By Caroline Smith
Music plays an essential role in the celebration of liturgy and a good range of songs can truly enhance the Sunday Mass, according to Centre for Liturgy Music Field Officer, Alessio Loiacono.
For the past two years, Mr Loiacono has been working at the Centre, which is based in Nollamara, where his main role is supporting local parishes in their musical development with workshops and other training.
He said choirs and musicians were often afraid to try out new songs, but could overcome this with guidance and advice.
“I think often people can be frightened to try something new, and I think also they don’t know how to try something new out,” Mr Loiacono said.
He added that to tackle this, musicians and/or music co-ordinators could introduce a new song to parishioners over a number of weeks, firstly by playing its tune during Communion or before Mass, then getting the choir to sing it on their own to familiarise people with the words.
He added that it was also important to make sure that songs accurately reflected the Gospel and other readings.
“Our music should aim to serve the liturgy and the readings of the day or the actions of the Mass; I don’t think that is always understood,” Mr Loiacono said.
Workshops run by the Centre for Liturgy could help parishes with workshops that were targeted specifically to their needs, as well as ones with more general themes, according to Mr Loiacono.
“We select different parishes where we run workshops that anyone can come to, but we’ve also said we’re happy to go out and run a workshop based on a parish telling us their needs,” he said.
“In a few weeks we’re going to have one on how to select music for a funeral, but we’ve set that agenda, no-one has asked us.
“However, last week I visited Balcatta Parish because the priest called me to say that he was getting all the church musicians together and asked could we facilitate a workshop on how to select music.
“The parish creates the agenda and we fit the content to what they need. It’s more about going out to people and doing it with them and giving them strategies.”
Mr Loiacono says his prior experience as a music teacher and a church musician at parishes, including Joondanna, Scarborough, Mt Lawley and an Assistant organist at the Cathedral put him in a good position to understand the needs of local faith communities when it came to liturgical music.
“I’ve been involved in parish music, one way or another since 1990. I started in the Cathedral choir, then I started playing the organ in my parish.
“When I finished school I took on doing the music at Joondanna Parish and I’ve been in several parishes since then,” he said.
“I guess my background has kind of been in the trenches but it’s been a good training field for working at the Centre for Liturgy, because we’re supposed to be in parishes helping people, but you can’t know what challenges people in parishes are experiencing unless you’ve done it yourself.”
In addition to running workshops in and for parishes, Mr Loiacono, writes a weekly column titled “A Coffee with Alessio.” The purpose of him writing the column is to support liturgical musicians by sharing some of his own ideas on what they might be able to do in their parishes and schools. This column is available on the Centre for Liturgy website, and again emphasises his role of supporting musicians “in the trenches,” as well as the need for the Church to engage with the outside world.
Reflecting on the Catholic Worship Book II, which was released in April last year, Mr Loiacono said it provided worshippers with a solid framework for the use of music in the Mass, and underscored the importance the use of both traditional and contemporary music.
“It’s good because if I go to Mass in Adelaide, or Brisbane, or here in Perth, there’s some sort of common repertoire, we’re not all doing our own thing,” he said.
“In terms of how liturgical music is developing, I think we’re trying to find something that’s more sacred than secular in terms of the style of music, but people need to understand there’s room for both traditional and contemporary.
“I think if you’re going to do all contemporary, then you’ve lost our heritage, and if you’re going to do all traditional, then there’s no looking forward.”