Programs and Events
of the Mount Angel Institute

Piano Masterpieces

A Concert by Joseph Schneider

January 5 | 3 pm
Abbey Library

Join us for a variety of great classical piano repertoire featuring works by Chopin, Beethoven, Rachmaninoff, and others!

Program

1. J.S Bach
Prelude and Fugue in C-minor, book two

2. Francis Poulenc
Two variations: number 6 in b-flat major, and number 12 in a-minor

3. Frederic Chopin
Nocturne in C-sharp minor, posthumous

4. Ludwig van Beethoven
Sonata 8, “Pathetique”, opus 13

Intermission

5. Frederic Chopin
Nocturne in E-flat major, opus 9, number 2

6. Sergei Rachmanonoff
Prelude in C-sharp minor, opus 3, number 2

7. Ned Rorem
Two Barcarolles: nos. 1 and 2

8. Frederic Chopin
Scherzo number 2, opus 31

Fellowship: Ecumenical Encounters

Dr. Anna Petrin

January 18, 2025 | 9:15 am – 5 pm
Abbey Library

Join us for a day of ecumenical fellowship, dialogue, and communion focused on the unity of our baptismal identity in Christ, with presentations led by Dr. Anna Petrin reflecting on baptismal themes embraced in the early church and shared by Christians today.

Cost: $30, which can be paid at the door by cash or check.
For registration, please email mai.coordinator@mtangel.edu.

Learning to See:
Discovering the Beauty Around You

with Helen Bouchard

January 25, 2025 | 3 – 4 pm
Abbey Library

Join us with our current artist-in-residence, Helen Bouchard, for a conversation on the value and benefit of art for everyone, why beauty matters, the role of the artist, and how learning to see can enrich your life by finding new connections with beauty that have been lost in our modern culture!

Learn more about artist and art teacher Helen Bouchard.

Christian in the World | Spring 2025 Series

Language of Iconography
Underground Symbols of Christianity

with Christine Schlesser, Director of the Classical Iconography institute

February 22, 2025 | 9:15 am
Abbey Library

Join us for an exploration of how early Christian symbols developed during the age of persecution and the early Church. How did those early Christian images develop into the symbols we understand today?

From underground symbols to sacred windows, early Christian catacomb art used icons to convey the word of God. This four-part series introduces the earliest Christian symbolic art that evolved to convey the theology of the church using the visual language of iconography. We’ll learn how to translate the iconographic language of color, symbolism, and gesture to understand the icon’s encoded message, discuss the performative effect of iconography on becoming an icon of God, and learn how the many beautiful iconographic depictions of Mary invite us to prayer.

Folk Dances at the Abbey

Called by Shaelyn Schneider

March 1, 2025
6:30 – 7 pm social | 7 – 9 pm dancing
Damian Center

Join us for contradances, ceilidh dances, and other folk dances called by Shaelyn Schneider! A social with snacks and refreshments will begin the festivities.

Admission is free.
Ages 13 through adult welcome. Minors must be accompanied by a parent or guardian age 25 or older at all times.

Christian in the World | Spring 2025 Series

Language of Iconography
How Signs & Symbols Speak in Icons

with Christine Schlesser, Director of the Classical Iconography institute

March 22, 2025 | 9:15 am
Abbey Library

What do the positions of figures, colors, gestures, and symbols mean when encountering icons and Christian art? Join us to learn how to read an icon and discover how artwork can be a revelation of the mystery of God.

From underground symbols to sacred windows, early Christian catacomb art used icons to convey the word of God. This four-part series introduces the earliest Christian symbolic art that evolved to convey the theology of the church using the visual language of iconography. We’ll learn how to translate the iconographic language of color, symbolism, and gesture to understand the icon’s encoded message, discuss the performative effect of iconography on becoming an icon of God, and learn how the many beautiful iconographic depictions of Mary invite us to prayer.

From Biber to Bach:
A German Lenten Baroque Concert

March 22, 2025 | 3 pm
Abbey Church

This concert will include solo harpsichord, organ, and chamber works by J.S. Bach, Biber, and Kuhnau.

To register and reserve a seat, please email Br. Anselm Flores at mai.coordinator@mtangel.edu.

Cost: $20 adults 18+ | $10 students | Under age 18 free

Please pay by cash or check at the door. There will be a social with the musicians and guests after the concert.

Program

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 – 1750)

Cello Suite No. 3 in C major, BWV 1009

Sonata for Violin and Obbligato Harpsichord in G major, BWV 1019

The Italian Concerto for two-manual harpsichord solo, BWV 971

Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber (1644 – 1704)

From “The Rosary Sonatas” for violin and basso continuo:

– Sonata No. 1 “The Annunciation”
– Sonata No. 10 “Crucifixion”

Johann Kuhnau (1660 – 1722)

Biblical Sonata No. 1 in C (“The Combat Between David and Goliath”)

Alessandro Stradella (1643 – 1682)

Trio Sonata in D minor

About the Artists:

Emma Simmons is a modern and baroque violinist hailing from Portland, Oregon. She is an active performer and teacher throughout the Pacific Northwest, performing as a core member of the Collier Trio and the Oregon Bach Collegium. Emma has performed with the Oregon Bach Festival’s Berwick Academy and Musicking Conference, the Microphilharmonic and Chamber Music Amici. She has studied internationally these last few summers, attending early music academies with Les Epopées, Les Boréades, Urbino Musica Antica, and the Tafelmusik Summer Baroque Institute in Toronto, Ontario, which she attended as a 2023 recipient of the Early Music America IDEA Workshop Scholarship. Emma performs regularly with the Eugene Symphony and has played with the Cascadia Chamber Opera, Willamette Master Chorus, Oregon Mozart Players, Eugene Opera, and Rogue Valley Symphony Orchestra and the Pacific Northwest Opera. Emma was Assistant Principal Second Violin for the Bellingham Symphony Orchestra from 2017 to 2020. As a soloist, she received third place at the 2021 Music International Grand Prix competition in the young adult strings category. Emma received her Master’s from the University of Oregon and Bachelor’s at Western Washington University. Her previous teachers include Hal Grossman, Grant Donnellan, Charles Castleman, and Carol Sindell.

A native of Taiwan, Dr. Joyce Wei-Jo Chen 陳瑋若 is Assistant Professor of Historical Keyboards at the University of Oregon. She is also a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Music (Historical Musicology) and the Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program in Humanities at Princeton University. Under the guidance of Wendy Heller, Dr. Chen is currently working on her dissertation, “Musica Experientia/Experimentum: Acoustics and Artisanal Knowledge in the Global Seventeenth Century,” which explores the intersection between science, music, and aesthetics involving instrument-making, sensory experience, and the development of acoustical theory. For this project, Dr. Chen spent 4 months working as an apprentice at Zuckermann Harpsichords International—the last harpsichord manufacturing factory in the United States— in Stonington, Connecticut. In addition, she just finished building her first harpsichord from a Troubadour Virginal Kit.

As a solo harpsichordist, Dr. Chen has performed throughout the United States, Europe, and Taiwan. Dr. Chen received the 2018 Individual Artist Fellowship from the Delaware Division of the Arts and was a featured soloist in the 2019 Emerging Artist Showcase by Early Music America. She has performed as a soloist in the Musica Antica Festival in Belgium (2018), the International Normandy Baroque Competition in France (2018), and the Prix Annelie de Man in Amsterdam (2023). In addition, Dr. Chen is releasing her first solo harpsichord album featuring English virginalist music in 2025. Dr. Chen holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Harpsichord Performance from Stony Brook University and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from UC Berkeley.

Outside academia, Dr. Chen is a dedicated church musician with over 13 years of experience. As an organist specializing in the baroque repertoire, Dr. Chen recently received the Colleague certification from the American Guild of Organists. Dr. Chen was baptized as an Episcopalian in 2014 and was confirmed Catholic during Easter Vigil 2023. She is grateful to serve as Music Director at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Mt. Angel since August 2024.

Cellist Annabeth Shirley performs regularly with ensembles throughout the Pacific Northwest, including Seattle Baroque Orchestra, Vancouver Early Music, the Oregon Bach Festival, Baroque Music Montana, and Portland Baroque Orchestra, where she is honored to hold the Ruth K. Poindexter Chair. Annabeth holds a bachelors and masters degree in Baroque Cello from the Royal Conservatory of The Hague and bachelors degrees in Cello Performance and Biology from the University of Michigan. She plays a cello of anonymous origin from approximately 1830, and she currently resides in Salem, Oregon.

Folk Dances at the Abbey Returns!

Called by Shaelyn Schneider

March 30, 2025
5:30 – 6 pm social  |  6 – 8 pm dancing
Damian Center

Join us for contradances, ceilidh dances, and other folk dances called by Shaelyn Schneider! A social with snacks and refreshments will begin the festivities.

Admission is free.
Ages 13 through adult welcome. Minors must be accompanied by a parent or guardian age 25 or older at all times.

Ave Maria, Virgo Serena
A Mount Angel Chamber Choir Concert

April 6, 2025 | 3:30 pm
Abbey Church

Join us for a concert of sacred choral music with the Mount Angel Chamber Choir. The program includes works by Mozart, Josquin des Prez, Rachmaninoff, and Britten. The program will also feature several instrumentalists, the Chamber Choir of the local Chesterton Academy, and the Mount Angel Seminary Choir.

Directed by Dr. Myrna Keough, the Mount Angel Chamber Choir is composed of monks, seminarians, and members of the local community, with the aim of promoting and sharing beauty, art, and culture.

Program

• O Come, Let Us Worship from All Night Vigil by Sergei Rachmaninoff
• Ave Verum Corpus by Michael John Trotta
• Locus Iste by Anton Bruckner
• Ave Maria Virgo Serena by Josquin des Prez
• Laus Trinitati by Hildegard von Bingen
• Since By Man Came Death (from Messiah) by G.F. Handel
• Laudate Dominum by W.A. Mozart
• Ave Maria by Franz Biebl
• And more!

Christian in the World | Spring 2025 Series

Language of Iconography
Becoming an Icon of God

with Christine Schlesser, Director of the Classical Iconography institute

April 12, 2025  |  9:15 am
Abbey Library

Join us for a panel discussion with various individuals from different walks of life—iconographers, artists, and monks! Together, they will explore the idea of how one becomes an “Icon of God.”

From underground symbols to sacred windows, early Christian catacomb art used icons to convey the word of God. This four-part series introduces the earliest Christian symbolic art that evolved to convey the theology of the church using the visual language of iconography. We’ll learn how to translate the iconographic language of color, symbolism, and gesture to understand the icon’s encoded message, discuss the performative effect of iconography on becoming an icon of God, and learn how the many beautiful iconographic depictions of Mary invite us to prayer.

Solemn Way of the Cross & Procession
with the Relic of the True Cross

The monks of Mount Angel Abbey and our Spanish-speaking oblate community invite you to enter more deeply into Holy Week by participating in an outdoor Way of the Cross, with a relic of the True Cross.

Mount Angel Abbey

April 18, 2025  |  Good Friday
9:15 am – 11:45 am

The procession will begin at the bottom of Abbey Drive and conclude at the portico of the Abbey church.

• In many cultures, participants in Holy Week processions customarily wear black or other somber attire. We invite you to join in this tradition for this time of Lenten prayer.
• The praying of the stations will be in Spanish. However, we will do our best to provide bilingual booklets for English-speaking participants.
• We invite you to bring white flowers and greenery, such as lilies, roses, carnations, chrysanthemums, ruscus, or palm leaves to be used to decorate the Abbey church for the Easter Vigil.

Pilgrimage to Turkey
Cities of St. Paul

with Fr. Odo Recker, OSB

May 12 – 25, 2025

This pilgrimage to the cities of Turkey visited by St. Paul is led by Fr. Odo and includes an optional add-on extension of traveling to Greece, May 24 to 28. Space is limited!

Christian in the World | Spring 2025 Series

Language of Iconography
Iconographic Faces of Mary

with Christine Schlesser, Director of the Classical Iconography institute

May 17, 2025 | 9:15 am
Abbey Library

Mary, the mother of God, plays a central role in Christian art, and is portrayed in various ways. What do her faces reveal to us believers? Join us to explore the figure of Mary in the artistic and iconographic tradition of the Church! Various art and icons of Mary will also be displayed in the library foyer during this time.

From underground symbols to sacred windows, early Christian catacomb art used icons to convey the word of God. This four-part series introduces the earliest Christian symbolic art that evolved to convey the theology of the church using the visual language of iconography. We’ll learn how to translate the iconographic language of color, symbolism, and gesture to understand the icon’s encoded message, discuss the performative effect of iconography on becoming an icon of God, and learn how the many beautiful iconographic depictions of Mary invite us to prayer.

Chanting the Roman Missal:
A workshop for priests, deacons, and laity

with Dr. Myrna Keough

May 17, 2025  |  9:30 am – 2 pm
Damien Center

Join us for a workshop on learning how to chant the Roman Missal! All levels of singing ability are welcome. All sessions will be held in the choir room of the Damian center, led by Dr. Myrna Keough.

9:30 am — Session one: Introduction and review of good chanting technique, progressive solemnity, presiding tones, and introductory rites.

10:45 am — Break.

11:00 am — Session two: Chanting the Prefaces and Gospel.

12:00 pm — Midday prayer and lunch in the guesthouse.

1:00 pm — Session three: Chanting the Eucharistic Prayer.

2:30 pm — Workshop concludes

For more information and registration, please contact Br. Anselm Flores at mai.coordinator@mtangel.edu

Fellowship and Ecumenical Encounters

Save the date! details to come.
June 14, 2025

For more information and registration, please contact Br. Anselm Flores at mai.coordinator@mtangel.edu

Bach and Beer: Baroque in the Brewery

June 20, 2025  |  7:30 pm – 9 pm
Benedictine Brewery Taproom

Join us for a small concert at the brewery with talks about Bach, beer, and baroque! Dr. Joyce Chen will be bringing her harpsichord along for an evening at the brewery.

Marian Exhibit

During the month of July, the Abbey library will have a Marian icon exhibit on display in the foyer.

Open during library operating hours.

Mass in B Minor
Oregon Bach Festival

July 5, 2025  |  2:30 pm
Abbey Church

St. Benedict Festival

Feast  |  Pray  |  Meet the Monks

Save the date! Details coming soon.
July 12, 2025

Abbey Bach Festival

The Why’s, How’s, and Where’s of Deep Reading: A Convivium for Bibliophiles

with Rev. Stephen C. Rowan, PhD

August 11 – 13, 2025
Guesthouse & Abbey Library

The Mount Angel Institute is pleased to offer a “convivium” (a “banquet” of presentations and discussion) on Deep Reading, one of the “rich ways” of Benedictine Life. In an age of digital communication and distractions, a decline in the study of the humanities, and with less leisure or encouragement to ponder deeply the wisdom within the pages of a book, the convivium is an opportunity to renew a bibliophile’s commitment to the act of reading.

Presentations and discussion will consider why reading is an irreplaceable way of knowing, especially in a post-Gutenberg, digital age; how to read “closely” in order to see deeply into a text’s meaning and its implications for the reader; and the advantages of  a library for finding books and reading them with pleasure.

Selected texts for discussion will include “Greenleaf,” a short story by Flannery O’Connor; letters and short speeches by Abraham Lincoln; sonnets and short poems by Keats, Wordsworth, Shakespeare, Dickinson and others.

Discussions will be held in the internationally acclaimed Alvar Aalto Library – on the grounds of Mount Angel Abbey – which will be closed to the public during the Convivium.

Meals and accommodations are available at the Mount Angel Guesthouse, please contact Br. Anselm Flores at mai.coordinator@mtangel.edu to make reservations.

Christian in the World | Fall 2025 Series

Save the date! Details to come.

September 20, 2025
Abbey Library

Fellowship of Scholars

Eucharist and Trinity at Source and Form of the Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, Mission

September 29 – October 3
Registration for this event is closed.

An Autumn Organ Concert with Dr. Charles Tompkins

October 4, 2025  |  3 pm
Abbey church

Program to come.

Christian in the World | Fall 2025 Series

Save the date! Details to come.

October 18, 2025
Abbey Library

Christian in the World | Fall 2025 Series

Save the date! Details to come.

November 22, 2025
Abbey Library

Christian in the World | Fall 2025 Series

Save the date! Details to come.

December 20, 2025
Abbey Library