Expressing Their Faith Through Music

MUSIC, SWEET MUSIC  Jude Mutebi, Joseph Chie and Abigail Prybicien take their turn playing songs with hand bells during the first Summer Worship Music Camp Aug. 8-12 at St. Andrew the Apostle Parish, Clifton.

CLIFTON   “Rat ta-tat tat. Rat ta-tat tat.”

A group of fourth- to eighth-grade children sits in a circle on the floor of the hall under St. Andrew the Apostle Church here, tapping a rhythm on the tiles with plastic cups while singing the hymn “They’ll Know We Are Christians by Our Love.” The sophisticated beat pauses but for a moment, not giving the kids much time to pass their cups (which they ornately decorated) to each other in the circle. They smile and laugh during this “cup song” exercise, one of many hands-on activities offered at the parish’s first Summer Worship Music Camp held Aug. 8-12 that taught them the fundamentals of music while also encouraging them to lift their voices to sing praise to the Lord.

“I learned more about music — about harmony, how to sing songs in different ways and to how play the hand bells. I also got to hang out with my friends. This was better than sitting home,” said Sophia Refinski, a seventh-grader at St. Andrew the Apostle School, who sings in the parish youth choir, like most of the 12 camp participants. “It also was great that we started with a morning prayer. I learned a lot about my faith, which I really liked,” she said.

Leading the “cup song” activity was Michelle Petrasek, St. Andrew’s director of music and youth ministry, who conceived the idea of the music camp. Helping Petrasek was a team of four high school students from youth ministry who assisted in leading many interactive activities. They included learning about melody, harmony and rhythm, getting to play a musical instrument, writing songs, and playing games. Petrasek scheduled activities in short increments to hold the attention of the children, who either attend St. Andrew’s or public school.

That week, the children not only learned about the fundamentals of music, but also more about their Catholic faith. They colored in pages of Bible verses, decorated their plastic cups for the “cup song” and book marks with religious art, created small replicas of churches and sang many hymns that they hear at Mass. They started each morning by reciting “The Prayer of St. Francis,” which underscored the two-fold mission the music camp, Petrasek said.

“We taught the kids that they are musical instruments because they can sing and play instruments, and that God has called them to be evangelizers, spreading his Word and his peace to their parish, schools and the world,” Petrasek.

Students on the first day learned how to listen attentively to a piece of music: the soft and gentle Pachelbel’s Canon in D. Petrasek asked them, “How does the music make you feel?” In response, the children created paintings, which expressed a wide range of interpretations, including night, rain and abstract images. Also, students interviewed each other to discover what types of music they enjoy, Petrasek said.

On Tuesday, participants learned about rhythm and how to read musical notation. They decorated their plastic cups with their names and with crosses and silhouettes of churches for the “cup song” exercise that they learned. Then, the children selected from large cut-out musical notes on the floor to compose their own songs. Also, they wrote lyrics for the songs that explored such themes as crying and writing songs or told tall tales, such has one about a dog that saves a man’s sandwich. After ward, everyone walked up into the church, where Petrasek played the students’ creations on the piano.

For Wednesday’s lesson, the young people learned about melody and harmony and how to read the musical staff. They also learned the hymn, “This I Believe,” a musical version of the Apostle’s Creed that the youth choir soon will sing at Mass, Petrasek said.

The lesson on Thursday involved students making small replicas of churches with paper crosses, an image of St. Francis, actual small rocks and paper renderings of stone and wood. Then, they learned to play the hand bells — Petrasek’s first push to try to re-establish St. Andrew’s hand bell choir that disbanded more than 20 years ago. She handed each participant a bell with a specific note and pointed to each one as to when to swing the bell to sound that note — an exercise that required each child to listen carefully to the other players and work together. They played “The Prayer of St. Francis,” “Mary Had a Little Lamb” and “Lost Boy,” a song now on the pop charts.

On Friday, the children learned more hymns, decorated tambourines and recapped the lessons that week, said Petrasek, who plans to offer music camp at St. Andrew’s again next year.

One student who enjoyed playing the hand bells on Thursday was Joseph Chie, a fifth-grader at St. Andrew the Apostle School, who also has played piano for the past four years.

“I learned to listen to other players, while playing music,” said Chie, who also enjoyed making the religiously themed crafts. “It made me think more about Jesus,” he told The Beacon.

Helping explain how to play the hand bells to participants that same morning was Kym McGowan, a sophomore at the Aca demy of the Holy Angels, Demarest, who plays piano, sings in the youth choir and played violin.

“Music camp was a chance for kids of different grades to talk to each other,” said McGowan, a 2014 graduate of St. Andrew’s, who helped teach participants chords and attended with her brother, Patrick, a St. Andrew’s seventh-grader, who also plays piano. “We listed to catchy Christian pop songs on Michelle’s computer in between activities and prayed every morning. She did a good job connecting music with faith and explaining that you can express your faith through music,” she said.