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(Explanations for those who visit this site!)
The Carmelite monastery where I play the pipe organ is home to a group of CLOISTERED Roman Catholic Carmelite nuns. They do not leave the monastery. The Order harks back to the 12th century hermits on Mount Carmel, who came to Europe after the Holy Land fell to the Muslims. St. Teresa of Avila reformed the Order in Spain in the 16th century: hers are Discalced or shoeless (actually, they wear sandals) The Philadelphia monastery follows the Teresian reforms. Their apostolate is prayer: the Liturgy of the Hours, and contemplative or mental prayer. They wear the traditional brown habit and are cloistered or enclosed; that is, if you visit them, you will speak from behind a wooden "turn", or through an ornamental grate in the "speak- room".
The historic site of the Ephrata Cloister where I do research is actually better called The Community of the Solitary at Ephrata. Founded by Conrad Beissel in 1730, it was an inclusive communal society of celibate sisters, celibate brothers, and married Householders who wrote original music and sang unaccompanied in harmony, did folk art, printed and bound books, made paper, farmed, etc. Visitors to this German-speaking site called it Der Kloster, thinking it was a monastery, and "Cloister" as a title stuck. (Today the area has Cloister car wash, Cloister Diner, etc.!) It never was a real Cloister, however, but a Society that blended Pietism, Separatism, Catholicism, Dunkardism, Judaism, mysticism and esoteric lore. The Community itself died out, and the lands and buildings are maintained by the PA Historic and Museum Commission.
I transcribe the original and unique 18th-century music manuscripts for modern performers, and study the proper performance techniques of a style that drew visitors from all over the new Colonies. In addition, as part of the Scholar in Residence work, I prepared a TRANSCRIPTION MANUAL to be left at the site to aid future researchers and musicians.
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