Music at St. Thomas More

12/08/2022

December 8, Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Solemn Mass at 6:30 in the evening. Gregorian chant and polyphony offered by musicians from the Choir of St Thomas More University Parish.

100 Stinson Street (at Jenkins), Norman, OK. Ample free parking, entrance from Jenkins Avenue.

08/15/2022

Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

August 15, 2022

Solemn Mass, 6:30pm

Gregorian chant and Renaissance polyphony
offered by choral scholars from the parish choir

100 Stinson Street, Norman, OK 73072

08/13/2022

This weekend, we say farewell to two of our choral scholars. Both have given exceptional service to St. Thomas More.

Sarah Spurlin has been in the parish choir for 4 years. Starting later this month, Sarah will be attending the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York to pursue a Master’s in Voice Performance and Literature.

Parker Millspaugh has been in the parish choir for 2 years. Next month, she will begin pursuing a Master’s in Vocal Performance at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow.

Congratulations, Sarah and Parker! We will keep you both in our prayers for the next step of your journeys. We will miss you both.

06/25/2022

For the last five months, Dr. Damin Spritzer served as Interim Director of Music and Organist at St. Thomas More and chaired the search committee for our next Director of Music. She invested countless hours ensuring a smooth transition for our community and we are very grateful for her time with us.

Thank you, Dr. Spritzer!

05/24/2022

The Schantz Organ Company is here with the last truckload of components for Skinner Organ opus 422 and things are taking shape! More progress photos to come.

04/29/2022

Dr. Damin Spritzer, our Interim Director of Music, was just added to the roster of Phillip Truckenbrod Concert Artists, LLC. Congratulations, Dr. Spritzer, we are honored to have you at St. Thomas More University Parish!

We're thrilled to announce that DAMIN SPRITZER has joined the roster of Phillip Truckenbrod Concert Artists! A graduate of Oberlin Conservatory, Eastman School of Music, and the University of North Texas, Dr. Spitzer serves as Area Chair and Associate Professor of Organ at the University of Oklahoma. With five CD recordings under her belt, Spritzer’s acclaimed fifth CD for Raven Recordings was recorded in England where she was the first American and the first woman to record at historic Hereford Cathedral on the landmark Fr. Willis organ. It received a four star review from Choir & Organ and five stars from Organists Review, which said, “Damin Spritzer’s performance is spellbinding – and her wide-ranging program notes are fascinating….on so many levels this CD impresses as a serious undertaking.” Alsatian-American composer René Louis Becker (1882-1956) was the topic of her doctoral research and she edits a continuing multi-volume critical edition of Becker’s organ music for Wayne Leupold Editions which will release her monograph on the composer. More information on her impressive and widely-heralded career can be found at https://www.daminspritzer.com/ and her CD recordings can be found at https://ravencd.com/.

04/24/2022

Karl Hatten, a Choral Scholar in the Parish Choir, has been accepted to the Southern Methodist University School of Law as a Dean's Scholar. This weekend marks the end of five years of exceptional service to St. Thomas More. Congratulations, Karl! Know of our prayers for the next step of your journey. You will be missed.

04/22/2022

Schantz Organ Company has arrived and the installation of Skinner Pipe Organ, opus 422 has begun!

03/29/2022

We are pleased to announce the appointment of David Lawrie as the next Director of Music at St. Thomas More University Parish.

Mr. Lawrie is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where he studied with organist John Weaver. He holds a Master of Music degree and Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music, where he was a student of David Higgs, concurrently studying improvisation and sacred music with Rick Erickson and Gerre Hancock. Earlier organ studies were with Charles W. Whittaker and Dale Krider.

As organist, David has performed solo recitals throughout the United States, including such notable venues as Washington National Cathedral and the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC. He is a prior first place winner of the Arthur Poister Competition in Organ Playing (Syracuse, NY).

As choirmaster, David has focused on the exploration and utilization of the wealth of settings of sacred and liturgical texts throughout the centuries of music history, utilizing performance techniques which convey not only appropriate and informed style, but effective communication of the sacred texts. He passionately encourages an expression of appropriate dignity, humility, and reverence for Almighty God, to whom the art is offered.

David, along with his wife Brenda and son Alex, looks forward to joining the community at St Thomas More University Parish. He is privileged and highly honored to continue the cultivation of the standard of excellence established by his esteemed colleagues at St Thomas More and the University community.

03/24/2022

E.M. Skinner Pipe Organ, opus 422 is coming to life! To view the specification online, visit www.stm-ou.org/organ.

03/21/2022

A little preview of the French horn stop on E.M. Skinner organ, opus 42 from the Schantz Organ Company voicing room. View the full specification for the instrument here: stm-ou.org/organ