The academic year at Notre Dame is characterized by a prominent list of hallmark liturgies and events for the Folk Choir, each celebrated annually both on campus and abroad nationally and internationally. From the welcoming of new students in the fall to the commissioning of new graduates in the spring, through tours and concerts, and in observing the feast days of the Church, the Folk Choir remains active nearly year-round. Below is the choir’s representative roll call of events celebrated each year.
Folk Choir Tour 2017
2017 Heartland Tour Poster
Liturgies
+ Transfer Student Orientation — Held in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on the Thursday morning leading into orientation weekend in late August, this Mass officially welcomes those students transferring to Notre Dame from other institutions along with their families, introducing and bringing them into the religious facet of the University.
+ Freshman Orientation — On the Sunday morning of orientation weekend, the University welcomes its first-year students and their families into the Notre Dame community with a Eucharistic Liturgy at 10:00 AM in the Joyce Center.
+ Opening of the School Year — With the President of Notre Dame presiding alongside a contingent of Holy Cross priests, the University marks the official beginning of its academic year with a Mass of the Holy Spirit in the Joyce Center during the evening of the first class day in August. Music is provided by a combined choir of numerous campus ensembles, including the Folk Choir.
+ Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe — To commemorate the influx of religious traditions from Latin America, the University marks the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas, every year on December 12th with a bilingual Spanish-English Mass in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart. Music is provided by the Folk Choir in conjunction with Coro Primavera de Nuestra Señora and ND Mariachi.
+ Junior Parents Weekend — Notre Dame hosts Junior Parents Weekend every year in mid-February as a chance to showcase all aspects of the University to the families of current juniors, and a Saturday evening Vigil Mass is a highlight event of the weekend.
+ Feast of St. Patrick — In keeping with its rich connections to Irish heritage, Notre Dame observes the patronal feast of St. Patrick each year on March 17th with a bilingual Gaelic-English Mass in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart.
+ Palm Sunday — At the onset of Holy Week, Notre Dame begins its Palm Sunday celebration with a joyful procession from Bond Hall to the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, where the Liturgy resumes and the tone of the Mass gradually becomes more somber as the community recalls the Passion of the Lord.
+ Holy Thursday — With a commemorative washing of the feet in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, the Folk Choir leads the music for the Holy Thursday evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper.
+ Easter Sunday — The Folk Choir provides the triumphant Easter hymns for two Masses at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart to celebrate the Resurrection of the Lord; one at noon for the Notre Dame community and another at nine o’clock in the evening for the student body.
+ Holy Cross Ordinations — Each year on Easter Saturday in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, the Notre Dame community proudly joins the Congregation of Holy Cross to celebrate the ordination to the priesthood of its current class of seminarians. The Folk Choir is honored to provide music for this beautiful Liturgy.
Concerts, Services, and Pilgrimages
+ Fall Mini-Tour — During the fall semester (usually between late September and early November), the Folk Choir makes a weekend pilgrimage to a regional parish community to offer workshops and Liturgies as one model for music ministry. Visits typically are confined to locations in Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Ohio.
+ Concert for the Missions — Each fall in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, the Folk Choir offers an evening concert following a home football game to benefit the educational, peace-building, medical, and religious efforts of the Holy Cross Missions throughout the world, from Southeast Asia to East Africa to the Caribbean. This year, the concert will be on Friday, November 17th at 8:00 P.M. in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart.
+ Advent Lessons and Carols — The Folk Choir collaborates with the other campus Liturgical choirs on a Sunday evening at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in early December to present a program of prayer, Scripture, and song for the Notre Dame community centered around the preparatory themes of the Advent season.
+ Lenten Vespers — For each of the five Sundays of Lent and Palm Sunday, the Folk Choir provides the music for Vespers, the evening prayer of the Church, at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart.
+ Stations of the Cross — On Fridays during the Lenten season, the Folk Choir provides music for weekly Stations of the Cross in the Basilica of the Sacred heart. This is a wonderful way to conclude the week in prayer and commemorate the Liturgical season at hand.
+ Indiana State Prison Concert — Between Easter & Mother’s Day the Folk Choir visits to Indiana State Prison, a maximum-security institution in nearby Michigan City, to offer their gathered community of men a much-anticipated concert of sacred music.
+ Senior Last Visit to the Grotto — Held in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on the Thursday evening leading into graduation weekend in mid-May, this service of prayer, song, fellowship, and memories of the past four years gives the senior class one last opportunity to come together as a class at both the Basilica and the Grotto.
+ Senior Service Send-Off — On the Saturday afternoon of graduation weekend, the Folk Choir joins the Center for Social Concerns for the Senior Service Send-Off at the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center to acknowledge all those graduating seniors embarking on one or more years of volunteer service and study.
+ Spring Tour — Each year during the final days of May after graduation (and sometimes into the first days of June), the Folk Choir makes a pilgrimage to engage in and promote parish music ministry throughout the globe with workshops for Liturgical ministers, prayer services and Liturgies for local parishioners, and concerts for all seeking spiritual renewal through song. Past tours have included the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Ireland.