Since our early history, The Schola Antiqua Chicago Foundation has been involved in providing music and scholarship for the Sounds of Faith initiative, a Chicago-originating blueprint for shared experiences of sacred sounds across cultures. This effort is grounded in the work of Dr. Shakeela Z. Hassan of the Harran Productions Foundation, whose inspiration continues at the Hassan Institute for Interfaith Encounter. The initiative has connected Schola Antiqua to leading sacred sound practitioners including Hazzan Alberto Mizrahi, oud virtuoso Amro Hosny Helmy, and soprano Nell Snaidas, and has provided pathways to collaborative performances at churches, synagogues, and other sacred spaces.

 

We first participated in the documentary for Dr. Hassan's Purpose Prize fellowship in 2007-2008, recording plainchant at the University of Chicago's Bond Chapel.

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In 2015 at the invitation of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan, we began to develop The Sounds of Faith of Medieval Jerusalem, a 70-minute program representing the overlapping medieval traditions of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, first presented at The Met Cloisters. After two sold-out events heralded in The New Yorker and Commonweal Magazine, the program has continued to be produced on several series ranging from The Perimeter Institute near Toronto to Chicago's Oriental Institute and Early Music in Columbus.

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Resources and Links

 

A radio discussion about the series coinciding with a Rochester, NY performance can be heard here. 

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Commonweal Magazine review of the inaugural 2016 Sounds of Faith of Medieval Jerusalem Performance.

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