Paul Thornock is director of music and organist at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Savannah, Georgia, where he conducts the semi-professional Cathedral Choir, the fully professional Choral Scholars, and acts as artistic director for the Friends of Cathedral Music concert series. In 2022, he was appointed chorus master for the Savannah Philharmonic Orchestra.
For sixteen years, Thornock served as the Cathedral director of music and diocesan music consultant for Saint Joseph Cathedral in the Catholic Diocese of Columbus, Ohio. He released two choral CD recordings from the Cathedral and was responsible for commissioning the Cathedral's Paul Fritts and Co. organ and the Halbert Gober choir organ. In addition to his cathedral responsibilities, he served on the faculty at Capital University Conservatory of Music and Trinity Lutheran Seminary. More recently, Dr. Thornock was director of music at St. James Cathedral in Seattle and taught organ at the University of Puget Sound.
He earned the Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Puget Sound, where he studied organ with Edward Hansen and conducting with Paul Schultz. He earned the Master of Music in Organ Performance and Literature from the University of Notre Dame, studying with Craig Cramer. While at Notre Dame, he was a graduate assistant organist at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart under Gail Walton. Thornock earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music as a student of Roberta Gary.
| Program | |
|---|---|
| Messe pour Notre-Dame: Introït | Briggs (trans. Briggs) |
| Nun freut euch, lieben Christen g'mein, BuxWV 210 | Buxtehude |
| Symphonie pour Orgue, Op. 5 | Barié |
| Improvisation for St. Sulpice | Briggs (trans. Wibberly) |
| Fantasie: Hallelujah! Gott zu loben, Op. 52, No. 3 | Reger |
Made possible by the Marjorie O’Malley Sacred Music Series. Co-presented by Sacred Music at Notre Dame.
Admission is free and open to the public.