Episoder
-
In this episode, we discuss the second of Michael DeFrancesco's interviews with Fr. Rivers in the last few years of Riversâ life, recently posted to YouTube. Emily and Eric are joined by Fr. Tom DiFolco, retired priest of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati and fellow friend of Fr. Rivers. The three point out interesting features of the second DeFrancesco interview, especially his comments on the role of priest as a cultic function, discussing Riversâ insights and their broad-ranging implications for worship and the role of priests today. As a bonus, find out what the âDiFolco Death Stareâ is in this engaging conversation on worship, inspiredâas usualâby Fr. Rivers. For Episode 33 Show Notes, click here.
-
In this episode, we discuss the first of the interviews Michael DeFrancesco conducted with Fr. Rivers in the last few years of Riversâ life, recently posted to YouTube. Emily and Eric listen to clips of the interview and discuss their broad-ranging implications for worship today. For Episode 32 Show Notes, click here.
-
Manglende episoder?
-
In this episode, we interview Michael and Martha DeFrancesco, a Cincinnati couple who enjoyed a life-long friendship with Fr. Rivers that can only be described as âfound family.â Martha and Michael share personal memories and wonderful details about Fr. Rivers the man (rather than the legend). They also share a few treasures in the form of footage from interviews Michael conducted with Fr. Rivers in the last few years of his life, allowing us to post them to YouTube for everyoneâs enjoyment and edification. To Michael and Martha, we are eternally grateful. For Episode 31 Show Notes, click here.
-
Weâre still talking about that phenomenal recording of Fr. Rivers and the Hawkins Family in a new episode of MFR! And we talk about so much more as well. Bonus content from our interview with composer and former Church musician Scott Patterson, featured in Episode 29, forms the content of this episode of Meet Father Rivers. Eric tells us more about Afro House, the art collective our guest Scott (and Alisha Patterson) lead. Then Emily, Eric and Scott discuss music ministry, form in art (and when to break it), Earth, Wind & Fire as church music, liturgy as âfolk artâ and how to have church all week. We intersperse more music from the Hawkins Family concert with Fr. Rivers and close with reflections on the importance of leadership in liturgy. Enjoy this eclectic episode of Meet Father Rivers. For Episode 30 Show Notes, click here.
-
Eric and Emily and special guest Scott Patterson discuss a concert Fr. Rivers hosted on August 19, 1971, recorded live at the Detroit Institute of Arts auditorium and produced by the National Office of Black Catholics. The concertâand the week-long workshop that preceded itâwere intended as âan act of freedom on the part of contemporary American Black Catholicsâ to make their âown impact on Catholic worshipâ (Joseph Davis, SM, from the albumâs back cover). The conversation focuses on clips of the concert while touching on Gospel music then and now, the importance of Protestant-Catholic collaborations in building a Black Catholic liturgical aesthetic, music ministry in Black Catholic pastoral settings and, of course, Fr. Rivers and his legacy. For Episode 29 Show Notes, click here.
-
Eric and Emily discuss an archival recording of a Christmas liturgy Fr. Rivers designed and presided over from 1972, then later published in his 1974 book Soulfull Worship. Emily and Eric discuss the recording, play clips, and compare and contrast worship practices from 1972 until now. Fr. Rivers' signature style is on full display in this special Christmas episode of Meet Father Rivers. For Episode 28 Show Notes, click here.
-
Eric and Emily explore a great accomplishment for Black Catholics in the US many years in the making: the Lead Me Guide Me hymnal, published by GIA Publications in 1987. After some background on the hymnalâs development, hosts introduce Marjorie Gabriel-Burrow, who chaired the committee that brought the hymnal to birth. Marjorie, an internationally acclaimed musician and composer, has served the Catholic Church as a pastoral musician since the eighth grade and since 1992 at St. Augustine-St. Monica Parish in Detroit. Marjorie tells stories of a lifetime of making music in the Church as a Black Catholic, including meeting Fr. Rivers and long-time parish use of Riversâ Mass Dedicated to the Brotherhood of Man and the struggles and triumphs of putting together Lead Me Guide Me with collaborators Rawn Harbor and Leon C. Roberts. Hosts and guest discuss Fr. Riversâ decision not to allow the inclusion of much of his music in the hymnal. Marjorie shares her personal remembrances of Fr. Rivers. For Episode 27 Show Notes, click here.
-
Eric and Emily interview a key musical collaborator of Fr. Clarence Rivers: pianist, composer and arranger William Foster McDaniel. Billy recalls meeting Fr. Rivers in Paris in 1966, where both were pursuing graduate studies. He details how he later worked and traveled with Fr. Rivers for years as his pianist and arranger and shares a recording of a song he co-composed with Rivers called "Soul." Finally, Billy and the hosts discuss Fr. Rivers' legacy and the uniqueness of his contributions. For Episode 26 Show Notes, click here.
-
Hosts Emily and Eric catch up after a break from podcasting, sharing the projects and events that kept them busy this summer, including travel to present on Fr. Rivers at the National Black Catholic Congress in the Washington, D.C. area. They introduce the second season of the show with a fascinating, 1968 article from National Catholic Reporter interviewing Fr. Rivers. Rivers' setting of the Creed is also shared and discussed. For show notes for Episode 25, click here.
-
Eric and Emily receive a unique and precious gift: a wedding video recording from 1994 in which Fr. Rivers leads his original Eucharistic Prayer, the Anaphora of the Lion and Lamb. Eric and Emily talk to the bride and groom, Pam and Matt Fellerhoff, about their experience and play audio clips from their memorable celebration. Eric and Emily discuss their reactions to this extraordinary find. For the Episode 24 Show Notes, click here.
-
Emily and Eric examine a new book that contains two essays by Fr. Clarence Rivers: the Black Catholic Studies Reader: History and Theology, recently published by Catholic University of America Press. We speak with editor Fr. David Endres, a priest of Archdiocese of Cincinnati, seminary dean, and editor of US Catholic Historian. We also speak to one of the bookâs contributors, Dr. Cecilia Moore, associate professor of religious studies at University of Dayton. We talk about how the Reader came to be, what it aims to achieve, and how it forms a conversation between newer scholars and those foundational voices, like Fr. Rivers, who paved the way for Black Catholics in the United States. Emily and Eric get big ideas for future projects involving Fr. Riversâ writings, and Fr. David reflects on how Fr. Rivers is remembered among Cincinnati clergy. For Episode 23's Show Notes, click here.
-
Emily and Eric welcome Bro. Louis Canter, OEF, life-long Catholic liturgist, pastoral musician and composer, to the show to talk about an old box of music, slated for destruction, that he found at a pivotal time in his young career. The box was full of colorful music from a publisher called Stimuli, Inc., by a composer named Fr. Clarence Jos. Rivers. Louis tells us about how rescuing that box and playing through it in his free time set a trajectory for his life and career in ministry, helping him understand what it means for music to speak to your very soul. For the Show Notes for Episode 22, click here.
-
Emily and Eric welcome Black Catholic podcasters Nate Tinner-Williams and Lorna DesRoses to Meet Father Rivers to celebrate Black Catholic History Month (November) with the first-ever Rivers Reading Club. Participants discuss one of Fr. Riversâ most provocative and insightful pieces of writing: a chapter called âThe Oral African Tradition Versus the Ocular Western Tradition.â The chapter is available as a free download, compliments of Orbis Books (see Show Notes for the link). We discuss Fr. Riversâ critique of the unexamined cultural forces that cause liturgy in North America to limp: the sight-biased and discursive tendencies of Western European-descended cultures. Hosts and guests share their thoughts on Riversâ ideas in our liturgical current context and discuss whether progress has been made since Rivers first published the piece. For Episode 21's Show Notes, click here.
-
Happy Black Catholic History Month! In this brief but important episode, listeners get oriented to this celebratory month and receive a homework assignment for next episode. But donât fearâthis is homework youâll want to do! The fine folks at Orbis Books have given us permission to share a chapter Fr. Rivers published in the 1998 scholarly collection, Taking Down Our Harps (ed. by Fr. Cyprian Davis, OSB and Diana L. Hayes) entitled âThe Oral African Tradition Versus the Ocular Western Tradition.â This short, fascinating chapter will form the focus of discussion in our next episode. You can access that chapter as a free download (click here for link). Special thanks to Orbis Books. We also discuss what you can do to celebrate BCHM (book recs!), we share a passing of noteâJames E. Mooreâand receive a musical gift from composer Christian Cosas. For the show notes for Episode 20, click here.
-
Emily and Eric continue their conversation with composer Ken Canedo by asking a tough question about whether Fr. Rivers got co-opted and left behind by the White folk movement in the American Catholic Church. Ken provides a thoughtful response that involves (of all things) Catholic missalettes and lack of accompaniment, and discussion turns to the ways Fr. Rivers may have unintentionally hindered access to his own works. We pose Ken our standard question about Fr. Riversâ obscurity, and Kenâs answer is perhaps the most practical weâve received: itâs because his music has long been unavailable. There's more: enjoy this second part of our interview with composer Ken Canedo. For Episode 19 Show Notes, click here.
-
Catholic composer and musician Ken Canedo discusses the influence of Fr. Rivers on his life and career in liturgy and music. Ken is the co-composer (with Bob Hurd) of the Gospel-styled song âAlleluia! Give the Gloryâ. Ken and the hosts talk about the advice Fr. Rivers gave Ken when he met him as a young composer and what elements of Fr. Riversâ compositions Ken still strives to incorporate today. Ken is also a chronicler of the story of contemporary music in the North American Catholic Church since Vatican II, and he has authored two books on that subject; guest and hosts dig into Fr. Riversâ place in that story. Kenâs fascinating, enlightening ideas about Fr. Rivers, his music and his legacy are too much for one episode to hold! Look for part 2 of our interview in Episode 19. For the Episode 18 Show Notes, click here.
-
Eric and Emily interview celebrated Catholic liturgical music composer and liturgy scholar Fr. Jan Michael Joncas, who has penned such classics as âOn Eaglesâ Wingsâ and âI Have Loved Youâ about Rivers as a composer. Fr. Mike shares two of his own compositions for liturgy in which one can hear Fr. Riversâ influence clearly (full songs included). The conversation situates Rivers as an American Catholic composer and highlights Fr. Riversâ historical significance, our changing times, and other composers who inspire Fr. Mike today (some of whom might surprise you). Fr. Mike offers a helpful, hopeful list of essential elements for composing mystagogical liturgical music in our modern age, Eric gives music recommendations and Emily fan-girls over Fr. Mikeâs music (but only a little). Itâs an episode that will interest musicians, composers, and anyone who loves good music. For Episode 17 show notes, click here.
-
Fr. Joseph A. Brown, SJ is our guest on this episode: a Jesuit priest and professor of Africana studies and scholar of Black Catholicism and liturgy. Fr. Brown is a poet, an artist and was a friend and colleague of Fr. Rivers. He tells how he first heard Fr. Riversâ music and shares his belief that Fr. Riversâ scholarly works are an undiscovered gem of American Catholicism. Hosts and guest discuss how we must share Rivers' ideas and legacy in the digital age. Fr. Joseph teaches us about sankofa: a West African, cyclical concept of the cosmos which emphasizes a return to the past to bring forth present and future. He suggests with some urgency that we âdo the sankofa thingâ with the teachings of Fr. Rivers, to renew the Church and empower the people of God. For Episode 16 Show Notes, click here.
-
Emily and Eric conclude their investigation of Fr. Riversâ career teaching high school English and drama at Purcell in Cincinnati. Former Queenâs Man Kenneth Stevens shares his memories of Fr. Rivers as a teacher, director and inspiration for Kenâs long and productive career in the arts. Ken describes Riversâ influence on his own career, contributing to his can-do attitude and his ability to look at situations without prejudice to create amazing results. Ken and the hosts talk about Rivers as a powerful mentor, and finally, Ken describes the scholarship he founded at Eastern Michigan University and why he named it after Fr. Clarence Rivers. For Show Notes for Episode 15, click here.
-
Emily and Eric continue their investigation of Fr. Riversâ career teaching high school English and drama at Purcell in Cincinnati. Fr. Rivers started a drama troupe at Purcell, an all-boys Catholic high school, called the Queenâs Men. 1962 Purcell High School grad Dan Sack sits down with Emily and Eric to tell them about his first-hand experience of Fr. Rivers as a director, teacher and life-long friend. Surprisingly, he also shares how the troupe was broken apart when many of its members became troopers in the Vietnam War. Personal memories and US history intertwine in this not-to-be-missed episode of Meet Father Rivers. For this episode's show notes, click here.
- Vis mere
