On 14–20 August 2015, for the third time, we are organizing the Extraordinary Music Workshop for singers and instrumentalists interested in contemporary and early liturgical music. This year we are creating a programme that will include even more prayer, liturgy, singing and music. As usual, we invite people who sing or play instruments professionally or as amateurs, and everyone interested in sacred music, contemporary liturgical music, Gregorian chant and Orthodox chant. We especially invite symphonic musicians.

Above all, we want participants to experience the beauty and depth of the liturgy celebrated together during the Workshop. We believe that this experience will help them draw closer to God. The daily catechesis given by the Dominicans is meant to help with engaged participation in prayer. We have included in the Workshop programme services from the traditions of the Western and Eastern Church. One of the days will be devoted entirely to Orthodox church music. That is why we warmly invite people from the Greek Catholic and Orthodox Churches, so that we can share the experience of faith together.

As always, the Workshop consists of two blocks. The first part covers Friday to Sunday (14–16 August), the second Monday to Thursday (17–20 August). Practical classes will be held in subgroups:

• for beginners – men’s and women’s sections,
• for advanced singers – soprano, alto, tenor and bass sections,
• thematic sections: Gregorian chant, leading vocal ensembles, instrumentalists.

The afternoons will be devoted to choir classes, separately at advanced and basic levels. Besides the practical classes, participants take part in the liturgy (Lauds, Vespers and Holy Mass), as well as in concerts and services. This year:

• together with Marcin Abijski andthe Schola Cantorum Minorum Chosoviensis we will solemnly celebratethe Akathist Hymn to the Mother of God (14 August),
• we will hear a concert by Henryk Krawczyk and spend an evening at Tyniec Abbey (15 August),
• we will celebrate the Matins of the Solemnity of St. Hyacinth (16 August),
• we will hear a concert by the Aviaccord ensemble of Tomasz Drabina (17 August),
• as well as a concert by Katarzyna Stroińska-Sierant andJan Adamczewski, jazz musicians improvising on the sequences of chant melodies (18 August),
• we will take part in a vigil using praise and worship music and liturgical music (19 August),
• the Workshop will conclude at theShrine of St. John Paul II in Łagiewniki (20 August).

Workshop participants will be able to visit the exhibition of works of art from the Dominican friary in Kraków, organized as part of the Cracovia Sacra night.

The Workshop aims to broaden knowledge, develop practical skills and form mature faith. Participants are trained so that they can serve with the skills acquired during the Workshop in their own communities – parishes, religious groups and schools.

The classes are led by eminent specialists, composers and active musicians from all over Poland. We bring together the best-known and most respected creators of Christian culture. This year’s classes will be led by: Paweł Bębenek, Hubert Kowalski, Dawid Kusz OP, Rafał Maciejewski, Katarzyna Młynarska, Piotr Pałka, Urszula Rogala, Michał Sławecki, Borys Somerschaf, Jakub Tomalak, Marcin Wasilewski-Kruk, Sławomir Witkowski and Elżbieta Wtorkowska. Talks will be given by Fr. Łukasz Popko OP, and homilies by Fr. Tomasz Grabowski OP and Br. Wojciech Sznyk OP.

Instrumental section

For the second block of the Workshop (17–20 August) we also invite instrumentalists. They will have a total of 18 hours 45 minutes to work on the repertoire: in the morning from 9:00 to 11:30 (with a 15-minute break) and in the afternoon from 14:30 to 17:45 (with a 15-minute break); the exception is the last day, when we work only in the morning from 9:00 to 12:15 (with a 15-minute break). The orchestra will take part in two points of the Workshop programme: during the prayer vigil (19 August) and during the solemn Mass at the Shrine of St. John Paul II (20 August). In connection with these events there will also be room for joint rehearsals of the orchestra and choir.