Posts By: John Rokosz

A wonderfully energetic group of nearly 30 children and young adults participated in the very first “Chant Camp” at St. John XXIII Parish this month! Campers were introduced to the fundamentals of Gregorian chant, with lessons and activities teaching chant notation, Latin pronunciation, vocal technique, solfege, and modality. To top it off, the campers were invited to perform their newly-learned chants at Sunday’s High Mass on August 20th!

The Schola Cantorum of St. John XXIII Parish would like to acknowledge and thank Christoph Dalitz for sharing his inspirational talent for sacred polyphony. His splendid arrangement of Regina Caeli is a featured track of the schola’s new album, Resurrexit Sicut Dixit.

John will be singing with the St. Vincent Camerata this weekend for a concert featuring the works of Vierne, Faure, and Palestrina. The concert will begin at 7pm Saturday, April 22, in the Saint Vincent Basilica (in Latrobe), and will be repeated at 4:30pm Sunday, April 23, at St. Bernard Church (in Mount Lebanon). Tickets are $10 in advance, and $12 at the door. Please call 724-805-2579 for tickets and more information.

Since the release of their second album in December 2016, the Schola Cantorum of St. John XXIII Parish has reached audiences around the world, earning over 600 streams and digital downloads from the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Canada, Sweden, the Netherlands, Portugal, Argentina, Singapore, New Zealand, and many more!

The Schola Cantorum of St. John XXIII Parish proudly presents their new album: Resurrexit Sicut Dixit! This is the schola’s second album, featuring 20 tracks of Gregorian chant and polyphonic sacred motets from Lent and Easter. Available on physical CD from Amazon, or electronically wherever digital music is sold (iTunes, Spotify, etc). Visit John’s portfolio to hear samples!

White Ball Productions’ short film “Monday” was selected to appear in the 2016 Great Lakes International Film Festival (GLIFF) this month!

White Ball Productions was honored to participate in the 2016 Pittsburgh Independent Film Festival (PIFF) this month! Their film, “Monday,” was screened as a “Made in Pennsylvania” narrative short on Sunday, July 17th. Many thanks to Ron Quigley, and all of the folks at PIFF for their support of independent and local film!

The Schola Cantorum of St. John XXIII Parish is excited to announce that post-production has begun for their second album, which will be a collection of Gregorian Chant and sacred polyphony from the Lenten and Easter seasons.

There are hundreds of books, blogs, and websites that provide tremendous insight into the screenwriting process. But for all the seemingly limitless resources out there, I found myself in need of a clinical, objective, classroom approach to story. Not screenwriting, not movie-making…story. Inevitably, I asked the age-old question: “What makes a story good?” It wasn’t until I read The Anatomy of Story by John Truby that I found an answer that resonated with me…

The Schola Cantorum of St. John XXIII Parish is making waves in the Diocese of Pittsburgh this holiday season. Their Advent/Christmas album, “Christum Natum Adoremus” is being promoted online, in the news, and on the radio!