Devin has his hands on keys to parish

Devin DiMauro feels at home on the organ bench or in the midst of a thunderous concert band or with his saxophone in a jazz group, discovering melodies as fast as they pop into his head.

Music is the 16-year-old's pastime and passion -- from the community ensembles he plays with to his job as music minister at Blessed Sacrament Church in Bolton Landing.

Devin described his chosen instrument, the sax, as being "created out of a bunch of instruments, so it's a very unique and appealing instrument."

Church bench

Devin's first teacher was his mother, Kathi, who also plays the sax. He can also play the tuba, the bassoon and percussion, and studied the piano.

By sixth grade, he had been invited to serve as a substitute for the organist at his parish. When the organist left, the parish turned to Devin to fill the vacancy. Thus, in seventh grade, he became the first person he knew with a steady job.

Hymns

"When I first started subbing, I started off with the four hymns that I knew," Devin explained. "I am learning new liturgical stuff constantly."

Now a junior at Bolton Central School, he plays for weekend Masses, plans music, trains cantors, directs the choir and guides small youth ensembles for such events as Christmas pageants.

The choir is "fun, because I get a bigger sound," he explained.

Making it fit

To choose music for a Mass, Devin studies the readings, and refers to liturgical music guides and hymnals to find songs that go hand-in-hand with the readings.

Devin finds it "great to hear a lot of voices. If I can get most of the people to sing and have a connection with Mass," he's done his job, he said.

He credits his love of and participation in music with helping him connect further with his own Catholic faith.

"The one thing that music did for me is that it tied everything together for me at church," he explained. "I actually started to realize how the readings are tied into the songs and that the Mass is tied into all of that. I realized what my faith was about, instead of sitting in the pews, listening to stuff I didn't understand."

In the swing

At school, Devin accompanies the choir and participates in concert band. He also founded a jazz group and serves as its director, choosing music, providing guidance to other players, and helping young instrumentalists to develop skills in improvisation, tone and musicianship.

Jazz, he says, doesn't always need a conductor waving a baton, but it does need someone who appreciates the style's unconventionality.

His jazz skills help him during Mass, he said, where he often has to create music off the top of his head to fill time or match a special action, such as a sprinkling rite.

All-state band

Last month, Devin was part of the New York State School Music Association All-State Band, an audition-only ensemble made up of the best high school players from across New York.

Last year was his first time participating in Music at Pyramid Lake, a one-week summer camp for church musicians at the Pyramid Life Center in Paradox.

He and other young musicians got to do what they love best: explore, choose, play and help others discover quality church music.

Bandstand

Devin hopes to have a career playing live music in concert halls and jazz clubs before settling down to teaching.

"Wherever I go [to college]" he said, "I'm sure there'll be parishes nearby who would love to take on music ministers.

"When I was in middle school, I thought that maybe music would be a hobby for me, but it became apparent later that this was what I really wanted to do."

(1/19/06) [[In-content Ad]]