ORGANIST / LITURGY

At a Glance

Robert has an extensive resume in liturgy and organ, where actually at the present moment a majority of his work lies. . Since February of 2020 (and gratefully through the Coronavirus pandemic), Robert has held a full-time position as Director of Music and Organist of St. Pancras Roman Catholic Church in Glendale, Queens, where he manages and actively nurtures a growing network of volunteer and professional cantors, three choirs, and a handful of professionally produced events/concerts during the year, featuring several guest musicians. As of Fall 2022, Robert also works as organist and Assistant Director of Music at St. Sebastian Roman Catholic Church (Woodside, Queens). While a Master's student at Manhattan School of Music, Robert was fortunate to take a course on Service Playing in the Organ Department in addition to intermittent study with Dr. Raymond Nagem, Minister of Music at Brick Presbyterian.

During his first year as a music director, Robert orchestrated several large-scale events including two professional, feature-length video concerts that received wide acclaim throughout the Diocese of Brooklyn — and, as a music director and recitalist, Robert is conscientious in featuring works by historically excluded and underrepresented musicians. View some of his recent programs here, here, and here).

Throughout his years and upbringing as a musician, Robert has undertaken a plethora of opportunities leading song in places of worship — and his abilities as a music director continue to be strengthened through his knowledge of Christian hymnody/liturgy, his proficiency in various styles of Western keyboard improvisation, and his years of professional cantorial/ensemble experience as a vocal baritone.

Robert's earlier breadth of experience in liturgy also includes work as a violist, violinist, vocalist/cantor, organist, and even electric bassist at several notable institutions of worship in the Greater New York area. Some prestigious venues where he has offered his services in liturgy have been St. James Cathedral Basilica (Brooklyn, NY), The Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph (Brooklyn, NY), Garden City Community Church (Garden City, NY), the Church of St. Patrick (Huntington, NY), as well as frequent engagements at the seminary at Immaculate Conception Center (Douglaston, NY) — the latter including its own special set of events for an anniversary celebration of Magnificat Magazine, a Diocesan series for which Robert organized a string quartet. As a composer/arranger, Robert has also seen premieres and commissions of his original work in several notable institutions of worship — including the cathedral of St. John the Divine (New York, NY) as well as St. William the Abbot Roman Catholic Church (Seaford, NY). Robert has led the music at several masses in Italian broadcast by Radio Maria, and on occasion, Robert sings with the Brooklyn Diocesan Choir.

Even in the earliest part of his pre-professional faith formation as a young adult, Robert was an active proponent in a rich array of varied liturgical experiences — from a cappella music to contemporary praise music to participating as a section violist in a full orchestra for special Holy Day events. As a teen, Robert participated in several televised performances with his home parish youth group on Telecare TV (now Catholic Faith Network). For the first 17 or so years of his life, Robert volunteered as a violinist, violist, vocalist, and pianist at his family's home parish of Our Lady of Lourdes (West Islip, NY) and St. John the Baptist Diocesan High School (also West Islip, NY).