FTER READING the excellent essay by my colleague, Veronica Moreno, I felt compelled to post this article. Can I just say that, everything I know about Sacred Music I know because of Jeff Ostrowski. Back in 2017, when I first joined the choir he directed for the FSSP in Los Angeles, I was amazed with what the volunteer choir could sing. Motets by Victoria, works by Palestrina, Kevin Allen pieces, Mass settings by Guerrero … I could not believe what I was hearing from the voices gathered each week at choir. Many of the choristers could not read music. How were they doing this?
Secret Plan For Each Piece • Jeff would painstakingly record choir videos with each individual vocal part. He was passionate about taking each piece that he taught us and breaking it down so that we could systematically learn all the nuances and all the challenges of each piece—in ‘bite sized’ portions—so that when everything was strung together the whole piece would be resplendent and every choir member would wonder at how we managed to sing these complicated-yet-sublime pieces.
Searching Relentlessly • Jeff was always thinking about how to get the choir to learn the best pieces of Sacred Music. He reveled in the beauty of ancient music manuscripts. His enthusiasm and wonderment at the scope and treasury of the Sacred Music of our Catholic Church was infectious!
Humour His Hallmark • Jeff would inject humour with his lessons. Not a single rehearsal was ever boring. He had us leaning in, listening to his instructions, singing … and laughing. He would make up the most incredulous nicknames for each choir member and have us giggling in glee. We had so much fun learning the most difficult pieces … ever!
Jeff Taught Us To Pray • The choir room was packed every Thursday evening from 7:00PM to 9:00PM. He taught us to pray, he taught us about heroic saints, he taught us about solfège, he taught us about how to swell into each phrase, how to blend with each other, how to enunciate the words of the hymns. He taught us about liturgical history, the church … Jeff is a living encyclopedia of everything in Sacred Music, Church history, and everything else in between. I do not understand how he manages to get so much information into his brain. I am flabbergasted at his genius, his humility, and his musicality. I am awed by how he manages to do so much—yet still lives his life as a loving husband to his wife and a doting father to his 3 children.
Heart Of A Teacher • Jeff Ostrowski has the heart of a teacher. I remember him instructing me how to accompany on the pipe organ (for Sunday vespers) and how to make the transitions between antiphon and verses.* He taught me that there was no shame in using the pedal coupler from time to time, especially when one had to play the organ and conduct the choir. Before I joined the choir, I’m told they sometimes had to rehearse in a parking lot. The choir room where our choir sang was minuscule: imagine a room the size of a medium garage for two cars … holding 45 choristers each week, plus the organ! He gave me the chance—or should I say gave me no choice in the matter?—to conduct the choir, to cantor on the KYRIE ELEYSON with different Mass settings, to play the organ for ‘In Dulci Jubilo’, to sing Gregorian Chant in tenor voice with the Schola Cantorum… He gave me the confidence to do so and I’ll forever be grateful. I shall always remember his sayings: “There is no ‘Inn’ in Latihn” he would proclaim week after week, to get the choristers to pronounce their Latin words properly. (In other words, the Italianate pronunciation adopted by the Church must be adhered to.) I have caught myself saying the same thing to the choir that I help to direct now in Singapore. Here’s a picture of me directing in Singapore, and if you look very closely at the music stand (and read my ‘addendum’ below) you’ll understand why I posted this:
I’m Not One To Exaggerate • Everything that I am teaching my choir, in Singapore, I learnt first, from my good friend, my good teacher, my sacred music mentor, Jeff Ostrowski. Those 6 years that I spent in the choir with the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter learning under the choral and music direction of Jeff were some of the best times I’ve had learning music in my life. By the way, I don’t say this lightly. As a singer-songwriter, I value words. I am not one to exaggerate. The choir in Los Angeles has lost a great talent in Jeff.
But, dear Jeff, at your new position in Michigan may you continue to bring the beauty of Sacred Music to more and more parishes and people for the sake of the Glory of God and for the Truth of His Holy Catholic Church. Thank you my dear friend!
Addendum • Jeff taught us hundreds of different pieces. One was his arrangement of the Adoremus In Aeternum by Father Francisco Guerrero. I recently directed that piece for the TOTUS TUUS APOSTOLATE in Singapore:
* Jeff found out I could play the pipe organ because one day I asked him what he was listening to in his free time. He replied, “on the way here I was listening to one of my favorite pieces: Sebastian Bach’s Saint Anne Prelude and Fugue in Eb Major.” I told him I was studying that piece, and had recently recorded it—and I remember seeing his jaw drop!
