Holiday Concert, with the Copley Singers accompanied by St. Mary’s historic 1892 Woodberry and Harris 3 manual organ

Holiday Concert, with the Copley Singers accompanied by St. Mary’s historic 1892 Woodberry and Harris 3 manual organ. Presented by St. Mary-St. Catherine of Siena Parish together with the Friends of the Charlestown Branch Library and Hammond Residential Real Estate.

The 35-voice Copley Singers, under the direction of Brian Jones with organist Mark Dwyer, will perform carols, ancient and modern, from Europe and the Americas. Some examples will be sung a cappella; others will be accompanied by St. Mary’s historic 1892 Woodberry and Harris 3 manual organ. The audience will be invited to participate in four carols.

The Copley Singers, a Boston-based choir founded in 2006, are a congenial group of auditioned volunteers and professionals, all dedicated to the art of fine singing and the joy of communicating their love of this art to the public. Brian Jones is Emeritus Director of Music at Trinity Church, Copley Square, Boston, an active organ concert artist and guest conductor with many recordings to his credit.

Well known as both a skilled church musician as well as concert artist, Mark Dwyer is the organist and Choirmaster of The Church of the Advent, Boston, and frequent visitor to the organ bench at St. Mary’s. The Woodberry and Harris organ has been in place since St. Mary’s consecration in 1892. The firm’s opus 100 has 3 manuals, 37 stops, and 41 ranks of pipes (2501 pipes). The pipework ranges from tiny tin pipes half the size of a pencil to 18 feet long wooden giants 12 x 18 inches in section. The congregation of St. Mary’s is very much aware of its valuable treasure and is beginning to take actions to see that the Woodberry continues to charm and impress for another 100 years.