New Cathedral organist arrives from Italy

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SALT LAKE CITY – The Cathedral of the Madeleine and The Madeleine Choir School recently announced the appointment of Dr. Gabriele Terrone as organist and assistant director of music.

Terrone, who is from Italy, arrived in Salt Lake City on April 10 and started his new assignment the next day.

"The search process to fill that position was five months in length, with over 40 applicants for the position," said Gregory Glenn, the cathedral’s director of music and liturgy.

Terrone read about the position on one of the several liturgical music websites where the announcement was posted and expressed interest very early in the search process, said Glenn, who happened to have a business meeting scheduled in Italy about that time.

"I was able to attend the Sunday Mass at the Papal Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, where Dr. Terrone served as titular organist. I left the Mass very impressed by his playing and met with him the next day for a first interview," said Glenn.

When Terrone expressed serious interest in the position, Glenn made arrangements for him to visit Salt Lake City as one of three finalists for a week-long interview and performance audition "in which the candidates were also observed working with the choristers of the choir school. He was the unanimous choice of the search committee," said Glenn.

Since November of 2011, Terrone has served as the titular organist at the Papal Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, with previous posts at the basilicas of San Lorenzo Fuori le Mura, Santi Cosma E Damiano and Santa Croce in Gerusalemme.

"I am very impressed by Dr. Terrone’s accomplishments. Not only is he a well-trained organist and church musician, but he holds a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Padova and recently completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Lisbon," Glenn said. "He clearly has a remarkable work ethic. His preparation for the formal interview and audition process was unmatched, and his attention to detail in our communication to date leads me to believe he will be an outstanding minister collaborating with many in the work of the Cathedral and diocese."

Terrone has studied at the State Music Conservatory in Perugia, the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music in Rome and the Hochschüle Für Musik in Lucerne. His teachers have included Juan Paradell Solè and Theo Flury, OSB.

"Dr. Terrone is an ideal candidate because he is a very committed pastoral musician who understands the role of music in the liturgy and its crucial service to the Church’s life of prayer and worship. He is a very dedicated and hard-working musician who has developed his organ performance skills with a wide array of organ repertoire from the Church’s treasury of sacred music," said Glenn.

The Cathedral of the Madeleine is blessed to have the Eccles Memorial Organ, Glenn added, and "Dr. Terrone is well disposed to bring the Cathedral’s organ to life, expressing the joys, sorrows and challenges we seek to express in our worship. His experience with choral accompaniment, Gregorian chant, and service playing are also greatly helpful in his work at the cathedral."

As the Cathedral organist, Terrone has the duty to enable the sung prayer of the congregation, assist in supporting the choir’s role in the liturgy, and perform the treasury of sacred music that is the organ repertoire composed for service to the church by such masters as J. S. Bach, Cesar Franck, Felix Mendelssohn, and Maurice Durufle.

"He will direct the annual Eccles Organ Festival and assist with the Cathedral Choir’s annual Concert Series. He will assist with the rehearsal of the choirs, the regular training and rehearsal of the choristers in the choir school, and serve on the choir school faculty as a music theory and history instructor," said Glenn. "I believe that our diocese and Cathedral church are very blessed to have this young musician working among us, offering his talents and skills to build up the life of the Church in Utah."