Music Ministry

The St. Monica Adult Choir is a volunteer ensemble made up of singers with a wide variety of music experience and is open to individuals as young as 9th Grade with no audition required. The Choir sings at the 9am and 11am Masses every Sunday and rehearses on Wednesday evenings from mid-August through June. Additionally, the ensemble plays a large role in several events in the Fine Arts Series, such as the annual Christmas and Patriotic Concerts.

St. Monica Choir Login

• Section Leaders

  St. Monica Catholic Church is blessed to benefit from the incredible talents of eight Section Leaders who serve very important roles in the Adult Choir. These contracted positions are audition-only and are reserved for some of the highest-quality vocalists and choristers in DFW. In addition to their responsibilities within the Adult Choir, many of these individuals also serve as Cantors for Weddings, Funerals, weekend Masses, and other Liturgies at St. Monica.

The St. Monica Catholic School Children’s Choirs are open to children in 4th Grade through 8th Grade. These ensembles meet weekly to rehearse during the school year and sing at several concerts, contests, and liturgies throughout the year. These choirs are open to anyone of age who wishes to join.

Emmanuel Espiritu, Bandleader

The Contemporary Band at St. Monica provides music for the 5pm Sunday Mass each weekend. This ensemble is open to anyone as young as 9th Grade and consists of both singers and instrumentalists who want to help lead music for this Mass and other Liturgies throughout the year. Music played by this group includes “contemporary Christian hits” from all ages, including from current artists like Audrey Assad, Matt Maher, Phil Wickham, and others.

Free CDs of this ensemble are available in the Church Office.

To get more information about this group or about how to join, please talk to Emmanuel Espiritu after a 5pm Mass.
 

The St. Monica Catholic Church Fine Arts Program holds concerts, events, and Liturgies throughout the year designed to engage and inspire the community. These events range from individual performer recitals to large-scale concerts with full orchestra. The yearly Fine Arts Series is planned and executed by the Fine Arts Committee, a group of active members of St. Monica who represent all aspects of the Music Ministry as well as members of the general congregation.

The Fine Arts Program does not operate through the general church budget but is instead funded entirely through separate donations by generous patrons. To make a contribution and join our list of donors, please click here.

Fine Arts Digital Programs

For more information, to see pictures or clips of past performances, or to find out how you can get involved, please use the links below:

St. Monica Fine Arts YouTube Channel

St. Monica Fine Arts Facebook Page

The St. Monica Handbell Choir is an ensemble of volunteer handbell ringers that takes part in Liturgies and Concerts throughout the year. The volunteer ensemble rehearses on Sundays at 3:30pm from September through May and rings on a 7-octave set of Schulmerick Handbells and a 4-octave set of Malmark Handchimes. While ringing experience is not required to join, basic music knowledge is helpful.

Juan Davila, Director

The St. Monica Hispanic Choir provides music for the 2pm Spanish Mass every Sunday and rehearses on Thursday evenings at 7pm. Membership in this ensemble is open to adults or teens in 9th Grade or above, and consists of musicians who play various instruments such as drums, piano, or guitar, as well as vocalists. Additionally, other instrumentalists (i.e. violins, flutes, trumpets, etc.) are welcome to join. The group plays music from the Flor y Canto hymnal, as well as other similar sources. Music reading ability or previous choir/band experience is helpful, but not required.

To get more information about this group or about how to join, please talk to Juan Davila after a 2pm Mass.
 

Juan Davila, Director

The St. Monica Hispanic Children’s Choir sings at the 2pm Spanish Mass approximately once a month and rehearses on Thursday evenings at 6pm. Membership in this ensemble is open to children from 2nd through 8th grade (or equivalent age). While the group consists mostly of singers, instrumentalists (drums, piano, guitar, violin, flute, trumpet, etc.) are welcome to join, as well. Music reading ability or previous choral experience is helpful, but not required.
 

St. Monica Catholic Church is proud to have a rich tradition of high-quality music, made possible in part by the impressive instruments that have played such a critical role in our history. The original 1968 Wicks Pipe Organ served the church’s needs for nearly 50 years until the current organ, built by Nichols & Simpson Organ Builders of Little Rock, Arkansas, was completed in Fall 2014. In addition, the Church owns a small electronic Rodgers organ which has allowed us to continue having organ music at overflow Masses, offsite liturgies and concerts, and during the 2012 renovation of the Church. In 2006, a rebuilt 1926 Steinway Artist Model Grand Piano was purchased for use in the Church. This piano was used for Liturgies and events until a new Schimmel K230 Konzert Grand Piano was purchased in 2021.

The Nichols & Simpson pipe organ installed in the Church is built specifically to handle a large variety of musical styles and genres and, as such, is well suited to everything from weekly liturgical use to concerts by some of the leading organists in the world. The organ can be heard weekly at the 5pm Mass on Saturday as well as the 9am and 11am Masses on Sunday, as well as occasionally at other Masses. Additionally, St. Monica’s Fine Arts Program features the organ regularly in recitals, concerts with choir and orchestra, and many other events throughout the year.

Mr. Guillermo Martinez serves as the Church’s primary organist and accompanist for the Church’s various ensembles.

Wicks Pipe Organ, Opus 4811 (1968-2011)          Nichols & Simpson Pipe Organ (2014)

Rodgers Electronic Organ                           Schimmel K230 Konzert Grand Piano (2021)