On a fall day in 1988, I was sitting with my sixth grade class in the library at St. Ann's School in Salt Lake City, Utah. A man with a very short haircut and distinctive beard walked in with a big smile on his face while carrying music under his arm. He passed it out to us, sat behind the piano and taught us to sing. It was music for All Saints Day - For All the Saints, Psalm 24 (Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face), and other songs. Our class sang everything with enthusiasm, and until we graduated from the 8th grade, we were asking our teachers "When is Mr. Glenn coming back to play for Mass?" When I was confirmed at St. Ann's in 8th grade, Mr. Glenn brought the choir from the Cathedral of the Madeleine in downtown Salt Lake to sing for the Confirmation. I still have the worship aid from that Mass at my parents' house. I remember taking it home and practicing playing melodies while improvising chords underneath on my little electronic keyboard...quite similar to my work now!

Two years later, students at Judge Memorial Catholic High School were taken to the Cathedral for Mass on a Thursday. The Cathedral was newly restored, the interior now looked like it did when it was completed in the early 20th century. Walking into the Cathedral, the view was breathtaking. But the real surprise came when the processional hymn began. The cathedral had installed a brand new organ built by the Kenneth Jones Company in Ireland. The sound was stunning - more beautiful than anything I had heard in my life.

I began attending Mass at the Cathedral, and every so often, I'd turn around to look at the organ and wonder how it was being played. One day, I mustered up the courage to walk up the stairs to the organ gallery while the postlude was still going on. It was very intimidating, because there was a sign posted at the bottom of the stairwell that said CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC!

When I walked through the door after the postlude, I found Mr. Glenn sitting at a bench facing a huge cabinet. I asked if I could take a look at the organ. What I found behind the cabinet took my breath away...

One day after finishing volunteer work in the Cathedral kitchen, I walked into Mr. Glenn's office and asked if I could play a few notes on the organ one day after Mass. He smiled, opened his desk drawer and pulled out the keys to the gallery and the organ saying, "Knock yourself out!"

After about two minutes of playing this instrument, I decided that it was something I was going to do for the rest of my life. There were wonderful stops on the Cathedral organ that I remember to this day: a mellow clarinet on the top keyboard, an oboe, and on the bottom manual, a set of wonderful fanfare trumpets!!! (If you stood too close to the back of the sanctuary downstairs, they had the potential to part your hair.)

I joined the Cathedral choir and began taking organ lessons after that. The Cathedral's music program employed the best choral and organ music from the Church's long tradition. We sang Gregorian chants every Sunday, along with a full choral Mass, anthems and beautiful hymns. The organists would play a prelude and postlude, employing great literature by Bach, Brahms, Widor, Tournemire, Messiaen, Franck and others. (The organists are always top-notch: Robert Ridgell has moved on to become organist at Trinity Episcopal Church, Wall Street - where the movie National Treasure was filmed. Andrew Unsworth is now a full-time organist at the Mormon Tabernacle.) On Sundays in Advent, Christmas and Easter, the choir would sing Vespers at 4:30 in the afternoon. We regularly sang for Mass presided by Bishop George Niederauer, who went on to become Archbishop of San Francisco. We gave concerts regularly - some employing guest conductors. One of the most memorable concerts was conducted by Richard Proulx, with the choir singing Ralph Vaughan Williams' Mass in G-minor.

The choir was a wonderful group to sing with. The rehearsals were filled with beatiful music, hard work and a lot of laughter. The choir embarked on two tours while I was a member: one to Seattle, Washington and the other to Italy. One year after the Italian tour, I left Salt Lake for Washington State and Pacific Lutheran University.

When I visit my family in Utah, I usually plan a trip to the Cathedral. Greg Glenn has continued to be a great mentor and professional example throughout my career. Greg continues to serve the Cathedral and the Diocese of Salt Lake City after 20 years. His vision and hard work have helped to build a full-time Catholic co-educational choir school - The Madeleine Choir School. The Cathedral music program continues to thrive. (You can find podcasts of Cathedral Masses at the Intermountain Catholic Broadcast website.) The music and memories of the Cathedral stay with me to this day, and have provided strong roots for my vocation to St. John's parish.