creative role.
If you have it in your heart (and your bank account) to fund the purchase of these necessities, please email us at florianisacredmusic@gmail.com
HEY, YOU 🫵
Are you someone who:
1) has connections,
2) likes to volunteer,
3) knows someone with money,
4) has money,
5) wants to make a huge impact?
You know that Floriani is doing so much more than making beautiful music: we are spearheading the undoing of generations of cultural damage. This isn’t just a band. This is a renaissance.
If you have the desire to make an impact — and are sick of watching the culture wars from the sidelines –– book a call with Giorgio at giorgio@floriani.org
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Questions? Feel free to email us anytime at florianisacredmusic@gmail.com.
We are so grateful for your support! Please keep us in your prayers!
- Giorgio, Graham, Joe, and Thomas