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Director
Dr. Andrew McShane, director of the University of Notre Dame Women's Liturgical Choir, has been a familiar presence at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart since his appointment to the Basilica staff in 1994. In addition to his work with the Women's Liturgical Choir, Andrew McShane serves as Assistant Organist at the Basilica and Assistant Director of the Notre Dame Liturgical Choir. He is also a member of the Basilica Schola.Andrew McShane earned his Bachelor of Music degree in Organ/Church Music and Vocal Music Education at Wayne State University. There he studied both organ and harpsichord with Prof. Ray Ferguson. At the University of Notre Dame he earned his Master of Music degree in Organ Performance and Literature as a student of Dr. Craig Cramer and Dr. Gail Walton. Andrew earned his Doctoral degree in organ at Northwestern University where he studied with Douglas Cleveland and David Boe. In addition to his Basilica responsibilities, Andrew McShane is a member of the Notre Dame Schola Musicorum -- a group founded in 1991 in the Department of Music that performs chant and other forms of early vocal music. For many years he has taught in the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend Organist Training Program. The program provides music lessons for parish organists in the diocese. Andrew McShane has held organist positions in Livonia, Detroit and Redford, Michigan, as well as in Cedar Grove, New Jersey, and South Bend, Indiana. Most of the time you will find him in the loft of Sacred Heart Basilica either directing a choir, singing with a choir or playing the organ. Assistant Director
Gail Walton has held the position of Director of Music at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart at the University of Notre Dame since 1988.Dr. Walton holds degrees from Westminster Choir College and the Eastman School of Music, where she earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Organ Performance. The Eastman School also awarded her the prestigious Performer's Certificate in Organ. She has studied with David Craighead, Russell Saunders, William Hays and Andre Marchal. Dr. Walton has performed throughout the Midwestern United States and in the summer of 1991 played concerts in the German cities of Bonn, Heidenheim, Mainz and Rottenburg/Neckar. In the summer of 1995 she took the Notre Dame Liturgical Choir on a tour of Italy, including appearances in Florence, Milan, Assisi and Rome. Dr. Walton has taught organ at Goshen College since 1986, and serves as director of the University of Notre Dame Liturgical Choir and the Basilica Schola. She is married to the organist Craig Cramer, with whom she frequently plays duo recitals. |
