The Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music or Pontificio Instituto de Música Sagrada (P.I.M.S.) is an institution of higher education of the Roman Catholic Church

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

 specifically dedicated to the study of sacred music

Religious music

Religious music is music performed or composed for religious use or through religious influence.A lot of music has been composed to complement religion, and many composers have derived inspiration from their own religion. Many forms of traditional music have been adapted to fit religions'...

. It is based in Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

.

History

The Institute was established by the Holy See

Holy See

The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...

 and Pope Pius X

Pope Pius X

Pope Saint Pius X , born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto, was the 257th Pope of the Catholic Church, serving from 1903 to 1914. He was the first pope since Pope Pius V to be canonized. Pius X rejected modernist interpretations of Catholic doctrine, promoting traditional devotional practices and orthodox...

 in 1910. The institute was established as a body dedicated to teaching and performing sacred music.

On 23 September 1914, Pope Benedict XV

Pope Benedict XV

Pope Benedict XV , born Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista della Chiesa, reigned as Pope from 3 September 1914 to 22 January 1922...

 referred to the institute as part of the legacy left to him by his predecessor saying he would support and promote it in the best way possible. Pope Pius XI

Pope Pius XI

Pope Pius XI , born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, was Pope from 6 February 1922, and sovereign of Vatican City from its creation as an independent state on 11 February 1929 until his death on 10 February 1939...

's Motu Proprio, Ad musicae sacrae (22 November 1922) confirmed the connection between the institute and the Apostolic See

Apostolic See

In Christianity, an apostolic see is any episcopal see whose foundation is attributed to one or more of the apostles of Jesus.Out of the many such sees, five acquired special importance in Chalcedonian Christianity and became classified as the Pentarchy in Eastern Orthodox Christianity...

.

With the Apostolic Constitution Deus scientiarum Dominus of 1931, the institute, retitled, the "Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music", was included among the ecclesiastical academic institutes.

Students of note

• France Ačko
  France Acko
  France Ačko was a Slovenian musician, organist and composer of sacred music. He studied music with Srečko Koporc and in Rome at the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music...
  
  
• Fabrizio Barchi
  Fabrizio Barchi
  Fabrizio Barchi is an Italian choir conductor.-Profile:Barchi’s career as a choir conductor began in 1979 while still completing his studies at the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music of Rome. Since then he has been conducting several choirs both in musical associations and schools...
  
  
• Lourdino Barreto
  Lourdino Barreto
  Lourdino Barreto - dubbed "the best musicologist East of Suez” at a World Congress for choir conductors held in Rome - was born on February 11, 1938, in Galgibaga in South Goa. He studied at the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music and the National Conservatory in Rome and graduated with...
  
  
• Miguel Bernal Jiménez
  Miguel Bernal Jiménez
  Miguel Bernal Jiménez was a Mexican composer, organist, pedagogist and musicologist.He is widely regarded as the best representative of 20th century Mexican religious music, in addition to his important contributions to the Mexican nationalist music movement...
  
  
• Theodore Marier
  Theodore Marier
  Theodore N. Marier was a composer, church musician, educator, and scholar of Gregorian Chant. He founded the Boston Archdiocesan Choir School in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1963, and served as the second president of the Church Music Association of America.-Life and career:Marier once said he...
  
  
• Armando Pierucci
  Armando Pierucci
  Fra Armando Pierucci, a Franciscan, was born in Moie , Italy, on September 3, 1935. He graduated from the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music in Rome, from the Music Conservatories of Naples, and from the Rossini Music Conservatory in Pesaro. Amongst his composition professors he proudly mentions...
  
  
• Robert Skeris
  Robert Skeris
  Dr. Robert A. Skeris has been a priest of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee since 1961. Dr. Skeris earned a Master of Arts degree in Liturgical Studies from the University of Notre Dame and studied at the Universities of Cologne and Bonn in Germany. He received his Doctor of Theology in 1975 from the...
  
  

External links

• Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music