Gregorian Chant performance at UM-Presque Isle on Sunday

    PRESQUE ISLE — The University of Maine at Presque Isle’s Wieden Auditorium will be filled with the sounds of Gregorian chanting on Sunday, Nov. 29, at 2 p.m. when a Maine-based vocal artist steeped in the musical tradition offers up an afternoon performance.
    Jay Violette will sing works from the “Feast of the Immaculate Conception,” the “Season of Advent” and selections from “The Nativity of Our Lord.”
    Gregorian chanting dates back earlier than the 10th century in Western Europe. Sung in Latin, Gregorian chanting is defined as an unaccompanied and unmeasured ritual plainsong.
    Violette is the founder and director of the Spiritus Schola Cantorum, a Gregorian chant troupe. A member of Waterville’s Corpus Christi Parish, Violette has participated in Latin masses according to the Tridentine rite in Newcastle, Lewiston and Portland. He has served as cantor for traditional Requiem funeral masses throughout Maine and was recently invited to join the schola at the Cathedral in Boston. He is the author of “The Chant Kit,” a resource for those wishing to learn to chant, which includes a booklet with companion CDs.
    “Jay Violette has roots in northern Maine and is an accomplished singer in the genre of Gregorian chant,” Carol Ayoob, UMPI’s cultural affairs director, said. “What a wonderful opportunity it is to have him return to Presque Isle to offer the Aroostook County community this sacred vocal genre.”
    Tickets are $10 for adults, $2 for students and free to UMPI, NMCC and SAGE students, with proper ID. For more information about this performance, contact the UMPI Cultural Affairs Office at 768-9462.