The following are the current members of the choir and the number of years (collectively, nearly 500 years!) they’ve served:

Sopranos:  Bonny Blair (27), Patricia Jensen (25), Laureen Maiorano (25), Mary Beth Nellenback (15),  Roseann Spinelli (3),  Marchell Teodecki (31)

Altos:  Toni Colella (15), Pat Gagan (8), Lola Marino (47), Carol McNeill (13), Colleen Miles (5), Barbara Murphy (31), Theresa Oughterson (27), Sue Stubbs (36), Marie Taylor (14)

Tenors:  Gene Donofrio (54),  Peter Gabak (11), Louis Marullo (35), Tom McKellop (11)

Basses:  Ralph Guido (13), Dick Landers (11), Mike Nye (13), Ron Pease (4), George Sawchuck (27), Steve Taylor (14)

In addition to the above, many former members of the choir return to join us for holidays.

ST. MARY’S CHOIR ON TOUR!

Over the years, the choir has been invited to sing at numerous festivals, dedications, and celebrations including weddings, baptisms, and funerals in and out of the Auburn area.   They’ve often sung at our Confirmation and First Communion Celebrations.  They’ve sung in over half the churches in Auburn, including St. Francis, Holy Family, St. Alphonsus, Sacred Heart, Ss. Peter & Paul, Trinity Methodist, First Presbyterian, First United Methodist, the Church of the Nazarene, and Westminster Presbyterian.  They’ve also traveled to St. Patrick’s in Aurora and St. Patrick’s in Seneca Falls.  In addition, the choir was chosen in the 1980’s to sing during the Chrism Mass at the Cathedral in Rochester and for a Diocesan festival at the Keuka College Chapel.  Locally they’ve performed for various celebrations at Hoopes Park, Cayuga County Nursing Home, Auburn Nursing Home, and Mercy Health and Rehabilitation Center.  They’ve greeted area residents with Christmas Carols on the steps of City Hall after the Thanksgiving Parade and in Emerson Park at the Festival of Lights, and have sung while riding on a float for the County Centennial parade.  Choir members sang in 1989 at the Ecumenical Service for the CANUS games in Auburn.  They’ve celebrated various holidays at Willard Chapel and most recently sang for the dedication of the Mausoleum at St. Joseph’s Cemetery.  And twice, at the invitation of Father Enright,  they’ve sung for inmates at Mass in Auburn Correctional Facility.  Many members of the choir take part in annual Messiah concerts and Interfaith Choir Festivals, several of which have been held at St. Mary’s.  In 1999, the choir hosted a concert featuring the Auburn Chamber Orchestra and the combined choirs of Auburn churches performing Vivaldi’s “Gloria,” which was attended by nearly 700 people.  In December 2002, the choir hosted the New York Baroque Orchestra in a performance of Handel’s “Messiah.”  The piece was sung by members of the Marcellus Chorale joined by over 100 other local vocalists including St. Mary’s Choir.  The performance was a resounding sellout with standing room only-and over 100 people were turned away!  On December 21, 2003, members of the choir joined other local artists onstage at Cayuga Community College in “Christmas in the Finger Lakes,” a celebration of song and dance, produced locally by Sean McLeod of New York Institute of Dance. 

RECORDING HISTORY

Several recordings of various concerts and holidays have been made over the years.  These include record albums in 1977 and 1978 of the St. Cecilia’s Concerts.  In a 5-hour marathon session in the church on May 28, 1998, the most popular selections in the choir’s repertoire were recorded for production of a CD titled “The Bells of St. Mary’s.”   This recording was dedicated to Anita Gower and Jack Dalziel, choir members who had recently died.   A follow-up album, “The Christmas Bells of St. Mary’s,” was produced the following year.  Tapes and CD’s of both are still available at the church office.

HISTORY OF THE CHOIR

If  you regularly attend 9:45 Mass, you’re familiar with the choir which sings at that mass from September through June.  But you may not know much about this group, which has been a part of St. Mary’s for more than half a century.  Four of the current members (Lola Marino, Pat Gagan, Sue Stubbs and Gene Donofrio) started singing with St. Mary’s choir as children, although Lola admits to being “thrown out for talking during practice.”  Organist/choir director at the time was Gerald Conroy, but the choir dissolved upon his death in December 1964.  In the late 1960’s, Msgr. Cuffney requested that a choir be once again formed, and it was restarted under the direction of John Stuart, with Kay Askew at the organ.  Several of the current members joined at that time. Mr. Stuart was followed by directors Paul Brechue and Beverly Navarro.  In 1972, West Middle School music teacher Bob Stabile took over the choir and many more of the current members joined under his leadership.  A graduate of SUNY Potsdam, Bob’s unusual music style led the choir down many new paths.  Under his direction, the choir learned the difficult Carl Wilhowsky arrangement of  “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” which was Msgr. Cuffney’s favorite hymn and often requested by him.  Bob’s talent and knowledge of Ragtime, Vaudeville and English music hall numbers was also enjoyed by the choir and Msgr. Cuffney at many social events-along with the Battle Hymn, the Monsignor often requested Bob’s rendition of “Oh, Dear, What Can the Matter Be?  Seven Old Ladies Locked in the Lavatory” with the choir performing the refrain.

Bob left for the West Coast in 1976 and was replaced by David Correll, who has remained Choir Director until the present time.   A native of Missouri, David holds a Bachelor of Music Degree from the University of Illinois and a Master of Music from Indiana University; he has done postgraduate work at Wells College and Ithaca College.  Retired in 2000 after teaching in the Auburn Enlarged City School District for 27 years, David is currently teaching music at Ss. Peter and Paul School and  Tyburn Academy.   For the first ten years of David’s tenure, the choir performed annually at a concert in celebration of St. Cecilia, martyred Patron Saint of Music.  During that time, they tackled such works as Henry Purcell’s “Ode for St. Cecilia’s Day,” Antonio Vivaldi’s “Gloria,” and Gabriel Faure’s “Requiem.”  David has introduced the choir to music from early Gregorian to modern, and in addition to English and the Latin you might expect from a Catholic choir, they’ve also sung in Italian, German, French, Spanish, Hebrew and Polish.   Holidays generally feature a wide range of music including traditional favorites as well as new pieces.  Midnight Mass at Christmas is preceded by a half hour of music by both the choir and soloists.

Originally from Syracuse, organist Muriel Hickey is a graduate of Syracuse University, with a Bachelor of Music Degree and a Master of Science in Elementary Education.  She has studied with such notables as William S. O’Brien, Will O. Headlee and David Johnson, and is a member of the Syracuse chapter of the American Guild of Organists.   In 2000, Muriel traveled with a group of St. Mary’s parishioners to Oberammergau, Germany, for the Passion Play.  While on this tour, she had the chance to try out organs in several European churches.   Muriel has been organist at St. Mary’s since 1971.  In December 2003, Muriel was presented with a plaque commemorating the start of her fourth decade of service to St. Mary’s.

GALLERY & SANCTUARY ORGANS

Few churches can boast of housing two organs the caliber of those at St. Mary’s.  The sanctuary organ was built about 1884 by Garret House of Buffalo for the first Masonic Temple building in Ithaca.  When that building was torn down around 1926 and replaced by the present Temple, the Garret House organ was moved to the converted house which served as the Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F.) lodge.  Organ builder Dick Strauss obtained the organ when the Odd Fellows disbanded, and it served as a “fill in” instrument at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Ithaca during construction of that parish’s present organ in 1966-67.  The Garret House Organ has been extensively rebuilt, and was installed temporarily at one or two other locations before coming to St. Mary’s in 1979.  The gallery organ was built by the Barckhoff Organ Company in 1892.  (The gallery organ has a “twin sister” at St. Joseph Church in Lancaster, PA, which has recently been restored, and is also an astounding instrument.) Both the gallery organ and the sanctuary organ were restored by A. Richard Strauss of Ithaca when the Garret Organ was moved to St. Mary’s.  A concert of music performed on both organs (Organa Dupla) is available on CD from the parish office.

Besides the two organs at St. Mary’s, the choir has at one time or another been accompanied by enough musicians on other instruments to assemble nearly an entire orchestra.  They include Betsy Button and Peter Gabak on Harp, Amy Mucedola on Oboe,  Meghan Murphy, Adrienne Pelc, Cathy Mullarney and Jennifer Rikert on Flute, Nancy and Becky Schlenker, Sue Orofino, and Kristen Dungey on Violin, Bill Machold, Bob Davis, Adam Wallis and Katie Clemens on Trumpet, Angelo Candella, Mark Anderson, and Bob Foreman on Trombone and Steve Persad on drums.  Several concerts and choir festivals have been accompanied by members of the Auburn Chamber Orchestra.  In addition, various choir members are pressed into service now and then, to add bells, drums, triangles and recorders.  Undoubtedly the most unusual instrumental performance was a Native American piece which was accompanied by Bob Stabile-on an ordinary carpenter’s saw.

HOW DO I JOIN?  

The choir rehearses on Thursday at 7:30 in the choir loft (although sometimes when it’s cold, we’re in the Rectory or Lyceum Hall).   Reading music is not a requirement for singing with the choir.  Everyone is welcome to join-if you’re not sure, try out a rehearsal or two.  There are no auditions, although David might ask you to sing a note or two to hear your range.  Sopranos are especially welcome, and tenors will receive a standing ovation just for showing up!

PRESERVING OUR HISTORY

The choir is currently in the process of compiling a scrapbook.  If you have any photos or other memorabilia which would be of interest to the choir, we would like to borrow it to make copies for our records.  We’ll make sure you get it back.  Just contact any choir member!