Parish Music Ministry

"God has bestowed upon his people the gift of song. God dwells within each human person, in the place where music takes its source. Indeed, God, the giver of song, is present whenever his people sing his praises."

      - Sing to the Lord, Music in Divine Worship

The Roman Catholic Church has an incredibly rich and long history of, and love affair with, music.  At IHM, we place high priority on music as a form of prayer.  We are proud of our singing assemblies, for they are the true "choirs" of any liturgy.  Our parish has numerous ensembles that minister to the community at our weekend Masses.

Ensembles for our Masses celebrated in English:  We are fortunate to have many talented musicians volunteering their time and talent as part of the parish music ministry team.  We hope and pray that you will consider becoming a part of this vibrant ministry!

Our Life Teen Ensemble leads the sung prayer at the 5:00 p.m. Sunday evening Mass.  The ensemble rehearses in the church every Sunday afternoon from 3:30 p.m. up until the start of the 5:00 p.m. Mass. This ensemble focuses on contemporary music, and is accompanied by piano, keyboard, guitar, bass, drums and instruments.  

Our Sunday Ensemble sings at one of the two Sunday morning Masses (9:00 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.), alternating the Mass time each month. These musicians rehearse every Wednesday evening (September through June) from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., in the church. There are no auditions, though there is typically an annual interview process, which gives the Director of Music and individual musicians an opportunity to talk one-on-one about progress and yearly goals. No experience is necessary to be involved in the music ministry at IHM, only a willingness to serve the community through your gift of music.

Ensembles for the Spanish Masses:
Spanish-singing musicians have two groups they can participate in:

• The 1:30 p.m. Sunday Spanish Mass ensemble. This group rehearses immediately before Mass and once a month, they meet the second Tuesday from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m.
• The 6:00 p.m. Saturday Vigil Spanish Mass ensemble. This group rehearses immediately before Mass and once a month, they meet the second Tuesday from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m.

Instrumentalists are welcome to join any of our groups, and should have two years of study on their primary instrument in order to play on a regular basis at Mass.  

The O'Neal-Foster Memorial Pipe Organ:
To learn more about our pipe organ, click here.