Nicole Storey, a graduating AQ senior, will continue her studies under the Golden Dome. She has been accepted into the exclusive Master of Sacred Music program at the University of Notre Dame. Storey was one of only eight students selected for the program for fall 2010. A liturgical music major and a theology minor at Aquinas, she says she has had a lifelong passion for music, and an interest in liturgy “ever since I found out what liturgy was.”

Barbara McCargar, chairperson of the music department and director of vocal studies, notes Storey’s talent as a vocalist as well as with the organ and piano. According to McCargar, Storey is a founding member of AQpella, the women’s on-campus vocal group, and “was voted the outstanding performer last spring by her fellow music students at one of the six studio performance classes.”

The two-year program provides students with a full tuition scholarship and parish placement, comparable to an internship, throughout the duration of study. “The program combines sacramental theology, church history, and a lot of music,” says Storey. Along with three other students, she will have a choral/vocal emphasis of study, while the four others will focus on the organ. According to the program’s page at the university’s website, the sacred music curriculum aims to prepare all participants for “pastoral liturgical music ministry,” with the graduates ready to meet the needs of individual parishes after completing their studies.