Fr Lee took St Collen’s popular Harmonising the Soul Gregorian Chant workshop to Greenbelt Festival this August, introducing festivalgoers to the extraordinary sound and spirituality of one of Christianity’s most ancient musical traditions.
Greenbelt is one of the UK’s most distinctive Christian festivals, bringing together thousands of people for a vibrant programme of music, arts, spirituality, ideas and social justice.
During the workshop, Fr Lee led participants into the fascinating world of Gregorian chant, exploring its distinctive free-flowing rhythm, ancient notation and contemplative character before bringing voices together in some of the great chants of the tradition.
For Fr Lee, the workshop is about much more than learning an ancient form of church music. Harmonising the Soul explores what happens when we slow down, breathe and allow the human voice, silence and sacred sound to become a doorway into prayer.
And judging by a tent full of people singing the Salve Regina together in a field near Kettering, Gregorian chant is very much alive and well!
Harmonising the Soul workshops will return to St Collen’s this autumn.
