Liturgy and music conference promises to transform through sacrament and song

Several well-known Melbourne liturgists and musicians will be among the presenters at the 2025 National Catholic Liturgy and Music Conference, to be held in Adelaide from 1 to 3 October. Every two years, this vibrant intergenerational conference brings people together from all over Australia and the South Pacific in a different Australian city, with Melbourne last hosting the conference in 2019.

Among the international keynote and workshop presenters are the widely sung Filipino-American liturgist and musician Rev Dr Ricky Manalo CSP and respected US liturgist Rita Ferrone. Australian Rev Dr Richard Leonard SJ will also present a keynote exploring the vital link between liturgy and evangelisation.

Speaking recently on the many gifts of this Jubilee Year, with its theme Pilgrims of Hope, Ms Ferrone observed that liturgy is how we rediscover God’s presence in our communities. Commenting on the depth and beauty of the liturgies of the Triduum, she writes, ‘Liturgy is ordered, but it isn’t always tightly constructed. It’s not an argument. It’s more like poetry. It works as much through the senses of taste and touch and sight and smell as it does through hearing words or thinking thoughts or engaging in meditations.’

A number of sessions at the upcoming conference will be offered by musicians and liturgists from the Archdiocese of Melbourne, including director of music at St Patrick’s Cathedral Dr Philip Matthias, who will be presenting a workshop called Song of this Land.

Dr Matthias will share his own Spirit-led journey of music-making, and of being with and listening to First Nations peoples and the many multicultural Christian communities across the Archdiocese. Through these encounters, Dr Matthias says he has emerged with a deeper understanding of his responsibilities not just as a Church musician but as a human being. He feels privileged to hear the stories of others, and to witness the vibrant Christian faith that animates their lives and music. His workshop will explore this Australian heritage through music and story, and to show how Church music can be ‘the sound of change’.

Liturgy is ordered, but it isn’t always tightly constructed. It’s not an argument. It’s more like poetry.

Melbourne cantor, conductor and educator Larissa Cairns is part of the music team, along with choral conductor and accompanist Jane Murone, for liturgist and musician Fiona Dyball’s workshop Singing Them Home: Music for Catholic Funerals. This workshop will offer a range of beautiful music for Catholic funerals and memorials, and give an outline of this important liturgical form. Beyond music alone, the workshop will explore how music ministry offers a service of care to those grieving at these significant times, walking with people in a profound way. Ms Dyball will also be offering a mini-keynote called Partners in Music Ministry, exploring a principle outlined in the documents of the Second Vatican Council (Sacrosanctum concilium, §115) but that is still to be fully realised in many places around Australia.

Melbourne choral conductor Shanti Michael will offer a workshop that will address practical and pastoral approaches to preserving the living heritage of chant and classical choral music in the liturgy alongside current contemporary and vernacular musical repertoire. Ms Michael holds a Master of Sacred Music from Notre Dame University in the United States and recently received the State Music Camp Victoria Conductors Award from the University of Melbourne. She is the founder and conductor of Melbourne-based vocal ensemble Chorus Ecclesia.

Architectural historian Dr Ursula de Jong, Fr Anthony Doran (executive secretary for liturgy at Australian Catholic Bishops Conference) and Sr Jill O’Brien SGS (chaplain at Yarra Theological Union) will offer a workshop called Places and Spaces of Hope. They will address how a community can create a worship space that is faithful to good liturgical principles, and where their members may be transformed though an encounter with the risen Christ. The workshop will cover basic principles of liturgical design, core liturgical symbols to be included, and changes throughout the liturgical year.

Melbourne musician Gen Bryant will offer a workshop exploring how music can serve as a vibrant tool for fostering faith, leadership and community among young people, inspiring them to discover their voices and become leaders who bring hope and light to their communities. She will highlight how music ministry can be a transformative experience, empowering people to live out their faith with passion and purpose. Ms Bryant will also offer a mini-keynote called Transforming Tomorrow’s Leaders: A Call to Action for Mentors.