
Workshop: Sacred Music & Race in the American Church
February 27 @ 8:00 am - February 28 @ 5:00 pm

Faculty: Dr. Karen Shadle with Archbishop Shelton Fabre
Dates: Thurs. eve., Feb 27 – Fri. Feb. 28, 2025
Dr. Karen Shadle is a musicologist and Director of the Office of Worship for the Archdiocese of Louisville. Most Reverend Shelton J. Fabre is the Archbishop of Louisville and former chair of the USCCB Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism.
The workshop will also feature a free public concert by Grammy-award-winning ensemble the Fisk University Jubilee Singers, the longest-running choir from a Historically Black College/University. From their founding over 150 years ago, the Fisk Jubilee Singers have been instrumental in popularizing the genre of the spiritual in the US and throughout the world.
Workshop description: This workshop will examine perspectives on race as heard through sacred music, with attention to historical, cultural, and liturgical contexts. Music-making and music-listening are culturally specific and often politically charged activities. Church documents acknowledge the power of music to nurture faith and enrich the liturgy with the gifts of culture. At the same time, the Church calls music to a standard of universality that moves us toward the goal of Christian unity. In grappling with this paradox, students will be encouraged to cultivate an openness to how music shapes and is shaped by one’s identity. Assignments include critical listening, reading, participant-observation, class discussion, and written response. No previous musical knowledge or skill is required.
Leave a Reply