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New compositions, children's choir among Bierys' Cathedral legacy |
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By Maria Wiering
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Monday, 19 July 2010 |
If you’ve attended Mass at the Cathedral of St. Paul in the past 14 years and been moved by the swell of the Ernest M. Skinner pipe organ, the harmony of the choir, or the confidence of a cantor, you can thank Marilyn and James Biery.
Marilyn and James Biery are preparing to leave their positions at the Cathedral, where Jim has served as director of music since 1996, with Marilyn serving as associate director. They are headed to Michigan, where Jim will be the new minister of music at Grosse Pointe Memorial Church, a Presbyterian church on the outskirts of Detroit. Dave Hrbacek / The Catholic Spirit
The husband-wife duo has been leading the Cathedral’s music program since James was named director of music in 1996. During their tenure, they began a children’s choir, strengthened an ongoing concert series, and composed music for special liturgies and concerts.
Now, the Bierys are taking their talent to Michigan, where James will
begin a new position as minister of music at Grosse Pointe Memorial
Church, a Presbyterian church in Grosse Point Farms, a picturesque town
on Lake St. Clair on the outskirts of Detroit. Their last day at the
Cathedral is Aug. 2.
Both Bierys started playing the organ when they were 10 or 11 years old —
James even remembers playing a wedding at age 11. They met while
studying organ at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill.
After further study and directing music for Catholic churches in
Illinois and Connecticut, including a seven-year position as organist
and music director at the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Hartford, Conn.,
James began his position at the Cathedral of St. Paul.
Marilyn had been director of music ministries at the First Church of
Christ in Hartford, Conn., for 10 years when she left to follow her
husband to St. Paul.
Working together
Among James’ early tasks at the Cathedral was hiring an associate
director. During the search process, a committee member suggested they
hire Marilyn, who was doing doctoral work at the University of Minnesota
and helping with the Cathedral’s music as a volunteer. She was hired
temporarily, but her position eventually became permanent.
Today, James and Marilyn are accomplished organists and sacred music
composers. Their kind of collaboration is unusual among husband-wife
musicians, they said.
“We’re very integrated,” Marilyn said. “We’ve never heard of anyone who
does what we do the way we do it.”
They alternate as organist, director or singer. They critique each
other’s musical compositions, and sometimes Marilyn will write the text
and Jim the music for a new hymn. And from the way they speak about
their work, it is clear that each one is the other’s biggest fan.
Their teamwork has been a gift to their musicians, especially the
children and young people who sing in the Cathedral’s St. Cecilia Choir.
In 2000, the Bierys resurrected the children’s choir, which had “fallen
by the wayside,” James said. Called the St. Cecilia Choir, it has
included 18 to 30 children from age 8 through high school.
“It’s been a wonderful source of joy, I think, for both of us,” James
said. “It’s not just a choir. From the get-go, we intended it to be an
educational program.”
Children who sing in the St. Cecilia Choir learn music skills, liturgy
and the role of music in the church, he added. Last year, the choir
preformed for an annual conference held by the Hymn Society of the
United States and Canada, where they premiered Marilyn’s composition, “A
Little Child Shall Lead Them.”
“I’ve always enjoyed singing, but being with the Bierys has really
developed my skill level and the ability to sing further than
I expected,” said David Kirsch, 16, who sang in the St. Cecilia choir
for six years before joining the adult choir last year.
David and his four siblings have sung in the Bierys’ choirs. His oldest
sister, Kathleen, 20, said singing in the choir helped her build
confidence. Now she sings for the choir at Ave Maria University in
Naples, Fla.
Erin Westman, 10, joined the choir two year ago, and has learned new
songs, about notes and keys, and a bit of Latin, she said.
“It’s a lot of fun,” she said. “It’s a special thing, too. It’s not
every day that you sing for a big crowd of people.”
Quality and creativity
The Bierys also direct an adult choir, which usually sings at the 10
a.m. Sunday Mass and for other important liturgies.
“Quality would be the one word to describe what they’ve done,” said
Lawrence Lawyer, the Cathedral’s assistant in music since 2007. “Their
ear as musicians, their skill level in conducting and playing, and the
way they interchange — each does both very well.”
The Bierys bolstered the Cathedral’s ongoing music concert series, which
has elevated the Cathedral’s status as a cultural center in the
community. VocalEssence, the Minnesota Orchestra, and the World Youth
Choir are among the local, national and international musicians who have
performed in the space.
Looking ahead
Going to Grosse Pointe Memorial Church is somewhat of a homecoming, said
Marilyn. The Bierys, who are not Catholic, grew up as Presbyterians,
and Marilyn’s father was a Presbyterian pastor.
Marilyn plans to concentrate on writing hymn texts, she said. She’s
already written one text for the church, and she is working on a second.
“The creative juices are definitely going to flow,” she said.
Leaving the Cathedral is still difficult, they said, and it is the
people in the choir they’ll miss most. “We’ve been here long enough that
we have some pretty deep [relationships],” Jim said.
Lawyer will miss observing and hearing the Bierys’ musicianship, he
said. “We’ve had a lot of fun,” he said. “I’m sad to see them go, but
I’m really happy for them.”
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