Sr. Margaret Truran was a pianist and violist before entering the monastery and was for many years organist and teacher of the choir of the Abbey of Stanbrook, England. She studied organ under the guidance of Nigel Hancock, Paul Inwood and Andrew Moore; harmony and composition with Dorothy Howell, professor emerita of Harmony and Counterpoint at the Royal Academy of Music; accompaniment of Gregorian chant with Dame Felicitas Corrigan of Stanbrook. She has collaborated with Ann Lampard, responsible for the school of singing for young people at the Royal Academy of Music.

She edited the adaptation of Gregorian songs to the vernacular and translated the orations collection time and the sanctorale for the monastic liturgy. Between 1989 and 2000, she was organist for some religious programs and for the World Service of the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) in live broadcasts for television and radio.

She has given public lectures and written articles on the liturgy, especially on Gregorian chant and on liturgical theology.

We went to St. Cecilia in Trastevere (Rome) to interview Sr. Margaret. She graciously provided extensive commentary on the chant and on the history of St. Cecilia, the second-century martyr who would become the patroness of music.