Music Ministry

St. Francis Xavier Adult Choir

The parish has had decades of fine choral singing, and the present day is no exception. The choir performs SATB music from the vast treasury of classical, contemporary choral repertoire, and music that reflects St. Francis Xavier history and heritage.

Membership is open to men and women from high school age and up. New members are welcomed at any point during the year. Prior experience is not necessary, as all you need to know is taught at our weekly practices. Rehearsals are held on Tuesday evenings from the second week of September until the Feast of Corpus Christi, which falls generally in late May to the beginning of June. Rehearsals are from 7:30 PM until 9:00 PM and are held in the Nossa Senhora Meeting Room in the lower church. Access is made by the rear glass door of the church on the parking lot level.

The choir sings one Saturday a month at the 4:30 PM Mass and for the balance of the month, alternates between the 9:30 AM and 11:30 AM Masses. On the average, we sing at six televised Masses per year and upon occasion, sing outside the parish at Cathedral and ecumenical events.

Please join us in this joyful and fulfilling ministry!

The St. Cecilia Choir (The children's choir of St. Francis Xavier)

The children's choir is now in its forth season. Membership is open for boys and girls in grades 1-6. Rehearsals are held from 6:30 PM-7:15 PM on Tuesday evenings in the Nossa Senhora Meeting Room in the lower church. Practices are held from late September and the choir sings at the 9:30 AM Sunday Mass on alternating weeks until May 1st. Children are welcome to join at any point in the season.

Our parish instruments

St. Francis Xavier if fortunate to have two very fine musical instruments, the first being the church organ. The original pipe organ was built by the M.P Moller Company of Hagerstown, Pennsylvania. It was in use from the 1927 until 1990. Further tonal changes to the instruments were done in 1971.

The church underwent a major renovation in 1990, during which the choir loft was extended and a new pipe organ was commissioned. The Carlson Organ Company of Greenbush, New York built the 2 manual, 20 rank pipe organ which is in use to the present day. This instrument includes two ranks of pipes and tubular chimes from the original instrument.

The second instrument is our concert grand piano. This 9’ grand had belonged to the late Fr. Rego, a former pastor of the parish, and himself an accomplished pianist. This very fine piano, nearly 100 years old, was recently restored by Thomas Roy through the generosity of a bequest. It is once again gracing us with its beautiful tone for concerts in the auditorium named after Fr. Rego himself.

Concert Series

Music at St. Francis Xavier, our concert series, was instituted by our current organist and choir director, Br. Enoch John Valentine, BSG. This series is an effort to bring together fine musicians from within our parish and beyond, for musical entertainment to enrich musical appreciation in our parish and to the general public.

These concerts have thus far included a Cole Porter Cabaret program, a piano recital for the rededication of our concert grand piano, and professional musician members of our parish who performed a wonderful program of Portuguese folk and classical repertoire upon Portuguese guitar, classical guitar and flute. Please continue to watch this website for further upcoming concerts.