April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
ACTIVE TEEN
Young organist serves two parishes
Young organist serves two parishes
A parishioner of St. Mary's, Christopher is also an organ scholar at Albany's Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. After playing the organ for the Chrism Mass there during Holy Week, Christopher was asked to take on the role as part of the cathedral's choir school program (read a previous story at www.evangelist.org).
The Cathedral Choir School of Albany trains students in liturgical music, said music director and organist Brian Gurley - and Christopher is "very dedicated. He responds well to instruction and is diligent in practicing."
Christopher's interest in playing the organ began when he was four years old. After Sunday Mass, he told The Evangelist, he would "go up and check out the organ with my mom and dad. The console of the organ [at St. Mary's] is down on the floor."
Never looked back
While attending St. Mary's School in Oneonta (now closed), Christopher began playing the clarinet. He switched to piano in 2010 and moved on to the organ in 2013.
"It's something I enjoy," he said. "I would love to get more time for it."
Now, Christopher plays the organ on an on-call basis for St. Mary's and other churches in that area. As part of his organ scholarship at the cathedral, he also practices with the choir in Albany for two rehearsals prior to each Mass.
"I've had to learn how to accompany a choir," he said. "That's something I've never done before."
Christopher likes to make a joyful noise: He enjoys practicing the organ by himself, "the louder the better.
"There aren't very many people out there who are truly organists. It's a beautiful instrument to play," he explained.
Having completing a home-schooling program last year, the teenager isn't quite sure where life will be taking him: "I have some different, diverse interests."
He's considering dairy farming, a family tradition, as well as becoming a funeral director or getting involved more deeply in music.
He's also thinking about religious life. At St. Mary's, Christopher has been an altar server for 10 years.
Possible priest?
"I've been told by more than one person that they see a vocation for the priesthood in me," he remarked. "I do have trepidation about it, but at the same time, I have to keep discerning whether it's what I'm being called to do.
"I'm not an outright leader," he noted. Though he's comfortable playing the organ in a packed church, "I'm more of a leader from the sidelines."
Despite that, Christopher completed his Eagle Scout project last year, raising around $2,000 and purchasing and installing shelving units for the food pantry at his parish.
"It was kind of hard for me to take that initiative and go forward with it," he said, but the storage room where St. Mary's kept extra cartons of food "was a mess. Things were stacked on wooden pallets on the floor. There was clutter."
Having achieved the highest rank in the Boy Scouts of America, Christopher turned back to one of his favorite pastimes: music.
"I'm a person who needs leisure time," he said, and playing the organ is that "time to recharge.
"It's the thing that I'm thinking about or doing," he said, "when I should be doing something else."[[In-content Ad]]
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