Scala is pleased to announce that Margarita Clayton will speak at St. Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park, California, on the evening of Thursday, January 14, 2027 (the exact time is still to be decided). Her talk is titled Sacred Music for the Catholic-Curious: Cosmic Harmony in a Desecrated Culture. Dr. Jennifer Donelson-Nowicka, the seminary's Director of Sacred Music, will host.
Margarita will ask why contemplative forms of music, such as Gregorian chant and polyphony, are drawing people of Protestant and non-Christian backgrounds to morning prayer, vespers, and compline. She will draw on her own experience. Examples include Sarum Vespers at the Princeton University Chapel, which drew 1,000 people, and two days of morning prayer she led at a large ecumenical gathering at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC. She will also describe how she and David Clayton lead mostly Protestant groups in chanting the psalms with simple Gregorian tones, alongside meditation on sacred art.
Her conclusion is a call to Catholic musicians. What some dismiss as “old music” is a living tradition, and a reverent, noble, and accessible liturgy can reach the Catholic-curious today.
We hope to see you in Menlo Park!
