Cyrilla Barr has a place in her heart for both Viterbo
University and religious music.
It’s very fitting that she remembered both when she created an endowed
scholarship and has also made the scholarship a beneficiary in her estate
planning. The Cyrilla Barr Sacred
Music Scholarship provides financial assistance to a Viterbo music major who is
pursuing a minor in sacred music or displaying a demonstrated interest by full
participating in the Gallery Singers of the Cathedral of St. Joseph the Workman
of La Crosse.
Cyrilla is not only an alumna of Viterbo, she was a longtime
member of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration and credits the order
for giving her both a fine education and an enduring love of the Franciscan
spirit. She enjoyed a distinguished
career for 27 years at Viterbo, as Chair of the Music Department from
1966-74. She served during the
critical time of the planning, building and dedication of the Fine Arts Center.
She was able to spend long periods of time in Italy
deepening her knowledge and interest in the Franciscan history and spirituality
through serious study of Italian medieval and renaissance culture by living in
Assisi, Cortona, and Florence.
After returning from Italy she joined the faculty of The
Catholic University of America where she taught for 23 years, during the last
13 of which she chaired the musicology department. Although she has written extensively and lectured widely she
admits that her great joy is in teaching. The devotion and success of her
former students and colleagues is evidence of her impact upon music education
and performance.
According to Dan Johnson-Wilmot, professor of music,
“Cyrilla’s powerful and inspirational leadership and presence in the department
was enormous and this scholarship recognizes her contribution. Students who receive this scholarship
should be truly honored when they hear the story of who it is named after.”
In 1999 Barr retired at the rank of Professor Emerita and
returned to La Crosse were she is happy to maintain an association with Viterbo
and observe the growth of the school she so loves. “I feel so strongly that the
support of good liturgical music is not only a way to perpetuate the Church’s
rich patrimony and dedication to the arts, but also underscores Viterbo’s
Franciscan identity through its long tradition of music.”