Senior Ryan Dillon of Salem, Wis. will host his senior Capstone Mass Saturday, May 3 at 10:00 am CDT in the Saint Joseph’s Chapel. A Sacred Liturgical Music major, Dillon will conduct a choir consisting of several members of the SJC Choirs. The Schola will chant the propers of the Mass. The Mass, featuring music by Italian Renaissance composer Lodovico Grossi da Viadana, falls on the Feast of Saints Philip and James. All are encouraged to attend.
The Most Reverend Joseph N. Perry '71, Auxiliary Bishop of Chicago and an SJC alumnus, will be the celebrant of the Mass, and the Canons Regular of St. John Cantius Church in Chicago will assist with the serving. The SJC Concert Choir and Chamber Singers sang alongside the St. John Cantius Resurrection Choir in Chicago several times during the Fall semester of 2013, and members of both choirs traveled to Italy for a series of Masses and performances in November 2013.
Several circumstances converged to give Dillon the idea for the Capstone Mass. Dillon met the celebrant, Bishop Perry, at the United Catholic Youth Conference in Dublin, Ireland, where Dillon was doing an independent study. Dillon invited him to be the celebrant of the Mass, and Perry graciously accepted.