Judging from his gentle and calm disposition, many may not notice him. However, when it comes to excellent liturgical chanting deserving of the prestige of the Pope’s liturgical celebrations at the Basilica of St Peter, he is well known.

For the past three years, he has had the privilege of chanting the Passion narrative for the Good Friday celebration of the Passion of Christ for two different Popes and counting. He did it first in 2011 for Benedict XVI and in 2012. This year, he has done it again for Pope Francis. He is our own fr Bruno Clifton.

Fr Bruno Clifton is from the English Province but currently resides at the Convent of Santa Sabina in Rome. He is from the family of an ordained minister since his father, David Clifton is a permanent Deacon in the Church. His parents, David and Monica Clifton both live at Arundel, West Sussex, England. This certainly must have coloured his foundation in the faith.

He has been involved in music since he was 4 when he began to play the piano. He went further to study music at Durham University (BA) and Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester (MA). He entered the Order, made his first profession in 2003 and was ordained to the priesthood in 2008. After his ordination, he was assigned to the University of Edinburgh as the assistant chaplain. He is currently in Rome studying Scriptures at the Pontifical Biblical Institute.

Although he has been involved in music before he joined the Order, his life as a Dominican has greatly enriched his musical prowess. According to him,

“most of my involvement in liturgical music and Gregorian chant has come simply from being in the Order and our daily prayer life”.

His involvement with Papal liturgy began on Ash Wednesday, 2011. Traditionally, the pope celebrates the Ash Wednesday Mass at the Dominicans’ Basilica of Santa Sabina and so Pope Benedict was there for the Mass. At that Mass, fr Bruno was noticed and suggested for the Good Friday liturgy and he has been doing it since then. Apart from chanting for the Holy Father, he is also the Conventual Cantor at the Convent of Santa Sabina, Rome.

He is considered a modern classical music composer. He has composed a number of pieces for orchestras, notable among them are; “In the jars, dark liquid”, “Letters for string quartet”, “Four Last Things IV”, “In Flanders Fields”, “Stations of the Cross” and “At sunset, troubled light”. “At sunset, troubled light” received its world premiere by the New Edinburgh Orchestra in Edinburgh, Scotland in 2010. Some of his other works have been performed at the Cathedral of Brussels, the Sophie Silver Lining Festival and also on BBC.

When it comes to liturgical music, fr Bruno is a cherished access in the Order and it seems we have only seen a tip of the iceberg. We wish him the best in all his future musical endeavours.

(April 7, 2013)