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A centuries-old ministry of music

Liturgy, instruments and voices in sacred and secular forms are part of an enterprising program presented by St. Peter's director of music.

By WAVENEY ANN MOORE, Times Staff Writer
Published December 12, 2007

ST. PETERSBURG

Several evenings a week, downtown St. Petersburg's historic Gothic revival cathedral resounds with a centuries-old liturgy most common in England.

Sunday evenings, choirs and instrumentalists offer sacred and secular works, special Masses and liturgical processions.

Each is a component of the ambitious music program conceived by Edward Barbieri, the 31-year-old director of music hired by St. Peter's Episcopal Cathedral from Scotland's Inverness Cathedral.

St. Peter's dean, the Very Rev. Dr. Russell Johnson, is pleased with Barbieri's accomplishments in the year since he arrived.

"Edward has given us a taste of what could be," Johnson said, adding that he doesn't expect the talented musician to settle for decades at St. Peter's tiny cathedral.

"I think it's too small a stage for his skills, but I'm really pleased to have him and as long as we have him here, we'll be blessed," Johnson said.

The son of an opera singer and grandson of a concert pianist, Barbieri said his mother discouraged him from pursuing a musical career. By 11 or 12, though, he had made up his mind to do exactly that. He is pleased to be working in the United States.

"It's always been my dream to continue my career over here," he said before last Wednesday's choral evensong.

Close to three dozen people attended the traditional Anglican service of evening prayer dating from the 16th and 17th centuries and rooted in the rituals of the early church. The scant attendance didn't bother Barbieri.

"It's one of the statuary services of the church. So you're singing for the glory of God rather than for an audience," he said.

British cathedrals offer choral evensong whether there is one person or dozens, he said. Barbieri added that only about three or four Episcopal cathedrals offer the service on weekdays in the United States.

"We feel we're upholding an ancient tradition that would otherwise disappear," he said.

A composer and arranger, Barbieri earned degrees and diplomas in music, psychology and management from several institutions, including Cambridge University. Besides Inverness Cathedral, he has worked at St. David's Cathedral in Wales and the Royal Church of St. Martin-in-the Fields in London's Trafalgar Square. He has performed for the pope at the Vatican.

"I love what I do. I love seeing other persons achieve as well," he said.

Under Barbieri, the cathedral offers choral and organ scholarships, a program he believes is unique in America. The scholarships for college, graduate and exceptional high school students include classes and paid participation in the church's music program.

Organ scholar John Mason, 22, is a recent graduate of Florida State University with a degree in organ performance. He plays the organ for services at the cathedral and helps to direct its choirs.

At 16, Haviland Kebler, a student at the Center for Advanced Technologies at Lakewood High, is the youngest of eight choral scholars.

"I'm learning so much," she said.

His goal, Barbieri says, is to make St. Peter's "a musical oasis, where opportunities exist for the listener, performer and worshiper."

Waveney Ann Moore can be reached at wmoore@sptimes.com or 727 892-2283.

If you go

For the listeners

Evensong, 6:15 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, and sometimes at 4 p.m. Sundays. Handel's Messiah, 7:30 p.m. Sunday. St. Peter's Episcopal Cathedral, 140 Fourth St. N, St. Petersburg. Go to www.spcathedral.netor call (727) 822-4173 for music programs.

[Last modified December 11, 2007, 23:27:01]