At St. Martin’s, music sets the drum beat, so to speak, of our worship, helping to regulate the flow of the liturgy. We envision music as an instrument of Christian formation and spiritual growth as well as community outreach. We believe in the power of traditional sacred music to speak to the longings of many who seek to find their spiritual path. And because that path leads amidst the challenges of contemporary life, we constantly pursue new and creative directions for our music ministry.
The St. Martin’s Choir includes singers of wide-ranging musical experience and ability, expertly led by a select group of professional singers under the direction of Dr. Gabe Alfieri. Our goal is to enrich worship with well-prepared music matched to the strengths of the group, within the venerable and ongoing musical traditions of Anglican practice, and exploring other musical traditions that broaden and deepen our worship experience. NO AUDITION IS REQUIRED! All you need is a love of music and the desire to sing. We generally rehearse Thursdays 7:30-9 pm, and sing most Sundays September through June, as well as on special holidays and other occasions. For more information, contact Gabe at [email protected].
Our professional soloists also make up the St. Martin Chapel Consort, a small ensemble of highly-skilled singer devoted to the finest in sacred chamber music.
For major feast days and other special occasions, our choirs are accompanied by some of the best instrumentalists in Rhode Island and beyond.
The organ at St. Martin’s was built by the Reuter Organ Company of Lawrence, Kansas and installed in 1956. The instrument consists of four major divisions with a total of 2808 pipes. Its dedicatory recital was played by Robert Owen, who was, coincidentally, the teacher of our present organist, John Brooks. St. Martin’s English-village-style church also boast an iconic square bell tower containing a set of ten bells made by the Meneely Bell Co. of Troy, NY. All are fully functional and can occasionally be heard peeling joyfully across the city.
Before accepting the position of Director of Music at St. Martin’s, Gabe Alfieri, PhD, was the choir’s bass soloist for many years. He is an active professional vocalist, teacher, and music scholar. He has taught at the New England Conservatory, Providence College, and elsewhere, in both the studio and classroom, as well as directing; currently, he serves on the music faculty at Salve Regina University in Newport, RI. He holds a Bachelor’s degree summa cum laude in voice performance, two Master’s degrees with academic honors in voice/pedagogy and musicology, and a Ph.D. in historical musicology. He brings to his work with the choirs at St. Martin’s the experience of a professional singer, singing teacher, and scholar. Click for full CV & resume.
A native of Bronxville, New York, John Winthrop Brooks first discerned his calling as a church musician as a chorister at his home parish, Christ Church, under the tutelage of its distinguished Organist and Choirmaster Robert Owen. With Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in organ from The College of Wooster and The Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University respectively, John continued advanced studies in choir training, conducting, repertoire and Anglican church music history at the Royal School of Church Music in England. As Fellow in Church Music at Washington National Cathedral, he was second assistant organist, assisted in the training of the choir of men and boys, and authored a paper on the history of the former Cathedral College of Church Musicians. From 1992-94 he lived in England, first as a Choral Scholar in the choir of Wells Cathedral and then as a Lay Clerk in the choir of Gloucester Cathedral. In both places he taught in the cathedral schools and pursued research into the Anglican cathedral choral tradition.
John was Assistant Organist-Choirmaster at Christ Church in Greenwich, CT, choral music teacher at St. Andrew’s School in Middletown DE and St. Stephen’s and St. Agnes School in Alexandria VA, and Director of Music at St. James Church in Lancaster, PA. In Rhode Island, he was Organist and Choirmaster at St. Michael’s Church in Bristol before taking up interim appointments at St. Luke’s in East Greenwich, St. John’s in Barrington and St. Barnabas in Warwick. He is member of the American Guild of Organists, the Royal School of Church Music in America, the Association of Anglican Musicians, and the American Choral Director’s Association.