Search - Corpus Christi Cathedral Choir;Cathderal Festival Orchestra;Cathedral Handbell Choir;Lee Gwozdz (organ);Guadalupe Rivera;Jr. (conductor) :: A Cathedral Christmas

The Cathedral Pontifical Chorale consists each season of 80 volunteer singers who commit more than five hours per week for ten months of the year. Coming from all walks of life and a variety of professional backgrounds, together they form a choral ensemble that ministers through the art of music at the Sunday Televised Mass. For the past 25 years, the Chorale has received international and national recognition, including tours of Austria, England, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and the Czech Republic, as well as the singular honor of singing for three Papal Masses celebrated by His Holiness Pope John Paul II. In addition to liturgical responsibilities, the Chorale is featured annually on The Cathedral Concert Series. The Cathedral Youth Chorale and Cathedral Choristers are made up of young men and women from throughout the Coastal Bend, who serve more than four hours weekly for a period of nine months. Totaling more than 90 singers, this choir ministers at the main Sunday Mass. Both choirs have gained a national reputation through their several professional recordings and numerous presentations at National Pastoral Musicians regional conventions held in Dallas, Orlando and in Orange County. Lee Gwozdz (Organist) serves as Director of Music for Corpus Christi Cathedral, and as Executive Director of the Cathedral Concert Series, posts he has held for 24 years. Constantly engaged as a festival conductor and workshop clinician, Gwozdz s workshop presentations, primarily in the area of his work with children s choirs, have taken place in more than 100 cities throughout the US. His trademark and educational venture entitled Singing FUN-damentals includes a Toy Box, DVD and Video. Highly sought after as a clinician for children s voices and conductor of children s choir festivals, Mr. Gwozdz has expanded his reputation as a leading Adult Choir Festival Clinician. In 2004, he was voted Musician of the Year by more than 10,000 of colleagues from the National Association of Pastoral Musicians. Mr. Gwozdz graduated from Texas Christian University where he studied organ with renowned organist Emmet Smith, receiving a BME with a minor in organ performance. While at TCU, Lee undertook summer studies with world renowned organists and composers, some of whom included Jean Langlais, Maurice Duruflé and Flor Peeters. Guadalupe Rivera, Jr. (Conductor) is currently the Interim Assistant Director of Music at the Corpus Christi Cathedral. Mr. Rivera served as Assistant Conductor of the Turtle Creek Chorale in Dallas under Dr. Tim Seelig, and was also the Resident Guest Conductor for the Cathedral Midnight Mass celebrations and the annual Holiday Cathedral Spectacular, Gloria In Excelsis Deo! In February 2006, he was the assistant conductor at Carnegie Hall in the performance of Sing For the Cure: A Proclamation of Hope, and later in the year conducted for famed choral composer Morten Lauridsen. In the summers of 2006 and 2007, he conducted at the Oregon Bach Festival under renowned conductor and Bach scholar Helmuth Rilling. Mr. Rivera, a native of Corpus Christi and former member of the Pontifical Chorale, received his Bachelor of Music Education from Texas Christian University in 1996, where he studied with Ronald Shirey and the late Dr. Ruth Whitlock. In that year, Mr. Rivera also studied with Robert Shaw at Carnegie Hall. Mr. Rivera is in demand as an adjudicator, guest conductor and clinician.