Holy Cross teacher: Sacred music can speak to us through the centuries

Pictured above:  Craig Matherne accompanies his Holy Cross singers at Mass during Catholic Schools Week. (Photo courtesy of Holy Cross School)

Kids’ Clarion asks music teacher Craig Matherne, the Fine Arts Department chair and middle school choir and high school chorus director at Holy Cross School in New Orleans, about his passion for fostering his students’ appreciation of music.

Was your childhood filled with music?

I grew up singing in the choir of Holy Family Catholic Church in Luling. My mom and dad both participated in music ministry when I was little; they took me with them, so I sang as well. I joined the band at school in fifth grade, the choir in seventh grade and I continued to participate in both until I graduated from Hahnville High.

How did you continue to hone your musical skills?

I had wonderful music teachers who gave me the tools to participate in the All-State Choir and All-State Band. I studied music at LSU and at grad school at the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati. I worked as an assistant conductor for the Greater Baton Rouge Children’s Chorus and later for the Cincinnati Children’s Choir. After grad school, I moved back to Louisiana and had the great pleasure of teaching at my high school alma mater from 2008-20.

What do you enjoy most about singing in choirs?

Finding the unique ways that voices can blend and reinforce each other harmoniously. Sometimes, when we tune a chord or interval carefully, overtones are reinforced in our voices, and it almost feels like an extra voice is singing along with us! I love singing and creating music because it is a way to express texts, emotions and thoughts. Also, it is thrilling to collaborate with others and create art that is impossible to make by oneself!

When did you make music your profession?

I decided to teach music between 2005-07, because I realized that someone should provide the experiences I had had to future generations. I wanted to provide knowledge, skills and understanding to students so they might enjoy music as well. As I taught, I realized that teaching music is a medium through which God might use me to share Scriptures and spiritual texts with others.

Who were your teaching role models?

My first band director encouraged me to try out for the honor band and worked with us outside of class three times a week so that we could reach that goal. One of my high school band directors taught me to listen to music deeply and identify chord progressions. The time he spent building my auditory skills allowed me to excel in my collegiate studies and as a teacher. One of my college conductors expressed his interpretations of music and texts in such dynamic ways that he was able to unify large groups of singers and inspire us to work more diligently than our natural inclinations. His light still illuminates the choices I make today as a teacher!

How does sacred music bolster your faith?

Singing in a choir encourages my faith and relationship with God by allowing me to see how people have interpreted hymn texts and holy Scriptures over centuries with music. The ways composers set hymn texts and holy Scriptures to music give insight into their thoughts and feelings about those texts and their own relationship with God. One example is Tomas Luis de Victoria’s setting of “O Magnum Mysterium” (O great mystery and wonderful sacrament, that animals should see the newborn Lord, lying in a manger). In his setting, Victoria’s music is both modest and filled with wonder. Singing Victoria’s setting allows me to understand a little about his own relationship with God. I suspect he felt awe and perplexity that God would send his only Son to earth – born in a manger, not with royalty around him, but with humble animals. This piece allows me to see another person’s perspective of Jesus’s birth, to communicate with a person, born 400 years before me!

Your wife is a cantor at St. Louis Cathedral. Did music bring you together?

Yes! I met my beautiful wife, Kathryn, in 2012. We were both singing in the New Orleans Opera Chorus, and I had the great luck of being paired with her for a waltz. Kathryn and I enjoyed every minute that we were around each other at rehearsals. We would meet after school, grab a quick bite to eat while we shared the happenings of our days, and then go to rehearsal together. We also sang in the St. Louis Cathedral Choir at that time. In addition to being a Cathedral cantor, Kathryn is in the New Orleans Vocal Arts Chorale. My wife inspires me daily and constantly; she gives unique and wonderful opportunities for her own students to learn and enjoy music. We had our son Daniel in 2018 and he is now a kindergartner at Holy Cross. Daniel and I enjoy attending Mass and “singing with Mommy” from the congregation. In addition to enjoying the typical activities 5-year-olds like to do, he likes to play the piano and create his own songs.

Why is music a vital part of Catholic education?

Music allows us to use our talents to praise God together. As we develop our musical talents – truly any talent – we learn about diligence, perseverance and responsibility to others. I believe music is a medium through which God refines our character and draws us closer to him. I also believe that all students are welcome in music classrooms and that we should adjust our instruction to give beginners the tools, practice opportunities and environment they need to learn and grow. I believe that students who might be labeled as “tone deaf” can learn to sing or play instruments. I also believe the path to their success starts with the teacher finding a pitch that the student naturally matches and growing from that pitch.

What do you enjoy most about teaching at a Catholic school?

Having the opportunity to talk with students about the blessings God has given me, as well as the challenges. When we prepare music for Mass, I think it is wonderful that I can share how experiences in our lives reflect the texts of the hymns.

Could you leave us with some of your favorite pieces, so we can look them up?

William Byrd’s “Ecce virgo concipiet”; Palestrina’s “Missa Papae Marcelli”; Orlando Gibbons’ “Hosanna to the Son of David”; Victoria’s “Lamentations of Jeremiah”; Buxtehude’s “Missa brevis”;  Bach’s “Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140”; Haydn’s “Te Deum”; Mendelssohn’s “Happy and Blest Are They, from St. Paul.”

– Interviewed by Beth Donze