Category Archives: Concerts at St. Mary’s

Concerts and other special musical events

Advent Lessons & Carols, 12 December 2014, 7:00 p.m.

St. Mary's warmly invites you & your family
to its annual service of
Advent Lessons & Carols
Friday, 12 December 2014, 7:00 p.m.

The St. Mary's Choir
El Coro Hispano de Santa María
The St. Mary's Student Schola
The Regina Pacis Academy Schola

* * *

David J. Hughes, Organist & Choirmaster
Welder Gomez, Spanish Choir Director
William V. Riccio, Jr., Assistant Organist
Robert Rudesill, Assistant Organist
Charles A. Weaver, Student Schola Assistant Director
Samuel A. Schmitt, Student Schola Assistant Director

* * *

Venite adoremus!

Bring your family & friends to prepare in your hearts a home
for Our Lord this Christmas! This simple & beautiful service,
in which readings from sacred scripture alternate with sung meditations,
illuminates a season of  joyful expectation.
Chants of Advent, choral motets, & congregational hymns
will culminate in Adoration & Benediction of Our Lord
in the Most Blessed Sacrament. A festive reception will follow.

For further information:
203-866-5546 x115
music@stmarynorwalk.net

ANGULARIS FUNDAMENTUM: A concert by the St. Mary’s Schola Cantorum

The St. Cecilia Society of St. Mary Church, Norwalk
is pleased to present its annual benefit concert in honor of St. Cecilia
& in celebration of the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica

The St. Mary’s Schola Cantorum
David J. Hughes, Director

Sunday, 9 November 2014, 4:00 P.M.
$25 general admission | $15 students & seniors

All proceeds go to support the work of the St. Cecilia Society throughout the year.
A festive wine & cheese reception will follow the concert.

Recital by Judith Malafronte, 25 April 2014

Boulanger & Co.
works of Boulanger, Debussy, Finzi, Quilter, Satie, Schubert, Sondheim

Friday, 25 April 2014
7:30 p.m.
Judith Malafronte, mezzo-soprano
David Hughes, piano

 

General admission $15 | Students $10
For further information, please e-mail music@stmarynorwalk.net.
A PDF flier is available here.

Judith Malafronte is a Lecturer in Voice at Yale University, where she teaches a freshman seminar on Shakespeare and Music as well as graduate level courses in historical performance. Former director of the Yale Collegium Singers, Malafronte has curated and produced numerous concerts and theater projects in collaboration with Yale’s museums, libraries, professional schools and social clubs. In addition she teaches a popular course on opera for Yale Alumni College.

Malafronte has appeared as mezzo-soprano soloist with the San Francisco Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, the St. Louis Symphony, and Mark Morris Dance Group as well as opera companies in Europe and oratorio societies and early music groups throughout the United States. Master classes have taken her Europe and Asia, and she maintains an active private voice studio in New York City.

After earning degrees from Vassar College and Stanford University, Malafronte studied in Paris with Mlle. Nadia Boulanger and with Giulietta Simionato as a Fulbright scholar to Italy. She has recorded for major labels in a broad range of repertoire, from medieval chant to contemporary music, and writes regularly for online and print outlets including Opera News, Early Music America Magazine, The Classical Review, and Parterre Box.

Recital: A J. S. Baccalaureate, 2 March 2014


A J. S. Baccalaureate
Sunday, 2 March 2014
4:00 p.m.
Mark Rike, Violin
Terrence B. Fay, Tenor
Alexis Zingale, Piano

Sonata for violin & keyboard No. 1 in B minor, BWV 1014
Sonata for violin & keyboard No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1016
Geduld, Geduld from St. Matthew Passion BWV 244
Benedictus from Mass in B Minor BWV 232
Ach, mein Sinn from St. John Passion BWV 245
Ach, ziehe die Seele from Cantata BWV 96
Die Liebe zieht mit sanften Schritten from Cantata BWV 36
Drum ich mich ihm ergebe from Cantata BWV 107

General admission $15 | Students $10
For further information, please e-mail music@stmarynorwalk.net.
A PDF flier is available here; click here for a printer-friendly version.

 

THE ARTISTS

Violinist Mark Rike is on the faculty of Choate-Rosemary Hall and the Neighborhood Music School in New Haven, CT. He is a former member of the Cincinnati, New Haven, and Hartford Symphony Orchestras. As a Moy fellow of the American Austrian Foundation, he worked four summers in Austria with Prof. Alfred Staar of the Vienna Philharmonic where he played as soloist and concertmaster with conductors Giuseppe Sinopoli, Fabio Luisi, Yehudi Menuhin, Sandor Vegh, Leopold Hager and others. He has been a violin student of Syoko Aki Erle, Dorothy Delay, Henry Meyer, Kurt Sassmanshaus and Almita Vamos. He studied chamber music with Josef Gingold and with members of the La Salle, Tokyo and Cleveland string quartets. He began his baroque training as a harpsichord student of Eiji Hashimoto in Cincinnati and continued with Jaap Schroder on violin at the Yale School of Music from which he holds the Master of Music and Artist Diploma degrees. He is a member of the Genzinger String Quartet, a period instrument ensemble. He has also performed with the Arcadia Players, American Classical Orchestra, Rebel Baroque Orchestra and many others.

* * *

Terrence B. Fay began studying trombone at the age of ten. He is an active soloist, performing as a soloist with the Wallingford Symphony, as well as in numerous recitals throughout the area. He is an active orchestral musician as a member of the New Haven Symphony and principal trombonist of the Eastern Connecticut and New Britain Symphony Orchestras, while also performing with such groups as the Rhode Island Philharmonic, Orchestra New England, Moscow State and Wisconsin Chamber Orchestras, and the Waterbury and New Britain Symphonies, among others.
A native of Long Island, NY, Mr. Fay received his Bachelor of Music degree from the Juilliard School, spending one of his undergraduate years at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he received Commendation in the Drummond Sharpe Prize from Philip Jones CBE. He received his Master of Music degree with honors and Artist Diploma from the Yale School of Music, where he was the inaugural recipient of the John Swallow Prize.  Mr. Fay is also an accomplished vocalist, having sung professionally for well over a decade. He has been a soloist most recently with the choirs of St. John’s Lutheran Church, Stamford, Trinity Episcopal Church, Torrington, and the Marquand Chapel Choir at the Yale Divinity School. He has been a member of the choir of Christ Church, New Haven, Trinity Episcopal Church, Torrington, and of the Grammy-award winning choir, Gaudeamus, while also performing frequently with MidAmerica Productions in New York City under the direction of John Rutter, among others. In 2011, he performed as a member of the Collegiate Chorale at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland in performances with Bryn Terfel and Barbara Frittoli, and the Bard Festival with the American Symphony Orchestra. He is currently a member of the Schola Cantorum of St. Mary’s Church, Norwalk.  Mr. Fay is currently on the faculty of the Educational Center for the Arts, the Neighborhood Music School, Choate Rosemary Hall, and the Universities of Bridgeport and New Haven.

* * *

Alexis Zingale began her piano studies at the age of four and presented her first solo recital program at age nine. Ms. Zingale has performed throughout the U.S. and Canada as soloist and collaborator, and is now one of the most actively sought-after collaborators in New England. Her collaborative repertoire includes over 300 sonatas, concert pieces, art songs, arias and orchestral transcriptions. Ms. Zingale studied with Edward Auer, Russell Hirshfield and Patricia Lutnes, and she has had significant coaching with Vladimir Feltsman. Her collaborative studies have been with George Taylor, Wendy Sharp, Dan Stepner, Oleh Krysa, Jean Barr, and Jody Rowitsch. She has performed in masterclasses with such artists as Boris Berman, Peter Frankl, Claude Frank, Angela Cheng and John Perry, and in collaborative masterclasses with such artists as Graham Johnson, Melvin Chen, and the Lydian String Quartet.  Her recent performance experiences vary from finalist at the Hugo Kauder International Music Competition for Piano and the Sorel Medallion in Collaborative Piano, accompanying entrants to the Naumberg International and Young Concert Artists International competitions, to solo and collaborative performance on the University of Maryland New Music Maryland series, and numerous performances on Neighborhood Music Schools Bach’s Lunch and Faculty Fridays series. Notable venues for her performances include the Miller Theatre in New York City, Ed Landreth Hall at Texas Christian University, Kilbourn Hall at the Eastman School of Music, and Sprague Hall, Woolsey Hall and Battell Chapel in New Haven.  Ms. Zingale has performed as soloist and collaborator with the Wallingford Symphony Orchestra, the Hamden Symphony Orchestra, and the Brevard Music Center Festival Orchestra, and with the Brevard Music Center faculty chamber ensemble. Ms. Zingale has given international and local premieres of new works by young composers. She performed on harpsichord with acclaimed new music ensemble Alarm Will Sound, and reed organ with the New Haven Oratorio Choir. Ms. Zingale has recorded for Peer Music Classical and the Charles Ives Society, and her performances have been broadcast on Connecticut Public Radio.  She is currently a piano faculty member and staff accompanist at the Neighborhood Music School in New Haven, CT.

Advent Lessons & Carols, 13 December 2013, 7:00 p.m.

St. Mary's warmly invites you & your family
to its annual service of
Advent Lessons & Carols
Friday, 13 December 2013, 7:00 p.m.

The St. Mary's Choir
El Coro Hispano de Santa María
The St. Mary's Student Schola

* * *

David J. Hughes, Organist & Choirmaster
Welder Gomez, Spanish Choir Director
William V. Riccio, Jr., Assistant Organist
Robert Rudesill, Assistant Organist
Charles A. Weaver, Student Schola Assistant Director

* * *

Traditional carols from England, Spain & Germany;
organ music of Buxtehude & Bach;
& Gregorian chants of Advent.

Seven readings from Sacred Scripture & the writings of the saints
on the Advent of Our Lord will be interspersed with
carols, chants, hymns & organ music of the season,
concluding with Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament.
A festive reception will follow.

For further information:
203-866-5546 x115
music@stmarynorwalk.net

A PDF flier is available here.

Annual concert in honor of St. Cecilia, 3 November 2013

Sunday, 3 November 2013, 4:00 P.M.

The St. Mary's Schola Cantorum
David J. Hughes, director

CANTANTIBUS ORGANIS CÆCILIA DOMINO
in honor of the patroness of music & musicians

The St. Cecilia Society of St. Mary Church is pleased to present its annual benefit concert in honor of St. Cecilia on Sunday, 3 November 2013 at 4:00 p.m. The St. Mary's Schola Cantorum, under the direction of David Hughes, will sing a program of sacred music written specifically in honor of St. Cecilia.

A festive reception will follow the concert. General admission is $25, and $15 for students & seniors; all proceeds go to support the work of The St. Cecilia Society throughout the year. For more information, please e-mail music@stmarynorwalk.net, or call the parish office at 203-866-5546.

A PDF flier is available here.

Recital by David J. Hughes, 26 May 2013

Sunday, 26 May 2013, 4:00 P.M.
David J. Hughes, organ

Dances & Fugues
works by Bruhns, Buxtehude, Bach

* * *

General Admission: $15 / Students: $10.
For further information, please e-mail music@stmarynorwalk.net.
A PDF flier is available here; click here for a printer-friendly version.

David J. Hughes is Organist & Choirmaster at St. Mary Church in Norwalk, Connecticut, where he directs a professional choir for a weekly Solemn Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite (Missal of 1962), a volunteer choir for the Latin Mass according to the Roman Missal of 2002, and several children’s choirs. He led the St. Mary’s Student Schola to sing chant and Renaissance polyphony for the primary English-speaking Masses in August 2011 at World Youth Day in Madrid; the students also sang for pontifical Masses at the Cathedral of Toledo, Extraordinary Form Missae cantatae at the Carmelite monasteries in Avila and Madrid, and for the Latin Masses sponsored by Juventutem.

Active as a composer, and fascinated by the rôle that plainchant can play in the inspiration of new compositions, Mr. Hughes has written extensively for choir and organ. Recent premieres include Pascha jucundissimum and the Missa de Beata Maria. Film scoring credits include Navis Pictures’ St. Bernadette of Lourdes and several documentaries.

Mr. Hughes is a member of the board of the Church Music Association of America, and serves as the director of new music at the CMAA’s annual Summer Music Colloquium. He is director of music for the annual Roman Forum Summer Symposium at Lake Garda in the north of Italy. Performances and workshops this season include appearances throughout the United States and in Italy and Estonia.

Mr. Hughes’ composition teachers have included Ruth Schonthal and John Halle, and he has studied organ with Paul Jacobs and Daniel Sullivan. A native of Stamford, Connecticut, Mr. Hughes is a graduate of Yale College.

 

Recital by Paul M. Weber, 12 April 2013

The St. Cecilia Society of St. Mary Church, Norwalk, is pleased to present a recital by

Paul M. Weber, organ

on Friday, 12 April 2013, at 7:30 p.m.

* * *

Music of Bach, Rheinberger, and Duruflé

* * *

Bach: Tocatta in D minor (BWV 538)
Rheinberger: Sonata No. 16 in G# minor (Op. 175)
Duruflé: Suite (Op. 5)

Paul Weber is an organist, conductor, and composer residing in the Pittsburgh area and is on the faculty of Franciscan University of Steubenville (OH) where he founded the Program in Sacred Music and directs the university ensembles. As a concert organist he has been heard throughout the United States and in Europe, including the national conventions of the Organ Historical Society, the American Guild of Organists and the Church Music Association of America. Dr. Weber also holds prizes from national and international competitions, including the Erfurt (Germany) International Organ Competition and the Arthur Poister National Organ Competition. As a conductor, he has directed the Schola Cantorum Franciscana throughout the Pittsburgh area and leads the Franciscan University Chorale and Franciscan Chamber Orchestra in yearly concerts. A graduate of Lawrence University (BM) and Yale University (MM, MMA, DMA), his teachers include Miriam Duncan, Wolfgang Ruebsam, Martin Jean, Thomas Murray and William Porter (improvisation).

* * *

General admission $15 / Students $10
For further information, please e-mail music@stmarynorwalk.net.

A PDF flier is available here; click here for a printer-friendly version.

Recital by Charles & Elizabeth Weaver, 8 March 2013

The St. Cecilia Society of St. Mary Church, Norwalk, is pleased to present a recital by

Elizabeth Baber Weaver, soprano
&
Charles Weaver, lute

on Friday, 8 March 2013, at 7:30 p.m.

* * *

SACRED SONG 1500-1650

Josquin, Lassus, Monteverdi, and more

* * *

The St. Cecilia Society of St. Mary Church, Norwalk, is pleased to present a recital by Elizabeth Baber Weaver and Charles Weaver on Friday, 8 March 2013, at 7:30 p.m.? The program of music for voice and lute includes Lassus? Timor et tremor, and will culminate in Monteverdi?s masterful Pianto della Madonna.

General admission is $15, students $10. For further information, please visit stmarynorwalk.net/recitals, e-mail music@stmarynorwalk.net, or call 203-866-5546 x115.

Elizabeth Baber Weaver (soprano) and Charles Weaver (lute) made their debut as a duo at the 2004 Baltimore Shakespeare Festival with an innovative narrative program of songs from the plays of Shakespeare. The following year, their artist recital of 16th-century Spanish song at the Washington Early Music Festival met with a rave review from the Washington Post, which praised their ?impeccable performances? and ?imagination in programming.? They have since presented programs of Renaissance song in venues around the country, and have collaborated with ensembles such as New York Polyphony and Parthenia, a Consort of Viols. They are both faculty members of the New York Continuo Collective.

Elizabeth Baber Weaver has been praised by the Washington Post for her ?angelic brightness and dedication,? and the New York Times called her singing ?truly lovely.? Recent solo engagements include appearances with Hesperus, Parthenia, and Ex Umbris; the revival of The Play of Daniel at the Cloisters; chansons and airs de cour with Guido?s Ear at the Connecticut Early Music Festival; and ?A Vivaldi Festival!? with Voices of Ascension. Elizabeth is a member of the Grammy-nominated ensemble Pomerium. She has also performed and recorded as a guest artist with the acclaimed quartet New York Polyphony. Elizabeth is a native of Lexington, Kentucky, studied voice at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, and now lives in New York City.

Charles Weaver specializes in sixteenth and seventeenth-century music, and performs frequently on the lute and related historical plucked-string instruments: both as a soloist, and in concert with groups such as Early Music New York, Piffaro: The Renaissance Band, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and the Folger Consort. The New York Times has noted his ?agile lute and Baroque guitar accompaniments.? He is on the faculty of the New York Continuo Collective, an ongoing workshop in how medieval music theory and the study of rhetoric inform the performance of seventeenth-century vocal music. He has also worked as a vocal coach at the Western Wind Workshop in Ensemble Singing, the Queens College Baroque Opera Workshop, and the Yale Baroque Opera Program. He was formerly director of the Holy Innocents? Schola and a member of the St Agnes Schola in New York. He now sings with the St. Mary?s Schola Cantorum.

* * *

General admission $15 / Students $10
For further information, please e-mail music@stmarynorwalk.net.

A PDF flier is available here; click here for a printer-friendly version.

Advent Lessons & Carols, 14 December 2012, 7:00 p.m.

St. Mary's warmly invites you & your family
to its annual service of
Advent Lessons & Carols
Friday, 14 December 2012, 7:00 p.m.

The St. Mary's Choir
El Coro Hispano de Santa María
The St. Mary's Student Schola

* * *

David J. Hughes, Organist & Choirmaster
Welder Gomez, Spanish Choir Director
William V. Riccio, Jr., Assistant Organist
Robert Rudesill, Assistant Organist
Charles A. Weaver, Student Schola Assistant Director

* * *

Traditional carols from England, Spain & Germany;
motets of Victoria, Salazar & Vaughan Williams;
organ music of Bach & Messiaen;
& Gregorian chants of Advent.

Seven readings from Sacred Scripture & the writings of the saints
on the Advent of Our Lord will be interspersed with
carols, chants, hymns & organ music of the season,
concluding with Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament.
A festive reception will follow.

For further information:
203-866-5546 x115
music@stmarynorwalk.net

A PDF flier is available here.