A unique internship in France
“After my confirmation, I felt a call to serve the Lord and his church by music.” For Isabelle Fontaine, it is obvious: she will accompany celebrations to the organ. It must be said that she knows the instrument well. Small, she followed the masses from the stands, alongside her uncle, organist at the Bordeaux cathedral (Gironde).
“As an organist, I live the liturgy of the interior,” explains the holder of the organ of the cathedral of Soissons (Aisne) since 2001. It is a real experience of faith, especially since I am not alone: I collaborate with the priests and the animation team. ” And when she is not at the Cathedral keyboards, the fifties teaches music in college, gives concerts or composed.
For the aggregate professor, organ and faith remain intimately linked. “The organ must not only become a concert instrument,” she pleads. This conviction is also the one that led in the 1960s two priests of Arras (Pas-de-Calais) to create training aimed at teaching young organists the art of supporting the liturgy. On the advice of a friend, Isabelle therefore engages in this course, first as a volunteer professor and then, since 2016, as president of the organizing association.
Excellence teaching
Rich in six decades of existence, this teaching is sheltered every summer in the Diocesan House of Arras. For a week, choral singing and liturgy lessons, situations and rehearsals punctuate the daily life of the participants. This year, no less than 37 young people have registered. To supervise them: fifteen teachers and animators, most of them being former trainees.
“Our internship allows you to learn a know-how that is not taught in conservatories,” says Isabelle. The reputation of Arrageoise training is such that participants – the youngest have ten years – come from all of France. Not without reason: Lucile Dollat, Olivier Latry or Philippe Lefebvre, the biggest names in today’s organ, are themselves old ones. And always at the service of prayer because, as the Vatican Council II affirms, the organ is “the traditional instrument whose sound can add an admirable brilliance to the ceremonies of the Church and powerfully elevate souls towards God and heaven.”
