Andrew Junker/CATHOLIC SUN

A 52-member choir, led by Matthew Sprinkle, director of music at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Avondale, led more than 2,000 Catholics in prayerful song during Auxiliary Bishop Eduardo A. Nevares' July 19 episcopal ordination.

In the moments and days following Bishop Eduardo A. Nevares’ ordination at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Avondale last month, Catholics were not solely congratulating the Church’s newest shepherd.

They also applauded the diocesan choir and orchestra for leading them so beautifully into prayer.

Matthew Sprinkle, director of music at St. Thomas Aquinas and conductor for the 17-piece orchestra and 52-member choir, said bishops, priests and the laity sent words of praise. That included some Catholics who joined in the liturgy via its live stream at www.catholictvmass.com.

“The music was glorious,” echoed the general reaction.

“It was just beautiful,” the newly ordained Bishop Eduardo A. Nevares said, noting the “beautiful blend” of styles. “Of course we know that music is not the essential of liturgy, but it does help contribute to worship.”

He noted that the “beautiful blend” of music styles “fleshed out the catholicity of the Catholic Church.”

Los Angeles Cardinal Roger A. Mahony recalls being impressed with Sprinkle’s musical leadership during last year’s Guadalupe Festival in Glendale and told Sprinkle that he “wowed” him again this year.

Perhaps these responses were in part due to the choir’s longevity as a group and in part to several original arrangements used throughout the liturgy.

Sprinkle said the choir -- whose members are in their late 20s to their 70s and live throughout the Valley -- have performed together for the last five years. They’re all professional, degreed musicians too with 14 of them coming from Ss. Simon and Jude Cathedral.

They practiced five days straight before the ordination, but didn’t receive sheet music for the recessional hymn, “O God, beyond all praising,” until just before the liturgy -- when Sprinkle finished composing it.

“I really burned the midnight oil,” Sprinkle admitted. “The last piece was finished Monday morning at 4 a.m.”

“I took a long time making sure it was long and elaborate and sounded just perfect,” Sprinkle said.

The recessional hymn was among five other pieces Sprinkle wrote or arranged for the occasion. He also wrote the antiphons used during a private vespers service on the eve of Bishop Nevares’ ordination.

Sprinkle, who has been involved with Church music since he was 11, also wrote most of the orchestra’s arrangements.

“Every part of the ordination liturgy was inspirational,” Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted said. “Certainly the beauty of the music added to the sense of the sacred and helped us to rejoice in God’s presence.”

A sense of rejoicing is exactly what Sprinkle hoped to bring during the opening recession.

“I was looking for something that was a big mighty sound that brought people to celebrate,” Sprinkle said.

That’s why the seven-verse processional hymn, “The Church’s one foundation,” included “fanfares of trumpets, crescendos of strings so it sounded like a symphony of praise,” Sprinkle said.

That symphony ended up progressing into a second hymn to cover the 23-minute opening procession. Sprinkle had planned for 15 minutes including the 13-minute song with a lot of interludes and modulations, but still came up a bit short for the 350-400-person procession.

The choir and orchestra were on verse five long before the priests began processing down the aisle.

Beyond that, the choir and orchestra’s role in the three-hour liturgy proved successful.

“We need to give super applause to everyone associated with the music,” Bishop Nevares said. “Everybody and everything about the music was spectacular and beauty-filled.”

He said was confident that the music contributed to the solemnity poured out upon all present for the liturgy, whether in person or via the live stream online. Bishop Nevares said Sprinkle excelled at combining music for occasions and for lifting up the spirit.

And that’s a talent that wasn’t just put to good use for the historic ordination of Phoenix’s first auxiliary bishop.

“St. Thomas Aquinas has a reputation locally and nationally for having an excellent music program and wonderful liturgy,” Sprinkle said. He added that some people have equated the 2,000-seat church to “acoustical perfection.”

“My hope during the liturgy, as it is during all liturgies, is that they are not singing as performers,” Sprinkle said. “We are not there to perform. We are there providing musical leadership for those in attendance to participate.”