St. Gregory is blessed with several magnificent musical instruments
Its M. P. Moller organ was recently restored by Fabry Pipe Organs, Inc. It is ready to be expanded and Patrick Godon, our Director of Music, would be overjoyed if donors came forward to help with this cause. There is one chamber on the west wall that is currently empty, and is anxiously awaiting pipes. The Church also has a beautiful 6' 4" Boston Grand Piano on the main floor of the Church. This piano was bought in part with donations from parishioners. The choir loft has a Boston upright piano, also bought with generous gifts from parishioners.
Opportunities to participate in the music program include the Parish Choir, the Young Singers Choir, the St. Joseph Choir, and as an instrumentalist or cantor. All are welcome to join the vibrant music ministries offered at St. Gregory the Great. You are also a participant in the music program if you attend a liturgy at St. Gregory's and sing from the pew with all God gave you. Even if you don't like the voice God gave you, Patrick encourages you to give it back to God at every Mass you attend!
The Parish Choir
The Parish Choir rehearses on Thursday evenings from 7:00 PM until 9:00 PM. They sing for the 10:30 AM Sunday mass from September through Corpus Christi. Other Parish Choir responsibilities include singing for the Thanksgiving Day Mass, the Festival of Lights, Lessons, and Carols (near Christmas), and Midnight Mass. The music is chosen from a wide variety of styles.
St. Gregory Young Singers
Ms. Jennifer Sherrill directs St. Gregory Young Singers. She rehearses the choir on Sunday from 11:30 AM to 12:45 PM in the church. The choir sings approximately four times per year at various masses. Jen can be reached at 630-935-5366 or jsherrill1979@yahoo.com. Check out their web site at www.saintgregorysingers.blogspot.com
The St. Joseph Choir
The St. Joseph Choir sings for funerals. They offer comfort with their many voices to those who have lost a loved one. Members are generally retired and happy to help those in need as ambassadors of the parish.
Cantoring
Currently our cantors alternate between the three weekend Masses. Cantors lead the assembly in song and encourage all to sing. Anyone interested should please see the choir website for more details.
Instrumentalists are welcome
Patrick Godon began playing in a parish that had numerous pianists playing for the Masses, and would like to see this take off at St. Gregory's at some point. If you have ever played for Mass before and enjoy doing so, please contact Patrick at the Parish Center - 773-561-3546. Also, if you play an instrument and are interested in playing for Mass in some capacity, contact Patrick to discuss opportunities.
For more information about the Parish Choir, go to http://stgregorychoir.weebly.com/. If you are interested in joining any of the oppoortunities available in our music program, contact Patrick at the Parish Center, 773-561-3546 or pgodon@stgregory.net.
Patrick Godon, St. Gregory the Great's Director of Music
Patrick Godon made his debut as soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) in May 2007, playing one of the solo piano parts, along with Mary Sauer, in Colin McPhee’s Tabuh-Tabuhan: Toccata for Orchestra and Two Pianos, with Alan Gilbert conducting. Since 2016 Patrick has performed the Principal Keyboardist duties regularly with the CSO on piano, celesta, organ, and synthesizer. He made his debut with the CSO as second keyboardist at Ravinia in 2003. He was invited to play principal keyboard on the CSO's 2018 East Coast Tour, January 2017 European Tour; second keyboard on the CSO's 2005 European Tour and for eight CSO Carnegie Hall performances. In 2015 he began performing regularly as organist with the CSO. He has played under leading conductors including Alsop, Barenboim, Boulez, Colnot, Conlon, Davis, Dutoit, Eschenbach, Haitink, Maazel, Muti, Nagano, Robertson, Salonen, Slatkin, and Tilson Thomas. He has served as rehearsal pianist for Daniel Barenboim and Deborah Voigt for Schoenberg’s Erwartung. Godon also performs as orchestral keyboardist with the Virginia, Delaware, Milwaukee, and Peoria Symphony Orchestras. He is in demand as a collaborative pianist and has performed many live broadcasts on Chicago classical station WFMT.
In April 2018, he was the piano soloist in Beethoven's Choral Fantasy with the Symphony of Oak Park and River Forest (SOPRF) at Orchestra Hall. In October 2017, he performed Grieg’s Piano Concerto with the Lake Shore Symphony Orchestra, with whom he has also performed Schumann’s Piano Concerto, Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1, and Rhapsody in Blue. In October 2010, Patrick was the soloist in Dohnanyi’s Variations on a Nursery Rhyme with the West Suburban Symphony Orchestra. In 2005, Godon was the harpsichord soloist in Alfred Schnittke's Concerto Grosso No. 2 with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, along with Gidon Kremer, violin, and Kristina Blaumane, cello. In 2004, he was the harpsichord soloist in Alfred Schnittke's Concerto Grosso No. 4, "Symphony No. 5" along with Alicia Koelz, violin, and Somerlie Aston, oboe. Godon has also appeared as soloist in Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 with the SOPRF, and in both 2002 and 2008 with the DePaul University Wind Ensemble in Hindemith's Konzertmusik, with Donald Deroche conducting.
A nine-year member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Patrick served as principal pianist from 2002-2007. He has performed in Civic's chamber music masterclasses for Mitsuko Uchida and Thomas Kakuska of the Alban Berg Quartet.
In July of 2011, Patrick became the Music Director of The Tower Chorale, based out of Western Springs. The Tower Chorale is an 80 voice choir and has been in existence for 30 years. They have three concerts throughout the year: a Christmas concert, a masterworks concert, and a pops concert. Discover more at www.towerchorale.org.
Patrick Godon is artistic director and pianist for the International Chamber Artists (ICA), a chamber music ensemble that he founded in 2006. ICA showcases a diverse group of professional musicians and performs a wide variety of repertoire. Through educational components during performances, ICA seeks to sustain the future of classical music audiences. ICA performs a series of 5 concerts at St. Gregory the Great Church in Chicago, and also has been featured on WFMT, at the Chicago Cultural Center, the Morse Theater, St. James Cathedral, the Belden Stratford Hotel, the Schaumburg Prairie Center for the Arts, and the Harris Theater for Music and Dance. ICA went on its first international tour to Germany in September 2009 to critical acclaim. Discover more about this exciting ensemble at www.ICAmusic.org.
In 2010, Patrick toured Japan twice as duo pianist with Reiko Yamada. They performed concerts in Tokyo and Nikko of music by Akira Ifukube, composer of the original Godzilla film score. One review said, “Mr. Patrick Godon possessed an embracing quality and he enveloped her in his warm-colored sound. I'm sure that everybody in the audience must have been attracted to his humanistic qualities. This concert is one that cannot be measured by normal standards; it took us to another dimension.” They returned to Japan in August 2014 to present concerts in honor of Ifukube's 100 year birth anniversary. Patrick has also performed duo piano works with CSO former principal piano Mary Sauer on stage at Orchestra Hall.
Since July 2003, Patrick has been the Director of Music at St. Gregory the Great Church in the Andersonville/Edgewater neighborhood, where he composes and arranges a variety of music for liturgies. He has led the parish choir on European performance tours to France, Spain, Italy, Ireland, Greece & Turkey; and within the United States to Louisiana. Accepting an invitation from the Chapel Master of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City to participate in the 500th anniversary of the Cappella Giulia, he returned to Italy with the choir in March of 2013. Only 68 choirs from around the world were initially invited and 18 accepted this honor. Patrick regularly records demo CDs as pianist and organist for World Library Publications and for the Gregorian Institute of America, which are sent to church musicians nationwide.
A native of Fargo, North Dakota, Patrick Godon began his studies with Chicago Symphony principal piano Mary Sauer in 1997. He studied with Andrzej Dutkiewitz at the Interlochen Arts Camp in 1995, and with Jacob Lateiner in New York City at the Mannes Beethoven Institute in 2001. In 2000, he studied opera coaching with Linda Hirt and Benton Hess in Urbania, Italy through the Oberlin Conservatory. He holds both Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees in Piano Performance from DePaul University. He and his wife Keri are the proud parents of Gilbert, Oliver, and Atticus.