Category Archives: Concerts at St. Mary’s

Concerts and other special musical events

The St. Cecilia Society of St. Mary Church is pleased to present its annual benefit concert in honor of St. Cecilia on Friday, 23 March 2012 at 7:30 p.m. The St. Mary's Schola Cantorum, under the direction of David Hughes, will sing a program of Lenten sacred music centered around the penitential text Media vita.

This concert, which is usually sung each year in mid-November, near to the feast of St. Cecilia, was postponed this year because of the magnificent repainting of the St. Mary's sanctuary this past fall.  (It is not inappropriate to relocate it to the month in which occurs the feast of St. Gregory the Great.)  It is the single annual fundraiser to support the work of the Schola Cantorum.

A reception will follow the concert. Suggested donation is $25 general admission, $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; click here for a printer-friendly version.

St. Mary's warmly invites you & your family
to its annual service of
Advent Lessons & Carols
Friday, 16 December 2011, 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

* * *

Traditional carols from England, Spain & Germany;
motets of Victoria, Vaughan Williams & Vierne;
organ music of Bach, Karg-Elert & Langlais;
& 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.

Friday, 22 July 2011, 7:30 p.m.
St. Mary’s Student Schola
The Sisters of Life Schola
Concert at St. Mary’s, Norwalk

Virgin Great and Glorious (Basque melody)
Jesu dulcis memoria (Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, c.1525-1594)
Jerusalem (Communio of Laetare Sunday) (plainsong, mode iv)
O Sacrum Convivium (Roberto Remondi, 1850-1928)
Verbum supernum (plainsong, mode viii)
Ave Verum Corpus (William Byrd, 1540-1623)
Christus vincit (Carolingian plainsong, VIIIth century)
Salve Regina (simple tone) (plainsong, mode v)
Ave Maria (attrib. Victoria)
Alma Redemptoris Mater (simple tone) (plainsong, mode v)
Magnificat (plainsong & fauxbourdon, mode viii)
Ave Regina cælorum (simple tone) (plainsong, mode vi)
Ave Maris Stella (plainsong, mode i)
versets on Ave Maris Stella (Nicolas de Grigny, 1672-1703)
Regina cæli (simple tone) (plainsong, mode vi)
Alleluia. Assumpta est Maria (plainsong, mode v)
Rejoice, O Queen of Heaven (André Gouze, b. 1943)
Regina cæli (solemn tone) (plainsong, mode vi)

This concert is a benefit for the St. Mary’s Student Schola’s upcoming trip to sing for the main English-speaking Masses, as well as several Latin Masses, at World Youth Day this summer in Madrid. For more information, please visit www.chantwith.us.

St. Mary's is pleased to present a recital by Terrence B. Fay, trombone and tenor,

on Friday, 1 April 2011, at 7:30 p.m.

"...Of Biblical Proportions"
Hector Berlioz: Recitative and Prayer
George Frederich Handel: "Comfort Ye" (from Messiah)
Jan Koetsier: Partita über "Wachet auf"
Giacomo Puccini: Gratias agimus tibi (from Messa di Gloria)
Giuseppe Verdi: Ingemisco (from Requiem)
Gioachino Rossini: Cujus animam (from Stabat Mater)
Franz Liszt: Hosannah

with David J. Hughes, organ

Suggested donation is $15. For further information, please e-mail music@stmarynorwalk.net.

Terrence B. Fay has been singing professionally throughout Connecticut and New York for 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, the Basilica of St. John the Evangelist, Stamford, 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. He is currently a member of the Schola Cantorum of St. Mary’s Church, Norwalk.

Terrence also makes much of his living as a trombonist. He is currently the assistant principal trombonist of the New Haven Symphony Orchestra and principal trombonist of the Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra. He has also performed with the Rhode Island Philharmonic, Wallingford and Waterbury Symphonies, Orchestra New England, and the Wisconsin and Moscow State Chamber Orchestras, among others. Terrence 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.

St. Mary's is very pleased to present a recital by Joshua Copeland, baritone,
on Sunday, 6 March 2011, at 7:00 p.m.

Ralph Vaughan Williams: Five Mystical Songs
Johannes Brahms: Vier ernste Gesänge
Charles Ives: "At the River", "Serenity"
John Adams: "Batter my heart, three person’d God" (Doctor Atomic)
Gustav Mahler: Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen" (Rückert-Lieder)
Herbert Howells: "King David"

David Hughes, piano;
Fr. Richard Cipolla is the pianist for the Mahler.

Suggested donation is $15.  For further information, please e-mail music@stmarynorwalk.net.

Joshua Copeland, baritone, completed his Masters degree in voice at Yale University’s Institute of Sacred Music and his Artist Diploma at Yale Opera.  A native of Knoxville, Tennessee, Joshua received a Bachelor of Music degree in Church Music from Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina.  Joshua is quickly developing as a specialist of Baroque music, particularly the works of Bach and Handel.  In June 2006 he was awarded second prize in the American Bach Soloists International Young Artists Competition, first prize in the 2008 American Bach Society biennial Young Artist Competition at the Bethlehem Bach Festival, and spent the summer of 2008 as an Adams Masterclass Fellow at the Carmel Bach Festival.  As a resident Britten/Pears Young Artist at the Aldeburgh Festival in both 2009 and 2010, Joshua has appeared in performances of Bach’s St Matthew Passion and Handel’s Saul.

An avid recitalist, Joshua gave his debut performance of Schubert’s monumental song cycle Winterreise in Yale’s Morse Recital Hall with pianist Ted Taylor. He has also taken part in a recital of Charles Ives songs at New York’s famed Weill Recital Hall, as well as recitals of English song and Wolf and Strauss Lieder as a Britten/Pears Young Artist.  In the realm of opera he has appeared as Die Fledermaus as Falke, as Ramiro in Ravel’s L’Heure Espagnole, and has performed with the Orchestra Sinfonico Giuseppe Verdi in Milan, reprising Falke in Fledermaus and Bill in Kiss me Kate.

Performances from recent seasons include the Mass in B Minor and the St John Passion with the American Bach Soloists; Bach Cantata 82 Ich habe genug with Seraphic Fire; Bach Magnificat and Christmas cantatas with Helmuth Rilling; a commercially-released recording of the Bach St John Passion conducted by Simon Carrington; Messiah at Carnegie Hall with the Masterwork Chorus; Mozart Vespers with Sir Neville Marriner; Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem at the ACDA National Convention;

Five Mystical Songs with the Mount Holyoke Orchestra; Handel La Resurrezione; Mozart and Faure Requiems; Prokofiev Lieutenant Kije; Barber Dover Beach; Mendelssohn Elijah; and the Brahms Requiem.  The upcoming season features performances of Christmas cantatas with the Bethlehem Bach Festival, Bach and Telemann cantatas with the American Bach Soloists, and the St John Passion with Chatham Baroque.

St. Mary's warmly invites you & your family
to its annual service of
Advent Lessons & Carols
Friday, 10 December 2010, 7:00 p.m.

The St. Mary's Choir
El Coro Hispano de Santa Maria
The St. Mary's Students' Scholas
The Anchor Academy Schola Cantorum

* * *

David J. Hughes, Organist & Choirmaster
Welder Gornez, Spanish Choir Director
William V. Riccio, Jr., Assistant Organist
Robert Rudesill, Assistant Organist

* * *

Traditional carols from England, Spain & Germany;
motets of Victoria, Vaughan Williams & Willcocks;
organ music of Walther, Widor & Messiaen (whose birthday it is!);
& 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.

The St. Cecilia Society at St. Mary Church is pleased to present its annual benefit St. Cecilia's Day Concert on Friday, 19 November 2010 at 7:45 P.M. The St. Mary's Schola Cantorum, under the direction of David Hughes, will sing polyphony from the Códice del Convento del Carmen, Mexico City. The pieces sung from this notable manuscript, the original of which is now lost, will include works of Francisco López Capillas, Fernando Franco, Francisco Guerrero, and Juan de Lienas. It will be an exciting evening of some of the most beautiful sacred music of the Iberian and Latin-American Renaissance!

Vespers in the Extraordinary Form for the Feast of St. Elisabeth of Hungary will be sung at 7:00 P.M., with the concert immediately to follow.  A festive wine & cheese reception will conclude the evening. Suggested donation is $25 general admission, $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; click here for a printer-friendly version.

St. Mary's warmly invites you & your family
to a ceremony of
Advent Lessons & Carols
Friday, 11 December 2009, 7:00 p.m.

The St. Mary’s Choir
El Coro Hispano de Santa María
St. Mary’s Children’s Schola
Anchor Academy Schola Cantorum

* * *

David J. Hughes, Organist & Choirmaster
Welder Gómez, Spanish Choir director

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

For more information, please contact the St. Mary’s Music Office.

A PDF flier is available here.

The St. Cecilia Society at St. Mary Church is pleased to present its annual benefit St. Cecilia's Day Concert on Friday, 20 November 2009 at 7:30 P.M. The St. Mary's Schola Cantorum, under the direction of David Hughes, will sing polyphony of the late Middle Ages and Renaissance:

anonymous (XIV C.): Messe de Tournai (excerpts)
Josquin: Missa L’homme armé sexti toni (excerpts)
Byrd: Factus est repente
Byrd: Miserere mihi Domine
Philips: Ave Maria
Victoria: Ave Maris Stella

First Vespers of the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lady will be sung by the St. Mary's Choir at 7:00 P.M., and a festive wine & cheese reception will follow the concert. Suggested donation is $25 general admission, $15 for students & seniors; all proceeds go to support the work of the St. Cecilia Society throughout the year. For more information, please visit stmarynorwalk.net/music, or call the music office at 203-866-5546 x115.

A PDF flier is available here.

St. Mary's is very pleased to present a recital by the excellent pianist Jason Cutmore on Friday, 25 September 2009, at 7:30 p.m.   Mr. Cutmore will play works of Schubert, de Severac, de Falla, and Poulenc.  A flier for the recital is available here.  The suggested donation is $10.  Visitors are invited to be seated in the choir loft of the church in order to more closely listen to and watch the artist at work.

Copies of Mr. Cutmore's recent CD of piano music by Manuel de Falla will be available for sale at the recital.

The recital is presented by the St. Cecilia Society of St. Mary Church.

* * *

Canadian pianist Jason Cutmore has performed solo recitals and collaborative concerts throughout North America, Europe and India. Mr. Cutmore made his Chicago recital debut in the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts in 2005 with an all-Liszt programme that was broadcast live on WFMT radio, and shown on Chicago Cable TV 25. Since then he has appeared in Canada’s Colours of Music Festival, the Elora Festival, the University of Calgary’s Celebrity Series, as well as at venues in Cleveland, Chicago, New York City, and elsewhere in North America. His concert performances, and an ardent interest in foreign travel, have frequently taken him abroad to Germany, Hungary, Lithuania, and India, including concerts at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Mumbai, India, and the Franz Liszt Museum in Budapest.

In 2008, Mr. Cutmore’s debut commercial CD, an album of piano music by Spanish composer Manuel de Falla on Centaur Records, was released to critical acclaim. Gramophone magazine declared that “more than a few orchestras can learn from Cutmore’s perfectly placed accents and ideal dance tempi” and Classicstoday.com called it “a first-rate release.”

Mr. Cutmore holds degrees from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and the SUNY Purchase College Conservatory of Music in New York. His major teachers have been Robert Shannon, Stephanie Brown, and Michael Massey. Originally from Edmonton, Canada, Mr. Cutmore now resides in a suburb of New York City.