Dr. Samuel A. Schmitt is Organist & Choirmaster at Sts. Cyril and Methodius Parish and Oratory in Bridgeport, Connecticut.  He has dedicated the better part of the past thirty years to making music for the church as an organist, conductor, composer, teacher, and choral singer. At Sts. Cyril and Methodius he directs the parish choir in classical polyphony for Mass and choral Vespers and the men’s chant schola in the full Latin propers each week. In addition, the Children’s Schola sings polyphony and the chant ordinary for Mass once a month. 

Schmitt studied the Solesmes method of chant under Dr. Theodore Marier while earning a master’s in liturgical music­ with a concentration in organ performance at the Catholic University of America. He earned a doctorate in musicology at CUA for his research on the music and liturgical practice of underground Catholics in Elizabethan England.

While in Washington Dr. Schmitt served as assistant organist at both the Cathedral of St. Matthew and the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Most recently he was Director of Sacred Music and Organist at the Cathedral Parish in Bridgeport. Schmitt’s chant-based choral faux-bourdon settings of the psalms in English and Spanish are sung by choirs across the country.  

He teaches music history, theory, and appreciation at Trivium School in Lancaster, Massachusetts, where his 100-voice chorus of high schoolers joyfully sing polyphony, chant, and the occasional madrigal.

Dr. Schmitt also serves as Executive Director of the Carl Schmitt Foundation in Wilton, Connecticut. The Foundation seeks to further the legacy of American painter Carl Schmitt, one of the founders of the Silvermine Guild of Artists. He is the author of Carl Schmitt: The Vision of Beauty (Scepter Publishers) and Silvermine (Arcadia Publishing), and can often be found singing with his wife and six children and friends at Mass or around a bonfire.

Bill Riccio has been a master of ceremonies since 1986, beginning with the St. Gregory Society of New Haven, CT, and is currently the MC for the Church Music Association. Well versed in both forms of the Roman Rite, he has been invited to direct ceremonies in 19 states for various groups and organizations. Having some knowledge of church music, chant and polyphony, he tries to work with both the West and East ends of the church, coalescing the two toward an atmosphere for proper worship.

After graduation from Saint Benedict High School, Still River, Massachusetts, Fr. Peter joined the community, and together with several others, including his brother, Abbot Xavier, professed monastic vows on September 8, 1981. His further formation and education include undergraduate studies at the Abbey, followed by graduate studies at Providence College (M.A. in Religious Studies) and Saint John’s Seminary, Brighton, Massachusetts (M.A. in Theology). Fr. Peter was ordained a priest on December 12, 1987. Fr. Peter wrote his master's thesis on the history of the Liturgical Movement and the contribution of Dom Virgil MIchel.

For many years Fr. Peter has been Director of Liturgy, Director of Public Relations and Fundraising, and heavy equipment operator at the Abbey. For a time, he also served as novice master and vocation director. In 2010, Fr. Peter was given the added assignment of Sub-prior.

Bishop Robert J. McManus was born in Providence on July 5, 1951. The son of Edward W. and Helen F. (King) McManus of Narragansett, he is a graduate of Blessed Sacrament School in Providence and Our Lady of Providence Seminary High School. He studied for the priesthood at Our Lady of Providence Seminary in Warwick, The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. (bachelor and master of arts degrees), and the Toronto School of Theology (master of divinity degree). He has also earned licentiate and doctoral degrees in sacred theology from The Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.

After performing a year’s diaconal service at Our Lady of Mercy Parish in East Greenwich, Bishop McManus was ordained to the priesthood there by Bishop Kenneth A. Angell on May 27, 1978. Following ordination, he served as temporary assistant chaplain at St. Joseph Hospital (1978), associate pastor at St. Matthew Parish in Cranston (1978-81) and associate pastor at St. Anthony Parish in Providence (1981-82). From 1982 to 1984 he was the Catholic chaplain at the Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI) in Warwick while continuing in residence at St. Anthony. He pursued advanced studies in theology in Rome from 1984 to 1987. While still in doctoral studies in Rome, he was named director of the diocesan Office of Ministerial Formation on July 1, 1986, and in July 1987 he returned to the diocese and took up residence at St. Luke Parish in Barrington.

Bishop McManus became diocesan Vicar for Education on November 9, 1987 while continuing as director of the Office of Ministerial Formation and in-residence at St. Luke. On October 4, 1990, he assumed the additional duty as theological consultant and editorial writer for The Providence Visitor newspaper. He was appointed a Prelate of Honor to His Holiness with the title of Monsignor on February 28, 1997. He was named rector of Our Lady of Providence Seminary on June 26, 1998 while continuing his duties as Vicar for Education and Director of Ministerial Formation. At the same time he left St. Luke for residence at the seminary and assumed responsibility for weekend assistance at St. Margaret Parish in Rumford. Bishop McManus was ordained as Titular Bishop of Allegheny and Auxiliary Bishop of Providence on February 22, 1999 and he continued to serve as Secretary for Ministerial Formation and Rector of Our Lady of Providence Seminary for some time.

Pope John Paul II named Bishop McManus as the Fifth Bishop of Worcester and he was installed on May 14, 2004. In 2008, he completed his term as the Chairperson of the Committee on Education for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

David Hughes is Director of Music at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Littleton, Colorado, where he oversees an active program of musical formation for students and adults, in the context of the traditional Latin Mass and the Divine Office. He is also director of Gaudium Verum, a professional liturgical choir in Denver. Hughes is a composer, conductor, and organist who is in international demand as a recitalist and instructor of Gregorian chant. He has developed choral programs at several notable parishes in Connecticut, including St. Mary’s Church in Norwalk and most recently St. Patrick Oratory in Waterbury. He is the founder of Viri Galilæi, an ensemble of men from the tristate New York area who have gathered every week for the past ten years to sing Vespers and medieval polyphony from facsimiles of original manuscripts.

A board member of the Church Music Association of America, Hughes serves on the faculty of its annual Sacred Music Colloquium, teaching chant, composition, and organ improvisation. He is Director of Music for the Roman Forum’s annual two-week Summer Symposium at Lake Garda in Italy, where he directs a choir for daily Masses and Vespers, and coordinates performances with local groups; he is also a board Member of the Roman Forum. He was named Chant Instructor for St. Benedict’s Abbey in Still River, Massachusetts, which he visits every few months for musical consultation with the monks. He travels frequently to give workshops, clinics, and recitals in North America, South America, and Europe.

Hughes has written extensively for choir and organ. Recent compositions include the Misa en honor de Nuestra Señora del Buen Suceso for congregation and organ, which was a commission from the CMAA; Cor Jesu amantissimum for double choir; and Iste confessor in honorem Sancti Ignatii. His suite for organ, Nuestra Señora de Apocalipsis, received its premiere in Guayaquil, Ecuador in August 2019. Film scoring credits include Navis Pictures’ St. Bernadette of Lourdes and several documentaries. With librettist Richard Munkelt, Hughes is the composer of the opera Gracchus; the fully staged world premiere was in Stamford, Connecticut in August 2023.

Hughes’s composition teachers have included Ruth Schonthal and John Halle, and he has studied organ with Paul Jacobs, Daniel Sullivan, and Scott Turkington. He is a graduate of Yale College.

Christopher Berry is Assistant Professor of Sacred Music at the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music (CISM) and Organist and Director of Sacred Music at the Church of the Nativity in Menlo Park, CA. He is also Director of CISM’s newly-founded Chorister Program for young singers in grades 3+.

A distinguished musician, Christopher Berry brings a wealth of experience in organ performance, choral conducting, and Gregorian chant to his new roles. With a career molded by studies under renowned mentors such as Jesse Eschbach, James Higdon, Marie-Claire Alain, Andrew Megill, and Simon Carrington, Berry has earned international recognition, including a Premier Prix from the conservatory of Rueil-Malmaison in Paris. His deep knowledge of early music and chant, born out of work at the Paris Conservatory, has profoundly influenced his approach to sacred music.

Berry’s extensive conducting experience includes leading choirs at iconic venues such as St. Peter’s Basilica, Canterbury Cathedral, and Westminster Abbey. As Director of Music at the Pontifical North American College in Rome, he made a commercial recording and conducted an historic concert in the Sistine Chapel. After redefining a model music program for the Basilica of St. Josaphat in Milwaukee, Berry moved to St. Stanislaus Oratory, where the music program for the parish flourished with new ensembles and a chorister program grounded in traditional principles of chant and polyphony. While developing choirs at St. Stanislaus and at various summer conferences, he taught as Professor of Organ at Carthage College and University of Wisconsin-Parkside.

At the Church of the Nativity, Berry oversees the sacred music program, enriching liturgical celebrations with his expertise in organ performance and choral direction. As director of CISM’s Chorister Program, he guides young singers in developing their musical and spiritual formation, fostering a deep appreciation for the Church’s sacred music tradition.

Fr. Leo Camurati, O.P. entered the Dominican Order in 2011, after having met the friars at St. Joseph’s Parish in Greenwich Village. Ordained in 2018, he has served in parishes in New Haven, Westchester County, and Louisville. He has also worked for several years as a high school chaplain at the Montfort Academy. Fr. Leo has also had the chance to offer Mass in the Ordinary and Extraordinary Form on various occasions, particularly in the New York area. While no musician himself, he’s been fortunate to be part of several collaborations and occasions that have reflected rather solemnly high liturgical sensibilities. Asked to summarize his vocation, he answered, "I entered the Dominican Order because I saw how the friars' preaching and warm demeanor could change lives, especially my own."

Abbot Marc Crilly is the Abbot of St. Benedict Abbey in Still River, Massachusetts. He was raised the third of eleven children in a devout and lively family in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey. He began visiting the Abbey while a student at Indian Hills High School. Even though the whole family would visit the Abbey while on vacation, they were disappointed when they brought fewer than five or ten friends along as well. After finishing high school in 1976, he decided to join the community. Professing monastic vows on September 8, 1981, he completed his college education at the Abbey, and then completed his studies for the priesthood at St. John’s Seminary, Brighton, Mass. Fr. Marc was ordained to the priesthood on May 29, 1993.

Over the years, Fr. Marc has been assistant to Fr. Anthony at the barn (when the Abbey had 120 dairy cows). He was also handy in the kitchen but his main work has been Music Director, teacher, and Novice Master.  On May 15, 2021, Fr. Marc was elected as Abbot Marc. He succeeded Abbot Xavier Connelly, who was elected in June 2010 and resigned in March, 2021, because of illness. Abbot Xavier passed away April 8, 2021.  On August 15, 2021, Bishop McManus, Bishop of the Diocese of Worcester officially blessed him in St. John’s Church in Clinton, Massachusetts where some 650 friends of the abbey gathered for the celebration.

Abbot Crilly coat of arms bears a winged lion for St. Mark, whose Gospel calls Christ “Son of Mary,” and a Benedictine cross combined with a Marian cross. A poppy in the cross’ center symbolizes joy.  He said he chose his motto – “Caritas congaudet veritati” (“Charity rejoices in the truth,” from 1 Cor. 13:6) – because “I want to foster joy in the community … a joy that comes from knowing the truth and living the truth.”  Asked how he hopes to do that, he said, “I think that … to have joy is to live the truth, which for a monk would be to live the life well. Sanctity is found in the little things” one does.