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'''Msgr. John Edward Ronan''' (b. Colgan, Ont. Canada, 28 October 1894 - d. Toronto, Ont. Canada 15 October 1962) was a priest, composer, conductor and most notably, Founder of St. Michael's Choir School, Toronto. Ronan is considered the father of liturgical music in English-speaking Canada. As a high school student Ronan read copy of the Motu Proprio of Pope St. Pius X (1903-1914), Tra le Sollecitudini (Instruction on Sacred Music) which had been placed at the back of his parish church. The document described schools for training boys to sing in the Sacred Liturgy and this young man wished there was such a school that he could attend. Unfortunately, the Catholic Church in English Canada had little or no tradition of sacred choral music. The young student, John E. Ronan, inspired by the Motu Proprio, resolved to rectify this situation. While studying law at St. Michael’s College in Toronto, Ronan had the good fortune of taking music lessons with Healey Willan, who came to Canada from England to teach at the Royal Conservatory of Music and was renowned as an Anglo-Catholic composer. Ronan entered St. Augustine’s Seminary where he had the opportunity to study Gregorian chant, and having been ordained to the deaconate, he was appointed as assistant teacher of chant at the same seminary. In 1922, at the age of twenty-eight, he was ordained to the priesthood, and shortly after, was sent by Archbishop McNeil to study Gregorian chant in New York under the direction of Dom Mocquereau, a monk of Solesmes. Upon his return to Toronto, he formed a Sanctuary Choir at St. Michael’s Cathedral, composed of men and boys. He also held various positions involving sacred music with the Archdiocese of Toronto, the Catholic School Board, and St. Augustine’s Seminary. In I932, Father Ronan was sent to Rome to further his musical education at the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music. There he earned a master’s degree in Gregorian chant and a licentiate in sacred composition. During the summer months, he traveled Europe studying with famous composers such as Louis Vierne and Nadia Boulanger. Upon his return to Toronto in 1936, Father Ronan resumed his teaching duties at St. Augustine’s Seminary and was appointed to the Cathedral as music director. Shortly thereafter, in 1937, the Archbishop of Toronto invited Father Ronan to establish a Schola Cantorum at the Cathedral. In recognition of his exemplary work in music education and in the restoration of the Sacred Liturgy, Ronan was honoured by Pope Pius XII (1939-1958) with the title Domestic Prelate in 1947, and in 1962, when he made a Protonotary Apostolic by Pope John XXIII (1958-1963). Besides his work as administrator and conductor, Ronan was a prolific composer of sacred choral music. His output includes a vast repertory of short liturgical works, including the propers of the mass, as well a number of English hymns and choral arrangements of Irish folk songs. His most famous compositions are his settings of the Tenebrae, which are still offered each year at St. Michael’s Cathedral during Holy Week. His compositions also include numerous commissions by choirs and churches across Canada and the United States. Msgr. Ronan composed choral music and directed St. Michael’s Choir School right up until his death.