Frank La Rocca’s 2019 Mass of the Americas has been described as “The best piece of liturgical music for the Mass since Duruflé” (Dr. Michael Linton) and “Perhaps the most significant Catholic composition of our lifetime” (Michael Olbash, Music Director of Pope St. John XXIII National Seminary). Scored for SATB choir, organ, strings, guitar, marimba, handbells, and mezzo-soprano soloist, its successes include the October 2022 commercial album release, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard Charts for Classical Music and was recorded by the Benedict XVI Institute for Sacred Music Choir under the direction of Dr. Richard Sparks. This work also highlights music from two traditionally underrepresented communities by using much-loved Mexican mariachi folk hymns as the main melodic material in conjunction with possibly the first known Ave Maria hymn in the indigenous Nahuatl Aztec language. In order to further study this groundbreaking work, Carrillo undertook field research in Mexico City, which included consulting with Nahuatl experts, a 1634 Nahuatl prayerbook, and the 1599 Valdez Codex containing the earliest recorded Nahuatl polyphony. Carrillo’s presentation will showcase this contemporary Mass written in the style of the great Masses from music history. The presentation will also demonstrate the work’s wonderful balance of scholarly depth and accessibility for amateur community/church choirs and thriving university/professional choirs alike. Carrillo’s presentation will look at the key components of this Mass and conference attendees will leave with the tools necessary to incorporate this within a Catholic Mass, a worship service, or a concert setting.
Mass of the Americas – New Directions in Sacred Music
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Richard Carrillo
University of Nebraska Omaha
Dr. Richard Carrillo is an Assistant Professor and Director of Choral Activities at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. An accomplished conductor, singer, educator, and researcher, Carrillo, was a former member of the GRAMMY® award winning Houston Chamber Choir and a recipient of the Tinker Field Research Grant, funding research in Mexico. He taught for nearly ten years at Plymouth, Minnesota’s Providence Academy which included 2016 MMEA and 2018 Midwest ACDA Regional Convention performances. His degrees include the University of Miami's Frost School of Music (DMA), Missouri State University (MM), and the University of Houston’s Moores School of Music (BM).
