An accomplished vocalist and liturgical musician, Francesca LaRosa shared singing tips, stories and more at the diocese’s 2024 retreat for liturgical musicians Oct. 4-5 in Woodruff. (Catholic Herald photo by Anita Draper)
Anita Draper
Catholic Herald staff
When Francesca LaRosa was in high school, she was active in musical theatre but never given a part in any play. Instead, she was always sent to the pit, where her skills as a pianist were needed. But ultimately this disappointment grew into a blessing when she was asked to compose bridges – music bridging the gaps between songs – and that experience blossomed into a passion for musical composition and a career.
LaRosa composed and recorded two albums of liturgical music before finishing high school, then pursued music education at Ball State University. These days, LaRosa is based in Indianapolis; she is a vocalist, pianist, liturgical composer, retreat leader and educator who travels nationally to work with choirs, student groups and liturgical musicians.
The featured presenter at the Diocese of Superior’s 2024 Music Ministry Retreat and Workshop, LaRosa shared her teaching skills and classically trained mezzo-soprano voice, along with a deep and joyful spirituality, with around 70 musicians on Saturday, Oct. 5, at Holy Family Catholic Church in Woodruff.
This is the first time the annual event has taken place in October. Paul Birch, director of the Diocese of Superior’s Office of Worship, said this year’s fall scheduling of the workshop, which has always been in February, will be standard from now on. The retreats will be rotated between Woodruff and Amery to accommodate musicians on both sides of the diocese.
Following a morning prayer service with songs, prayers, the day’s reading and a reflection, LaRosa opened her second presentation by sharing a new song (released that week) published by OCP, “Lord, Make Me An Instrument,” based on the prayer of St. Francis. Then, she advised vocalists on how to prepare for performances.
Given that many participants sing early on Sunday mornings – and voices are lower in the morning – she recommends waiting to drink coffee until after church, because coffee is dehydrating.
“If you can offer it up until after Mass, it’s a game-changer,” she said.
She advises avoiding dairy products until after singing, because they create a frog in the throat, as well as soda and citrus. To achieve a clear tone, morning singers should drink a lot of water the preceding day and avoid getting dehydrated by alcohol the night before.
LaRosa’s professor told her to eat apples, eggs and tea or warm water for breakfast before singing. Apples help clear out the morning frog, and the protein in eggs is filling. Ice water makes throat muscles clench up, so warm or room temperature water or hot tea is better.
To get spiritually prepared, LaRosa recommends coming early for an extra few minutes in the adoration chapel, looking at the readings and praying.
To create the proper stance for singing, she shared her mantra for training children’s choirs: “Feet shoulder-width apart. Knees slightly bent. Chest elevated. Head lifted. Eyes open. Teeth showing. Hands at your side.”
“With our posture, not only are we standing up straight …. ask yourself right now, is my posture glorifying God?” She invited singers to kneel at the correct times, be welcoming and “be a warm presence” for others.
“Breathe in with a smile,” she added. “It will remind you, ‘Do I have joy today?’”
She led musicians in a series of stretches – arm swings, leg bends, trunk twists, arm stretches, finger wiggles, neck massage, rubbing her hands together to warm them and placing them on her face to relax those muscles – all while speaking a series of quick prayers: “Jesus, I’m yearning for you. Jesus, I give you my anxiety. Jesus, I hand over my stress.”
“Singing is my sport,” she tells her athletic friends. She advised her listeners that they need to be prepared. LaRosa shared several pieces of advice she’s gleaned from other presenters: You are the first voice the assembly hears at Mass. Be hospitable, warm, welcoming and clear. Use a board for song numbers to help visitors. Remember that some people at Mass are having the best day of their lives, and some, the worst; some people are returning to the church, and others are on the verge of leaving.
Show reverence for the tabernacle, she continued. Keep in mind when you are the soloist and when you are blending in with the choir. Maintain the flow of the liturgy. Pacing is important, including intentional silence. The vocal chords are halfway between brain and heart; sing with both.
“He must increase, and I must decrease,” she added.
Finally, LaRosa thanked everyone for sharing their God-given talents, and on behalf of their parishes, she thanked music directors for their work and their gifts.
Warm-ups
LaRosa’s vocal warm-ups are free and can be accessed by searching “Vocal Warm-Ups for Choir Members and Cantors” on Youtube. She recommends doing all of them, but dropping out if the notes are too high or too low. She advises singers to start by warming down. Voices are lower in the morning, when “we’re transitioning from sleeping to eating to singing.”
As she took the group through the vocal exercises, LaRosa worked on the physical side of singing – dropping jaws for lower tones, raising eyebrows for higher notes – and reminded the cantors to add more diction and emotion in their singing.
She recommends doing eight minutes of vocal warm-ups several times weekly, or daily if possible, to improve pitch accuracy, tone, vocal range and more.
She spoke of the experience of writing music for Psalm 23, “The Lord is My Shepherd” – she was intimidated by the popularity of the psalm. She had COVID on her birthday, and her mom called her and encouraged her to write it. Envisioning a verdant pasture, restful water and a fluttering butterfly, LaRosa composed the piece, squeaking out the high notes because her voice was gone.
LaRosa’s creative process while composing music for psalms includes a lot of imagining, she said, and she also directed the audience to imagine the scene – from the grassy green meadows to the (stinky) smell of the sheep – as they sang.
A mezzo-soprano, she aims to write singable music, and she is willing to adjust her music to a more comfortable key for tenors or sopranos. She invited listeners to email her if they need one of her works transposed.
LaRosa welcomed a series of attendees to sing in front of their peers, then offered them advice – raise eyebrows to wake up tired facial muscles and to reach higher notes, add diction, work on projecting to increase volume, take a deep breath before signing.
She offers all of her psalms in metered music and chants, and as the morning presentation neared its lunchtime conclusion, she led the group through chant, commenting on how many cantors speed through chants like an auctioneer.
“This is holy text,” she said. ”We can’t rush it.”
Instead, she invited signers to approach the chant like “jellyfish,” in long, legato notes, ensuring every word could be heard. Then, the retreatants went to lunch.
After an afternoon vocal warm-up song, LaRosa played a couple of her pieces in the parish hall, psalms of joy and lament. At her mother’s urging, she wrote a piece in a minor key for Psalm 22, Jesus’ lament on the cross, with dark, driving notes punctuated by the ticking sound of time. She asked attendees to picture Jesus’ posture on the cross and reflect on the pain of his every breath.
“We have to hold on to every single word that Jesus spoke on the cross, because every word is agony,” she said.
LaRosa also played her composition based on Psalm 128 – a psalm that has long been sung at Christian and Jewish weddings, possibly even in Jesus’ time at the wedding at Cana – before the group moved from the luncheon site back to the worship space.
LaRosa said she loves to sing at funerals, offering comfort to grieving families, and she wrote a song in memory of her grandfather, “May the Angels Lead You Home,” which she sang accompanied by an aerophone played by a local musician.
She concluded the retreat by performing several of her published works, including part of a litany she wrote in collaboration with Catholic artist Sarah Hart; “O Trinity, Three in One,” which she wrote to fulfill a request for more songs on the Trinity; and “Sing to the Lord a New Song,” which is for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.
LaRosa’s sheet music can be purchased on her website, francescalarosa.com, and a link to her Youtube videos can be found by scrolling to the bottom of the homepage.
