The St. Cecilia Choir of Our Lady of Czestochowa, Tuners Falls MA
The St. Cecilia Choir of Our Lady of Czestochowa Roman Catholic Church in Turners Falls MA, is mixed voice choir dedicated to preserving the Polish Roman Catholic heritage of the Parish. The choir sings a mixture of traditional music for the Liturgy including the Ordinary and Propers of the Mass, Hymns in Polish, Latin and English, Gregorian Chants and Anthems and Motets.
The St. Cecilia Choir was founded in 1913. The choir became an important part of the parish after the appointment of "Pan" Stanley J. Sojka in 1940 as choir master having been parish organist since 1921, the Choir made a recording in the 1950's of a Solemn High Mass celebrated by then Pastor Fr. Joseph P. Szczepaniak. He served until his death in 1980. He was succeeded by Horace York, Catherine Schab, Sharon Andrews (with Sub Organists Phyllis Tucker, Edith Bourbeau and Henry Gaida) and currently Henry Gaida (with Sub Organist Breton Abbondanzio).
Also connected with the St. Cecilia Choir is the Ad Hoc Schola Cantorum which assembles for an occasional Tridentine Mass, singing the propers and ordinary in the full Gregorian forms of the Graduale Romanum.
Membership in the Choir is open to anyone. The choir sings at the 10:30 Mass on Sunday (with the option of also singing at the 4:00 Mass on Saturday) and other major services throughout the year. Those who are interested are invited to come to a choir rehearsal (which take place on Thursday evenings at 6:15 in the Organ Gallery at the Church on K St. For inquiries please contact the director via e-mail at: hgaida [at] gmail [dot] com. (Please remove all spaces and replace the words in square brackets with their appropriate characters.)
Please visit the Parish websites: www.ourladyofczestochowa.org and www.chroniclesofczestochowa.org.