About Us
Welcome to the website of The Schola Cantorum of the Pacific, founded in 1976 to foster the educational and liturgical Music traditions of the Catholic Church in modern times. This site provides information on current activities of the Schola. The young adults of the Schola are available to present concerts tracing the history of Liturgical Music from earliest times to the present. A special ministry of the Schola is to assist with the Music Education of children in needier circumstances. The Schola itself is a regular cantoral ensemble whose current home church is Saint John Chrysostom Parish in Inglewood, California. The current choir school programs of the Schola are at St. John Chrysostom, and at Assumption School in the Boyle Heights district of Los Angeles.
The Schola was founded by Fr. Ted Ley, SM, D.Mus. of the Society of Mary, the Marianists, and musical associates with the purposes of acquainting Catholics today with many dimensions of what the Second Vatican Council called the Catholic Church’s “treasure of inestimable worth” — its Liturgical and Sacred Music. The Schola itself sings “from Gregorian to Gospel.” Its members reflect the diversity of the Catholic populace of Southern California. United in their cultivation of Liturgical Music, they form a small Christian community in themselves. Fr. Ley continues to direct the Schola, assisted today by Vicente Bastidas-Elizondo.
The name, The Schola Cantorum of the Pacific, is an American registered trademark.
Message from the Director
Last October 8th the Schola entered its 40th anniversary year with a flourishing adult cantorale, and the foundation of the long-hoped-for choir school program, the Escolanía Pacífica, at Assumption School in the Boyle Heights district of East Los Angeles. A special event at the conclusion of last year was our adult ensemble’s all a cappella performance in the City of Riverside Festival of Lights at the historic Mission Inn on December 20th.
Under the able tutelage of their choirmaster, Vicente Bastidas, Schola Assistant Director, the Escolanía children have excellent treble tone and are advancing in music sight-reading. The children's repertoire includes such concert music as, J.S. Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring;" the Spanish Ave Maria of the California Missions by Padre Durán; César Franck's "Panis Angelicus;" the Dona Nobis canon sometimes attributed to W.A. Mozart; California's State Song; the popular classic, "Solamente una Vez (You Belong to My Heart)," a wide variety of hymnody, and attractive recent popular songs in both English and Spanish. Schola Business Manager, Julio Maldonado, is teaching Classical Guitar, the principal musical instrument the Escolanía children are studying. Our choir school program is named after the world's oldest choir school, the Escolanía of Monserrat, Spain. Our Escolanía rehearses and performs in a classroom converted into a black box theater. Programs in preparation include, "Music of the Children of Early California," and "The Art of the Chid Chorister." Our pedagogy is based on tried and proven techniques of child vocal and musical training, including exercises dating from Medieval and Renaissance eras of Music Education, through the Baroque, Classical, Romantic and Twentieth Century musical epochs. Our hope is that this seamless sense of Music as a Wisdom - uniting Faith and reason in the choral art - will motivate toward a variety of edifying and gratifying life's vocations in the choir children, just as it unites our Schola adults as a musical family.
We are extremely grateful to the new benefactors who have enabled the Schola to advance so promisingly. This 40th anniversary year is seeing full establishment of the Schola as a purveyor of great Sacred Music for now and the future. The establishment of this choir school program for children of East Los Angeles, completes the founding of The Schola Cantorum of the Pacific by way of its mission and ministry.
The motto of the Schola is, “Celebrent Te Populi Deus,” from Psalm 67, which we translate as, “May the Peoples praise you, O Lord, may all the Peoples praise you.” The Schola sings a wide variety of music - "From Gregorian to Gospel." This we now hope to teach to the next generation, through the Escolanía Pacífica, in a needy Los Angeles district where world class Music Education in an already excellent parochial school will be all the more relevant and appreciated.
May the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit be glorified in all –places through the Immaculate Virgin Mary.
Fr. Ted Ley, SM, ChM, DMus (Marianist) Founder-Director
Example of a Schola Concert
This concert was presented at Old Mission San Fernando Rey, Mission Hills, California, Sunday, April 29th, 2007. The Concert traced the history of Christian Church Music for small ensemble.