Introduction

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The music program at St. Patrick’s Church strives to carry out the Church’s mandate to preserve and foster the great treasury of sacred music, to the greater glory of God, and for the edification of souls. Each Sunday a choir comprising both professional singers and parish volunteers offers the Gregorian chants which are a necessary and integral part of the solemn liturgy. In addition, worship is enhanced by the addition of other great music, in the form of choral Mass settings, motets, and organ voluntaries. The major feasts of the Church year are marked with special musical efforts. On certain days, more elaborate Mass settings are sung with the participation of professional orchestral musicians. Recent offerings have included Mozart’s Requiem and Coronation Mass, Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass, and rarely heard Masses by Michael Haydn, Eybler, and Charpentier.

Choirs of boys and girls are trained to sing and to read music and Latin, not only to give glory to God by the beauty of their young voices, but also to assure that the supply of qualified singers continues into the future. In addition to the program of liturgical music, concerts are frequently offered. Many of them feature our pipe organ played by some of the finest organists of our time.

Choirs

The Parish Choir is open to qualified men and women. Rehearsals are held on Thursday evenings, and the Choir sings every Sunday at the 9:15 a.m. Latin Mass, as well as for major holy days throughout the year. Membership in the Parish Choir is by audition.

The Schola Cantorum for men sings the Gregorian chant propers for the Latin Mass. Rehearsals are held on Sunday mornings. Membership in the Schola is by audition.

The Boys’ Choir (ages 8 to 12) and the Girls’ Choir (ages 8 to 17) meet on Wednesday afternoons. Each group sings at Mass approximately once per month. Parents are encouraged to participate in the program through Safe Environment training and by assisting in the classroom during rehearsals.

St. Patrick’s Chamber Singers is a professional ensemble of eight singers who sing each Sunday at the 9:15 a.m. Mass (together with the Parish Choir) and at the 11:00 a.m. Mass, as well as for special events throughout the year.

To schedule an audition for the Parish Choir or Schola Cantorum, or to enroll your child(ren) in the Boys’ or Girls’ Choirs, please contact the Organist and Choirmaster.

Organist and Choirmaster

B. Andrew Mills is Organist and Choirmaster here at St. Patrick’s. Before coming to New Orleans in 2010, he served at St. Peter’s Church on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., and at the Church of St. Agnes in New York City. He earned his bachelor’s degree in music from the North Carolina School of the Arts, where he studied with John Mueller; and his master’s degree from the Catholic University of America in Washington, where he studied with Peter Marshall.

Andrew has played concerts at the Basilica of the National Shrine in Washington, St. Thomas Church Fifth Avenue in New York City, the Cathedral of St. Luke and St. Paul in Charleston (as part of the Piccolo Spoleto festival), the Basilique-Cathédrale de Notre Dame in Québec City, and the Cathedral of the Assumption in Louisville. Beyond the organ, his work focuses on Gregorian chant and sacred polyphony. His book Psallite Sapienter: A Musician’s Practical Guide to the 1962 Roman Missal, was recently recommended to Catholic musicians by the Vatican’s Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei. In 2017 he was awarded the Order of Saint Louis IX for service to the Church in the Archdiocese of New Orleans.

Andrew can be reached by telephone at 504.493.5879, or by electronic mail at [email protected].

Organ

Patrick J. Murphy and Associates, organbuilders, Opus 53, 2009

This organ was graciously donated to the people of St. Patrick’s Church for the honour and glory of God, as a gift of Betty S. Noe and her children, in memory of their late husband and father, James A. Noe.

Further information, including a photograph and the stoplist, can be found here.