Madeleine will recognize one of its own
Director to receive award for service to music school, more
As the final event at the cathedral's annual Festival of the Arts and Humanities, the award has honored the contributions of the people who have improved the cultural atmosphere of Utah and who have made the state a mecca for the arts in the Intermountain West.
This year the cathedral has decided to honor one of its own. Gregory A. Glenn, director of music at the Cathedral of the Madeleine and former head of the Madeleine Choir School, will be acknowledged for his years of service not only to the cathedral but also to the community at a sold-out dinner today at the New Yorker.
The Deseret News spoke with Glenn recently in the rectory of the cathedral. He admitted he had no idea that he was nominated for this year's Madeleine Award for Distinguished Service to the Arts and Humanities. "It caught me by surprise. Generally, the award is given to someone outside of the cathedral. I was very surprised when I found out I was the recipient."
When he arrived in Salt Lake City 20 years ago, Glenn didn't think he would be here for more than a few years or that he would start a school that was destined to become the first of its kind in the United States. "When I came here to the diocese, it was to work with the entire state. I expected to be here five years" and then transfer elsewhere.
"However, we never met there," Glenn said. But while finishing his master's degree in liturgical studies, Glenn found there was an opening in Salt Lake City. "It was one of three positions that were open that I considered." The other two were in Boston and Chicago. And their loss was Salt Lake City's gain.
Two years after coming here, Glenn began the cathedral's choir school. "That was in March 1990, and at first it was just an after-school program, and it was intended to function that way. It had its limitations, but each year we also held a summer camp, and it was surprising how much we could get done in five days."
The after-school program was an unqualified success, and eventually the idea of a full-blown choir school started to circulate. "We became enamored of the culture of a children's choir," Glenn said, as well as of a choir school structured after European models. "The more we discussed it, the more appealing it became." The new school announced it would open in August 1996, and within a matter of days it was filled.
"We had 106 students that first year, and we were pressured to open an eighth grade." The school now has 240 students.
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