The new fall 2019 class of Saint John’s School of Theology and Seminary
Sister Catherine Marie Duenne was featured in the email newsletter of St. John’s School of Theology:
Master of Liturgical Music
Coming to the SOT/Sem from Ferdinand, Indiana, where she is a Sister of St. Benedict at the Monastery of Immaculate Conception, Catherine is seeking a graduate degree in Liturgical Music, with her primary instrument being the organ. Needless to say, she is very excited about the construction of the new pipe organ being installed in Saint John’s Abbey Church.
Catherine grew up in Charleston, Missouri, and earned her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from the University of Missouri- Columbia in 2001. After completing her undergraduate degree, she joined the Monastery of Immaculate Conception and served her community by teaching music for nine years. She taught children from the age of three up through 8th grade. After teaching, she worked for a few years as a music director in parishes in the Ferdinand area as well as continuing to play the organ.
Catherine returned to school at the University of Evansville in 2015 to obtain a degree in Organ Performance, which she completed in May of 2019, just before enrolling at the SOT/Sem. She chose to come to Saint John’s Graduate School of Theology and Seminary not only for the Liturgical Music program, but because of its excellent reputation and high caliber of professors, and because it was a Benedictine institution and wanted those philosophies to be included in her education. She felt right at home immediately, feeling like she hasn’t even left Ferdinand. Once Catherine completes her degree in 2021, she may want to continue teaching, along with applying her learning to her monastery in Ferdinand and continuing to serve local parishes in both music and liturgical areas.
Catherine enjoys the community of the SOT/Sem. In addition to playing the organ and her music studies here in Collegeville, she has joined several choirs associated with the university and is enjoying practicing her singing skills and learning about leading choirs from the conductors for which she sings.