Christine Manderfeld, Director of the Schola
Sister Christine Manderfeld’s mother was a piano teacher and church organist who recognized her daughter’s exceptional talent at a very young age and guided her musical training. In high school she was the recipient of the Adrian Award for musicianship. She studied piano, flute, and voice, graduating with from The College of St. Benedict with a music major. She received her M.A. in Music Education with a flute concentration from the University of Indiana, Bloomington.
Sister Christine conducted parish choirs, taught K-12 school music, and gave private piano lessons for 15 years. For the past 20 years she has taught at The College of St. Benedict: K-12 Music Pedagogy classes for Music Education majors and K-5 Music Fundamentals for Elementary Education majors.
Sister Christine has directed the monastic Schola for about 20 years, often arranging music for SSA and SSAA. She has composed numerous antiphons and hymn descants, several choir motets, and a Mass setting which are regularly sung at liturgy; several of her compositions were included in the Benedictine Book of Song II, published by The Liturgical Press in 1992.
Sisters’ Schola of St. Benedict’s Monastery, St. Joseph, Minnesota
There are currently 36 members in the monastic Schola. They sing for the weekly 10:30 Eucharist and for Eucharist on all major feast days. The Schola has made two recordings, the most recent a CD in 1997, which was self-published, and a cassette in 1989 for The Liturgical Press in Collegeville, Minnesota. Our repertoire, almost entirely liturgical, includes Gregorian chant and 16th century polyphony as well as contemporary motets and arrangements.
The Schola has sung the part of the Angel Choir in three performances of Choose Life, Uvacharta Bachayim, a dramatic oratorio by Mona Lyn Reese. The Scola also sung on the new recording of Choose Life with the San Jose Chamber Orchestra and Chorus. They participate annually in Advent Lessons and Carols, presented jointly by The College of St. Benedict and St. Benedict’s Monastery.