Beauty gives hope.

Our non-profit organization, the St. Michael Foundation for Polyphony & Chant is named after the archangel whose name is a question that shows his glorifying heart, the heart we should all have toward The Lord: For Who Is Like God?  That is the name Michael.  It was started by a musician and his wife, of ordinary means, and has been blessed with the help of many volunteers and donors.  It was on our hearts for more than a decade before we were able to launch.  We  fundraise in order to help congregations and musicians adore Christ through crowning, reverent music at Mass.  Beauty in the air, in the moment, can build Cathedrals in people's hearts, inspire others to glorify and adore Our Lord Jesus in the Eucharist. If we have helped any soul in the pews sing praises from the heart, we are serving as we hope to. "Glorify The Lord with me, let us together exalt His Name!"- Ps 34. We endeavor to bring love for God through this enthroning music by a variety of means.  Check out our impact section to learn about our online radio station sacredmusic.fm, youth videoconferences, resources, etc. If you have an initiative you would like us to hear about, to spread or to collaborate on, contact us: secretary@polyphonyandchant.org

OUR LOVING DONORS:

We give thanks to the Lord for our donors

who contribute toward this cause of beauty to glorify Him, who deserves all honor!

Without these gifts, our work would be halted.

There are monthly bills to keep the radio station broadcasting in every county in the U.S.A.

We are deeply grateful to our pro-bono volunteers

for their countless efforts and expertise.

They are listed by project on our websites.

We also give thanks to all who share our work.

Blessings to all and to you!

yearly contributors 2015 to 2021

(not all are ongoing, if you have given once you remain on this list

as we securely keep you in prayer…

listed at their highest level given,

whether as part of a fundraising campaign or for a specific project)

Platinum ($5,000 +)

Agnes Bayer

David & Fanny Moran

Christopher & Constanza Mueller

Michael Vitz

Gold ($1,000 +)

Vito (Stephen & Libby)  Giordano

Gregory & Karen Mueller

David & Laura Hayes

Meghan Berry

Jane Reichle

Dan & Annie Schreck

Donna Weiner

Silver ($500 +)

Alyssa & Matt Stachowiach

Bob & Christine Hartenstein

Dwayne & Veronica Boulden

Peter & Amy Kelley

Roberto & Margarita Ucero

Tony Fite

Gerald McGovern

Robert & Jeanine Murphy

Elyse Murphy 

Fr. Adaly Rosado 

Maura Sullivan

Catherine Windels

Palestrina ($200 +)

Jeffrey & Daniela Mazzone

Francine & Christopher Burtt

Michael & Antoinette Schwenk Cosentino

Indrayana & Marlina Rustandi

Ferdinand Velasco

Thomas Heckel

Gail Pelli

Fr. Dennis Williams

Bart & Jessica Baldwin

Gautam Bastian

Christine Frissora

Mark & Barbara Kaplan

Tony Deshetler

Kathy Jennings

Timothy Lock

Nicole Perez 

Julia Sitarz

Victoria ($100 +)

James & Dianne Schiavo

Matthew Yost

Mary Armstrong Bordi 

Dr. Joe McAleer

Chris & Michelle Antenucci

Therese O'Brien

Sarah Rodeo

Celia Batan

Elizabeth Belk

Nathan & Amanda Davis

Michael & Mary Beth De Santis

Maximo DeOleo 

Helena Dewey

Charlotte Gallagher

John Harvey

Amy Heffernan

Steve & Jane Hubbard

Lita Huryn

David Indyk

Theresa Jean-Baptiste

Leila Marie Lawler

William Mahrt

Nora Malone

Christopher & Emily Mancusi

Peter McFadden

Warren McGee

Liam & Melinda O'Brien

Joo-Ok Saeed

Francis Shanne

Doug & Linda Simms

Carolyn Smith 

Andrew & Marie Tallon

Dr. Jeffrey Waxman

Diana Yuan Yuan

Monastic givers ($20 +)

Theodore Doucette

Walter & Peg Rozzi

Scott Rodeo 

Jeanne Schindler

Sullivan Maciag

Hillary Ungerer

Theresa Palumbo

Robert Moffitt

Loyd Neve

Diane Mpour

Bryon Herbel

Timothy Hillyer

Mike O’Connell

Zsuzsanna Angeli

Luis Joseph Apa

Arlin Batan

Paul Bennett

Jonah Bergman

Michelle Daniels

Bruce & Niki Flanders

Brad Goodman

Fr. Brian Graebe

Alicia & Pavo James

Peter Kwasniewski

Alessandro Linardi 

Kathryn Lopez

Art Bryan Manabat

Kelee Marsh

Jean McKnight

Jim & Fran Morlino

Cristina Napolitano

Marianne Palladino

Carol Petrone

SPQRatae

Kati & Peter Serenyi

Karen Stutman

Edward Teixeira

Laura Vanderkam

Peter Walker 

Judith Warner

Filumena Weber

Anthony & Jeanne DiProperzio

Mary & Jerry Jacobs

Mary Jopson

Very Rev. Donald Malin

Lorri Wilson

Collette Cherneskie

Joan Pagel and John Holzschuh

Nora Merriam

Rick Bjella

Elizabeth Booth

Michael Chan

Cheryle Fay Clark

Lianne Coble

Jeff Cox

Elizabeth Derham

Mary Dobson

Matthew DuBroy

Elegantly Casual Cuisine

Theresa Falciano

Janine Falgoust

Kristin Gawley

Renee Gosart

Leslie Graves

Vayla Lamara

Norene Lindsay

Michael  & Crystal Loffredo Bailey

Beverly Swerling Martin

Grace Melton

Jeanette Murphy

Bridget Nixon

Pat & Ken Thompson

Vazquez Family

Frank & Charyn Watson

Simonette & Stephen Wilder

Francisco Aguirre-Duque Estrada 

Karen Anderson

Judy Bell

Jorge Angel Diaz Lopez

Sara Kathryn Giorgis 

Jasmine Kuzner 

Maureen Leone

Jeanne Martin 

Richard Meyer 

Kirk Jay Mueller

AJ Nilson

Steven Ogden

Melinda Ortega Loustalot 

Maria Piliero 

Christine Sarracino 

Katie Ryan Sauser 

Alessandra Scarpa 

Elizabeth Weaver 

Seaun Yong Yoon

Carolina Flores

He Li 

Rodger & Priscilla McCaffrey

Theresa Palumbo

Gianna Ballon

Francis Bertolini

Joelle Brichard

Karen Bronson

William Andrew Earnest

Shaun Garrison

Gail Greenfield

Bill Jones

LaVon LeGrand

Javier Maldonado

Elizabeth Masebo

Heath Morber

Timothy Schoepke

Sofyan

Riza Yuzawa

Therese Rodriguez

Leila Chandler

Carmen Denia

Michael Denis

Carlos Loya

An encounter with beauty is life-changing.

Beauty has a remarkable power.  Think of the soaring arches, towering columns, and spectacular stained-glass windows of Gothic cathedrals.  How they inspire us!  Similarly, the beautiful vocal lines and rich harmonies of polyphony and the mysterious and long-spun melodies of Gregorian chant are two powerful examples of the Church’s music, which can lift hearts and minds to God and help people to pray.

There is a growing interest in this ancient and beautiful music, as well as in modern liturgical compositions which exhibit similar senses of order, reverence, and beauty.  The Christopher Mueller Foundation of Polyphony & Chant aims to offer assistance to those who desire more of this beautiful music to grace their own parishes.  As the Second Vatican Council tells us,

“The musical tradition of the universal Church is a treasure of inestimable value, greater even than that of any other art.”  Sacrosanctum concilium 112

How can we foster a more widespread use of polyphony & chant?

To that end, our Foundation is working on the following initiatives.  Please visit our impact page, where you can see how this work is being enacted. To see our report, click here and program initiatives click here.

We are spreading the love of Our Lord at Mass; evangelizing through the gospel of beauty.

1.   Mustard Seeds, a gathering of youth from every state in the nation and around the world to pray for polyphony at their local parish and to share that desire with other youth who can be inspired by beauty.  Some will be forming choirs to sing at Mass. If you are not ready to sing or are not inclined you can use your smart phone to share the beauty of polyphony with friends using just a click. The plan is to meet online every two months in growing numbers.  We’ve held 7 youth videoconferences. Join us for the next one! So far we have had participants from New York, Utah, Virginia, Connecticut, Louisiana, South Dakota, Ohio, New Hampshire, Texas, Arizona and Poland. Be the first one in your area! We were blessed with the presence of 26 youth in Poland from 4 continents and 7 countries at our first international meeting to promote polyphony at Mass at Tauron Arena Krakow as part of the World Youth Day activities, we shared all matter of ideas, strategies and inspirations to help promote musical beauty in the Mass.

2. Polyphony for the poor, polyphonic missionaries, we hope to offer Masses in hospitals, orphanages, slums, for the homeless...with beautiful polyphony to uplift the hearts of our struggling brethren, those in most need.

3.     Presentations, clinics, concerts, and music for Mass

How can you influence the music at your own parish?  Perhaps you’d like someone to make a presentation to your parish about the history and centrality of beautiful music to the Catholic Mass.  Perhaps you’d like a series of such presentations.  Perhaps you’d like repertory suggestions for the choir you currently sing in.  Perhaps you’d like to bring in a guest conductor to do a workshop with your parish choir, in preparation for the Mass for Sunday or a special parish feast.  Perhaps you’d like to bring in an entire ensemble of professional singers, and even an emcee to guide your acolytes.  Perhaps you’d like to introduce this music to your parish at a concert instead of a liturgy, and allow the music’s own beauty to stir the hearts of all who attend. We hope, over time, to be able to provide all these different types of services, to any parish, seminary or school that asks.

4.      An introductory CD

We are in the final stages of producing a CD featuring both beautiful Renaissance polyphony and some of the modern liturgical works of composer and conductor Christopher Mueller.  We think that you’ll find this disc beautiful and inspiring; it will be a clear demonstration of our vision of music befitting the Mass.   Check back again and order soon!

5.    A starter kit, for parishes to have the resources to begin right away with polyphony.  We have helped people start up with polyphony.  Send us your inquiry, we are happy to serve.

6.      Learn polyphony on your own, with your whole family, or with friends

Isn’t polyphony too hard for ordinary people to sing?  No!  Learn some short and simple polyphonic motets with the help of the Mueller Family Schola. We’ll record the voice parts one by one, and you can pick your favorite part, or parcel them out amongst your family members and friends, practice and sing together.  Go to your local parish and offer your song at Mass. We’ll provide scores, translations, and encouraging audio tracks; eventually, with consistent practice you’ll be able to sing a piece without our assistance.  No musical experience is required to start out.  If you have experience you will go faster. Get together with your family and friends and sing God’s word, as set in beautiful Renaissance counterpoint, the work of the Masters!

7.   Polyphony and chant resource page, an online service to show the many great minds that are working all over the world for this rebirth of beauty.  There are countless sources that wonderful musicians are dedicating their life to.  We gather them to help.

8.   Matching funds for polyphony and chant in your parish, a financial aid to beautify the Mass and to reward the effort of dedicated liturgical musicians.

9.      Chant-A-Day, a subscription service

Every day can begin with chant!  Each day will have a new video, featuring one of the Gregorian chants proper to that particular day or feast.  Each video will begin by going over the text and pointing out moments of “text painting,” where the chant’s melody illuminates or accentuates something particular about the Scriptural passage being sung.  Following these brief remarks, the chant will be sung straight through, with score and translation provided in the video.  Sign up for a free trial and give us feedback; our regular price will be $25/month (less than $1 per day!).  We will eventually add options for Spanish, German, and French subtitles as well.

10.   Serenading Jesus from the Street, we plan appearances of polyphonic choirs singing after Mass as congregations leave their parish.  Many people have never heard polyphony nor chant in the Mass, or anywhere for that matter.  Here is a chance to have it enter their heart as we serenade the Lord who makes every person free.

Our mid-term goals:

To encourage the formation of choirs comprising family and friends, formed to sing polyphony & chant at their local parishes around the world.  We will help provide resources, training, and means for them to meet.

To keep an interactive map with your input, of places of great liturgical beauty.

To foster the skill of sight reading music, starting with interval training.  We can share with you the resources that we use, and with a little effort, you can master this. 

To build a think tank gathering creative minds.

To build an endowment, that this work may outlive us and spread around the world.  We feel called to this: God leads, and we strive to follow.

He has more work for all of us who want beauty…

…there is more.

Christopher Mueller received a Bachelor’s of Music degree from the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music, graduating cum laude with a dual emphasis in classical piano performance and theory/composition with an emphasis in jazz studies. He has done graduate-level work in liturgy and theology at the Institute of Religious Studies at St. Joseph Seminary, Dunwoodie. Over the course of his years of work as a choir director, he estimates that his choirs have sung at least 1,300 different Renaissance motets at Mass, and he has composed more than 200 sacred choral works for the Mass himself. A lifelong Catholic, he has served as organist and choirmaster at the Basilica of St. John the Evangelist in Stamford, CT, and prior to that as Director of Music for the Church of Notre Dame and the Columbia University Catholic Ministry in New York, NY. He has worked with volunteer and professional choirs, with college students and school-age children, with a particular emphasis in polyphony and chant. In addition to his regular Sunday and Holy Day liturgies, his choirs also sang a monthly Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral and numerous First Masses for newly ordained priests across the Archdiocese of New York; offered presentations for the seminarians of St. Joseph Seminary; sang at the annual Mass of Profession for the Sisters of Life, at a pro-life Mass with Cardinal Rigali in Washington, D.C., and for numerous other liturgical events. His choirs seldom repeat music during the church year, nor do they recycle much repertory from one year to the next (with notable exceptions), so that the always-changing musical experience of Mass serves as a reflection of the dynamic love and ever-new experience of Christ in the Eucharist. The motets’ texts come from sacred Scripture: sometimes a setting of the day’s Offertory or Communion proper (typically a passage from the Psalms), sometimes a passage from the day’s readings, and occasionally an Office hymn or other related text. In addition to his musical work, he also spent seven and a-half years coordinating the marriage preparation program for the Archdiocese of New York, during which time he and his wife taught pre-Cana classes to thousands of engaged couples. Christopher is an articulate public speaker who tries to employ contemporary culture to make timeless points. He likes the novels of Tom Clancy and Michael Crichton, and enjoys making his kids laugh and spending time with his wife. He blogs at Corpus Christi Watershed. Please visit his website for more information, to listen to excerpts of his compositions, or to purchase scores.

Beauty is always new.

• Come and join our next youth videoconference, our seventh, November, for youth and run by youth. There might be a second meeting at a different time that day for those across the world. Meet young people from many different places who share their desire for polyphony and chant in the Mass. Hear their ideas, add yours, and become a Mustard Seed, that is what we call ourselves as youth who are praying for this music to come into the Mass everywhere! We have two leaders at the videoconferences, one does not sing at all, but loves this music and feels passionate about it in the Mass and the other sings it regularly. So far we have had participants from New York, Utah, Virginia, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Texas, Arizona, Ohio and Poland. Be the first one in your area! Sign up below and we'll email you instructions on how to take part. All youth are welcome! Parents and siblings are welcome alongside the youth!

From our videoconferences:

"This music sounds like what you would hear when you get to heaven and meet Jesus!"
— Joe, CT

"Singing this music at Mass is a way to witness what we truly believe."
— Molly, NH

"Polyphony and chant are so unlike anything else you can hear on the radio;
this music shows that the Mass is something special, unlike anything else in life!" 
— Catherine, NY

"People would come together more if they heard polyphony at Mass."
— Rachel, CT

"Polyphony at Mass makes me feel awe for God"

— Shayna, VA

"Chant is such a beautiful way to praise God"

— Rosalie, UT

"Polyphony and chant lift hearts and souls to God."
— Millie, NH

World Youth Day - Krakow 2016

We encourage young people to discover the glories of polyphony and chant, in as many ways as they can imagine — from singing in a choir to talking with friends, from listening to recordings to gently lobbying their pastors or choir directors. Our foundation hosts regular online videoconferences/ webinars for young people to swap stories, strategies, and inspiration — see below for more information.

Several of our participants are in the Civil Air Patrol; some of them like horseback riding, basketball, or camping; Scouting, ballet, or Taekwondo; one of them is even a volunteer firefighter! One thing they all agree on, though: polyphony and chant at Mass is the best!

Become a Mustard Seed, A YOUTH WHO CARES AND PRAYS

Dear Lord, open our hearts and minds to Your will. Help us in our mission to beautify The Mass for Your glory. Let our intentions and actions be pure and always in Your Holy Name. Help us implement our talents and virtues in serving You more perfectly. Use us, Your mustard seeds, and show us Your will. In Christ's name, Jesus. Amen. 

Beauty opens the heart.

Audio Samples:

Jocundare  - composer: Jacobus Handl • sung by ARS MUELLER

O sacrum convivium - composer: Hans Leo Hassler • sung by ARS MUELLER

Video Collections:

YouTube Channel - Ars Mueller

The Role of Chant in the Liturgy