NCYC celebrates 20th anniversary with four performances

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July 2, 2019

ncyc and director

Please see the choir’s website for concert and pick-up choir information, videos and photos.

The National Catholic Youth Choir (NCYC) will celebrate its 20th anniversary with a four-city concert tour, including a final stop Sunday, July 14, at Saint John’s Abbey and University Church.

The NCYC will perform a pre-Mass concert at 10 a.m., and then sing during the 10:30 a.m. Mass at the church.

It will be a special performance as the NCYC is inviting back all camp and choir alumnae/i to the Saint John’s University campus to rehearse with NCYC’s original conductor, Axel Theimer, and perform with the 2019 NCYC on July 14.

The alumnae/i reunion will kick off the weekend with dinner, rehearsal and an evening social on Saturday, July 13. Registration for the weekend event can be found online.

The NCYC has hosted more than 300 choristers from across the nation over the course of 20 years on the campus of Saint John’s University and Abbey.

NCYC has had a strong tradition of celebrating beautiful music in the lives of young choristers. The camp is filled with daily rehearsal and prayer, friendship and fun. Choristers tour and perform concerts the last four days of camp.

All concerts are free and open to the public, although a free-will offering will be collected. The 2019 concert schedule includes:

  • Thursday, July 11 – 7 p.m. concert, Cathedral of Christ the King, Superior, Wisconsin.
  • Friday, July 12 – 7 p.m. concert, Good Counsel Chapel, Mankato, Minnesota.
  • Saturday, July 13 – 4:30 p.m. Mass, 7 p.m. concert, Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church, Edina, Minnesota.
  • Sunday, July 14 – 10 a.m. concert, 10:30 a.m. Mass, Saint John’s Abbey and University Church, Collegeville.

NCYC’s auditioned choristers spend nine days (July 6-14) on the campus of Saint John’s Abbey and University rehearsing daily as a unified choir under the conductorship of Saint John’s Boys’ Choir Conductor André Heywood. Heywood is an instructor in the music department at SJU and the College of Saint Benedict.

The NCYC program is led by founding director Fr. Anthony Ruff, OSB, a monk of Saint John's Abbey.