Southcentral youth participate in sacred music camp

St. Michael parish in Palmer hosted a sacred music camp for youth entering grades 3rd through 12th in early August. The parish’s music minister, Ashleigh Hecimovich, organized the event with Rachel Alexander from St. Andrew parish in Eagle River.

Hecimovich said, “Music in the liturgy should always turn our hearts toward God and lift our hearts in prayer. The Church states that the ‘musical tradition of the Church is a treasure of inestimable value,’ greater than any other art! I pray for our congregations to support that and realize how important it is to teach our children the beauty of sacred music” (Second Vatican Council, Sacrosanctum Concilium, chap. 6, sec. 112).

The week-long camp was led by Canticle Programs, an organization directed by Mary Ann Carr Wilson that offers workshops on sacred music around the country. 

Mary Ann Carr Wilson instructs during camp. (Courtesy of Ashleigh Hecimovich)

In May 2025, Alexander organized a two-day workshop for adults and a one-day workshop for youth at St. Andrew’s. Hecimovich advertised the event at her parish.

“After the success and positive feedback from the 2025 workshops, we wanted to invite her back to work with our youth over a longer period of time,” Hecimovich said. To avoid a financial burden on families, St. Michael and St. Andrew parishes raised funds through free-will donation concerts and bake sales offered by the former’s women’s schola (a choir specialized in traditional church music) and the latter’s youth schola. Hecimovich said, “We were able to fully fundraise for Mary Ann and one assistant to come to Alaska. We simply charged a flat $50 per family fee for materials and a camp t-shirt. It worked out really well.” 

70 youth from St. Michael’s, St. Andrew’s, and other parishes attended the camp. Several volunteers helped set up snacks and put together the camp’s final luncheon.

Wilson and her assistant, a trained choral scholar working for Canticle, led camp. Hecimovich and Alexander assisted and helped teach. After Mass each morning, campers went to choir class and wrote prayer intentions on the board.

“A large part of Mary Ann’s work is teaching how we pray the Mass and how we pray through sacred music. So, when a piece is difficult, or we’re feeling challenged, we look at our prayer intentions and offer our challenge for those prayers,” Hecimovich said. 

Hecimovich says the canticle method is “training youth to be mentors and leaders within a choir. As soon as a student learns and is proficient in a piece or knows a part, they are built up to be a student leader and mentor others in the group. She teaches a choir to work together as a singing prayer ‘team.’”

To teach successfully, the differing abilities of students have to be considered. Hecimovich said, “We definitely had different skill levels, from zero experience to high schoolers who could read music and have sung in choir for years. This is where the Canticle method comes into play. As Mary Ann put it, everyone will sing something, but not everyone will sing everything.”

Depending on skill, campers warmed up their voices, practiced scales, solfège (the practice of assigning each note in an octave scale a syllable, i.e. “do re mi fa sol la ti”), ear-training, listening, and matching pitch. More experienced singers learned alto lines. The young men prepared the entrance antiphon chant. For some pieces, the refrain was sung together, but the verses only by capable middle schoolers. 

Breaking up into smaller groups helped each group focus on a different part. 

To prepare for Mass on the last day of camp, participants practiced the Latin chant Mass parts, a communion antiphon, and hymns, including a motet by Palestrina, “Jesu Rex Admirabilis” (Latin for “O Jesus, King Most Wonderful”) sung by the more advanced singers. 

Hecimovich noted that many of the participants are not part of the parish’s regular choirs. Hecimovich said, “Rachel and I both love and have been trained in the ‘Canticle Method.’ I hope this camp helps the children to sing and pray through the music when they attend Mass with their families, and perhaps they will be inspired to join the choir. I hope we helped children see the beautiful heritage the Catholic Church has in Her music.”