MUSIC MINISTRY

11am Choir

Our Adult Choir, under the direction of Stephen Williams, sings at the 11AM Sunday Liturgy, with the Choir Director serving as organist. The Choir Director endeavors to choose appropriate music that brings out the themes of each Sunday’s Eucharist. Rehearsals are every Thursday evening from 7:00-8:00 p.m., however it is not unusual to find the choir extending rehearsal time to two hours preceding special Liturgical times of the year (Thanksgiving, Christmas, Holy Week, and Easter).

The choir always welcomes new members. Please see Steve or any member of the choir after Mass on Sunday or at rehearsal Thursday nights at 7:00 p.m. in the Church.

See our separate page for complete information on planning a wedding at St. Joseph’s, which includes downloadable forms and suggested selections of music. Once you have met with a priest, please contact a member of our Music Ministry as soon as possible:

Wedding Music Coordinator

Laura Grant, 781-767-1469

Cantors

Laura Grant, 781-767-1469
Stephen Williams, 781-767-2763

Accompanists

Stephen Williams, organ/piano, 781-767-2763

Music Ministry at St. Joseph’s Church consists of a Mixed Choir, a 9:30 Ensemble, and a number of talented accompanists and Leaders of Song. Rather than having a single Director of Music Ministries, Choir Director/Organist Stephen Williams, Music Ministry Coordinator/Cantor Laura Grant, and Organist George Krim work closely together to plan liturgies and select music. This team approach has brought an uncommon breadth of knowledge, experience, and repertoire to our Music Ministry.

Our 21 member Mixed Choir sings at the 11 :30AM Sunday Liturgy, with the Choir Director serving as organist. The Choir Director endeavors to choose appropriate music that brings out the themes of each Sunday’s Eucharist. Rehearsals are every Thursday evening from 7:00-8:00PM, however it is not unusual to find the choir extending rehearsal time to two hours preceding special Liturgical times of the year (Thanksgiving, Christmas, Holy Week, and Easter).

In 1997, St. Joseph’s instituted a monthly Family Liturgy, and in 2000, we expanded the Family Liturgy to every week, including a monthly social gathering following the Mass. Music at the 9:30 Family Liturgy is drawn almost entirely from our hymnal, to encourage participation by the assembly. Our 9:30 Ensemble supports and inspires the assembly at the Family Liturgy with a wide range of traditional and contemporary hymns, carefully selected to reinforce the themes of the Mass. Although the Family Liturgy features a homily geared toward the children, it is our objective to orient the music to parishioners of all ages, to make this Mass truly a family experience.

At the Saturday 4:00PM Mass, we generally have a Leader of Song accompanied by organ or guitar. Typically, there is no formal Music Ministry at the 7:30AM Mass. Instead, the celebrant may lead the congregation in unaccompanied opening and closing hymns, and CD recordings by Christian musicians provide a meditative atmosphere during the distribution of Communion.

In order to make our music more accessible and familiar to parishioners, we generally use some of the same music at every Liturgy on a given weekend. Eucharistic Acclamations are usually from the Mass of Creation or St. Louis Jesuits Mass, which are both familiar to our parish. We take care in introducing new songs, teaching them and using the music over a few weeks. Compared to other parishes, it has been our experience that the people of St. Joseph’s Parish participate in the music of the Liturgy to a much greater extent than usual.

In addition to regular Sunday liturgies, our Music Ministry team works closely with the Religious Education Coordinator to provide music for the celebrations of First Eucharist, First Penance, Confirmation and other events. We have assembled a planning package for weddings, and work with couples to provide quality music for their celebration of the Sacrament of Matrimony. Most recently, we developed a planning aid for funeral music, distributed by local funeral homes, to assist families in selecting music for their funeral Masses. In all of these functions, our Music Ministry team’s broad range of knowledge, repertoire, and style enhances and supports the overriding goal of providing parishioners with a deeper spiritual experience at all Masses and Liturgical events through the joy and power of music.

Please email music@stjosephholbrook.org with comments, questions, or updates.