Children’s Chant Camp
July 13-17, 2026
9:00am-12:00pm daily
St. Mary’s Parish in Charlevoix
1003 Bridge Street
Charlevoix, MI 49720
Open to children ages 8-14
Follow this link to register: https://www.osvhub.com/stmarycharlevoix/forms/chantcamp
Immerse your children in the incredible beauty of our church’s treasury of Sacred Music. Children will be taught technique for singing chant, how to read the square notation and learn new chants and other sacred music throughout the week. They will prepare the music for a final Mass on the last day of camp.
On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday morning there will be an optional Mass at 8:30am before camp begins.
On Friday, July 17th at 11:00am we will have a closing Mass with all the chant camp participants singing. All are welcome to join. Please invite any family or friends who would like to come!
Camp will be held daily from 9:00am-12:00pm with a snack provided in the middle of the morning. Please notify us of any dietary allergies on the registration.
The teachers will be Rita McIntyre and Kirsten Trudeau. They are the founders and directors of the Diocese of Gaylord Gregorian Schola. They are both experts in sacred music and excited to share their love of chant with children throughout our diocese!
Rita McIntyre is an accomplished pianist, vocalist and organist, and is currently the Director of Music Ministries and Communications at Cross in the Woods Catholic Shrine in Indian River, Michigan. She also teaches piano and voice.
Originally from L’Anse, Michigan, she began playing piano at the age of 3, and by the age of 12 was regularly playing at her church and school. She studied piano, voice, and piano pedagogy at Baldwin-Wallace College Conservatory of Music in Berea, Ohio, and continued with vocal studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music.
Rita has previously sung with the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus, the Ohio Chamber Orchestra, and in several early music ensembles. She has also sung with the Schola of the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music in Rome, Italy. She has served as the director for the Great Lakes Youth Choir and as the accompanist for the Little Traverse Choral Society. She has also played keyboard for the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra, many chamber ensembles, as well as in various musicals throughout Northern Michigan.
Rita’s 2025 performances have included a performance with the Northern Michigan Chamber Ensemble and a concert in honor of the Holy Souls at St. Patricks Cathedral in New York City. She is the co-founder and co-director of the Diocese of Gaylord Gregorian Schola.
Rita is married to Reverend Glen McIntyre and lives in Burt Lake, Michigan. They are blessed to have three children and 4 grandchildren. She also has some really nice horses and has added a Dalmatian puppy to their family.
Kirsten Trudeau is a Gregorian semiologist, vocalist, organist and pianist and is currently the Director of Music at St. Mary of the Assumption Parish in Lake Leelanau, Michigan. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Gregorian Chant at the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music in Rome and subsequently a License (Master’s degree) in Gregorian Chant with highest honors under the direction of Dr. Franz Karl Praßl.
Kirsten has preformed numerous concerts of Gregorian chant in Austria, Germany, Poland, Belgium, Hungary, Slovakia, Spain, Italy and parts of the USA as a soloist with the Gregorian Schola and around Italy as a member the Polyphonic Choir of the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music. During her time in Rome, she also sang for liturgies in St. Peter’s basilica, including for the extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy in 2016.
As an organist and director of music, Kirsten has worked in numerous parishes both in the USA and at the Oratory of Caravita and the church of Santo Spirito in Sassia during her time in Rome.
Her recent performances include a concert of Gregorian chant in Assisi Italy, Faure’s Requiem in Springfield Illinois, and a concert in honor of the Holy Souls at St. Patricks Cathedral in New York City. She is the co-founder and co-director of the Diocese of Gaylord Gregorian Schola.
Kirsten is married to Michael Wigton and they have three children and live in Leelanau County.
