Cathedral organist featured on BYU radio show

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Dr. Gabriele Terrone

SALT LAKE CITY – Dr. Gabriele Terrone, Cathedral of the Madeleine organist and assistant music director, has been interviewed many times about sacred music, but in a recent interview, he shared a different side of himself. In an episode of BYU Radio’s “In Good Faith” program that aired on May 1, Terrone was asked not just about music but about his own spiritual life and that of the cathedral.

“To have such a deeper conversation about the Catholic faith, it was the first time,” Terrone said. “It was the first time I have been asked on public radio what are your favorite saints and why, or to explain the importance of the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament.”

Terrone prepared for the interview by consulting with friends who are deacons and priests about “the best way to approach things without watering down things that had to be said about the Roman Catholic Church, and also what was the best way to communicate these truths without sounding too complex,” he said.

To display his musical skills on the show, Terrone played a recessional for the procession of Corpus Christi and an improvisation of the Ave Maria; both were used as background music. The host of the show, Steven Kapp Perry, asked Terrone about the role of the organ in the liturgy.

“The organ is an instrument that the Roman Catholic Church has indicated to accompany the sacred rites, because of its solemnity and because of its ability to express such a variety of emotion,” Terrone said later.

Terrone also shared his excitement regarding the love there is for organ music in Salt Lake City and his experience of being recognized as the cathedral’s organist and then treated like a celebrity.

“It was unbelievable,” he said on the show. “It is inconceivable for an organ player to be recognized like a soccer player or an actor.”

“You have a chance to touch the lives of people,” Terrone said of his work. “You have the opportunity of being an instrument without even knowing it.”

 However, there can also be a downside, especially during the busy times of the liturgical year at the cathedral, he said. Often, during those times, he will play at several Masses or celebrations on the same day or within a few days, and it can be a challenge not to be overcome by fatigue, he said.

Terrone said response to his interview on “In Good Faith” has been positive from friends and colleagues who have listened to it.