Dr. John A. Romeri, AAGO, ChM
JOHN A ROMERI
John A Romeri has recently retired from Christ Cathedral (the former Crystal Cathedral) in the Diocese of Orange California. John served as the first Music Director for this newly formed Cathedral Parish where he developed the new cathedral’s music program. He was the founder and conductor Cathedral Choir, Diocesan Children’s Choir, and the Diocesan Adult Choir. He was the Artistic Director for Christ Cathedral Concerts and the host of the radio program, “Music from the Tower.”
John served as Director of Liturgical Music for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia from September 2010 until September 2015. This position included being the Director of Music and Organist at the Cathedral Basilica of SS Peter and Paul. In Philadelphia, he conducted three choirs: the Cathedral Basilica Choir, he reestablished the Archdiocesan Choir of Philadelphia, and founded the Archdiocesan Girls’ Choir. He created Concerts at the Cathedral Basilica and served as its Artistic and Executive Director.
From 1992 – 2010, he was the Director of Music and Organist of the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis. Additionally, he served as Director of the Office of Sacred Music for the Archdiocese of Saint Louis, and as the Artistic and Executive Director for Saint Louis Cathedral Concerts, which he established. For fourteen of those years, Dr. Romeri served as the organist for the Saint Louis Symphony.
Prior to going to St Louis, he held similar positions at both the Church of the Assumption, and at the Diocese of Pittsburgh, both in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He served as an adjunct professor at both Duquesne and Carlow Universities.
Romeri earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Organ Performance, Magna cum Laude, from the Conservatory of Music, University of the Pacific, Stockton, CA, and a Master of Sacred Music from Westminster Choir College, Princeton, NJ. He also holds the Choirmaster and Associate Certificates from the American Guild of Organists. In 1998, he was presented an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from Lindenwood University in Saint Louis.
He has served as chair of the National Association of Pastoral Musicians’ National Board of Directors and was named “Pastoral Musician of the Year” by that organization in 2003. The Missouri Choral Directors Association voted him the “Outstanding Choir Director for 1998- 1999,” the same year he was the coordinator and conductor for the Papal visit to St. Louis. He is a past Dean of the Saint Louis and Philadelphia Chapters of the American Guild of Organists. In 2010, Dr. Romeri and his wife Karen were honored by the Saint Louis Chapter of the American Guild of Organists with their highest distinction, the Avis Blewett Award, for their significant contributions to the musical life of the Greater Metropolitan Saint Louis Region. That same year they were presented with the “Great Music Award” by St. Louis Cathedral Concerts. John serves on the Liturgy Committee of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. In May 2015, at Commencement Weekend, John received the Westminster Choir College Alumni Merit Award for “distinguished contributions to the Field of Sacred Music.” In 2019, John will be the recipient of the Paul Creston Award, presented each year in New York City by St. Malachy Parish, The Actor’s Chapel.
Choirs under his direction have performed throughout the United States, Canada and on many European tours. He frequently conducts the annual Epiphany Children’s Choir Festival in Rome Italy. Participating are hundreds of young singers performing with the famed Sistine Choir for a Papal Mass on the Feast of the Epiphany.
He now lives in Cranford, New Jersey with his wife, Karen and near his 2 children and 4 grandchildren. He has served as an interim musician at several parishes since moving to New Jersey including St. Francis Cathedral, Metuchen, Our Lady of the Lake, Verona, and St. Andrew, Bayonne. This past year he has performed organ-flute recitals with his son, John Romeri II, at St. Thomas More Cathedral, Arlington, VA, Scranton University, and the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart, Newark.