St. Mary’s Lenten Series Features “Three Organists”

The Three Organists: Elizabeth Iacobucci, Angela Carbetta, and Father Thomas Buffer.

The “Three Organists” – Father Thomas Buffer, Elizabeth Iacobucci, and Angela Carbetta – will present “Music for Lent and Passiontide” at St. Mary Catholic Church. The concert will feature music from Bach, Brahms, Peeters, Pachelbel, Schaffner, and Dandrieu on the St. Mary’s 1972 II-Manual 23-Rank Wicks organ.

The concert on Monday, March 17, 2014 at 7:00pm is part of the church’s Monday evening Lenten series. The church is located at 251 North Main Street in Marion.

“The Three Organists concert is a wonderful opportunity to hear a pipe organ in the beautiful St. Mary sanctuary,” said Carbetta. “Varied and delightful sounds from the King of Instruments travel through the church in a way that can only be experienced at a live pipe organ concert.”

The St. Mary’s Spiritual Enrichment Committee will host a reception following the concert in Moira Hall.

You can help support the future of sacred music at St. Mary’s Parish by contributing to the Pipe Organ maintenance and repair fund at the Catholic Foundation. The goal is to have a minimum of $20,000 invested in this fund. Interest generated from the fund will be used for tuning, maintenance, and repair of the pipe organ. This fund was begun using money donated at last year’s organ concert, and has since grown to $2,200, thanks to individual gifts.

You can donate online at catholic-foundation.org or by sending a check to the parish office marked “organ repair fund.”

Father Thomas Buffer, Pastor of St. Mary Catholic Church, graduated from The Ohio State University with a Bachelor of Music Degree in Theory and Composition, and studied organ with Dr. Dr. Grady Wilson. After graduation, he worked as a pipe organ technician with Peebles-Herzog, Inc., of Columbus, and was simultaneously Music Director at St. Joseph Church in Circleville. After entering seminary at the University of St. Mary of the Lake in Mundelein, Illinois, Father Buffer later transferred to the Pontifical North American College in Rome.

With a Doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, a seat on the Board of the Society for Catholic Liturgy, and many years of faithful service in parish life, Father Buffer brings a wealth of experience and expertise to St. Mary Parish here in Marion. He has organ installations underway at St. Mary School, the Boler Center, and the church rectory. Father Buffer also joined the volunteer organ crew for the Marion Palace Mighty Wurlitzer.

Elizabeth Iacobucci, St. Mary’s Organist and Music Director, has been a church organist all her life. She graduated from Marian University in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin in Elementary Education with a minor in organ. She furthered her organ studies under John Bicknell through the Masters Program in Liturgy and Music at St. Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, Indiana. Upon moving to Marion, Ohio, Iacobucci continued her studies with Robert Wisniewski. She has held the position of church organist in Catholic churches in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Indiana and Ohio.

Together with her husband, Charles, they have three sons and four grandchildren. Betsy is a member of the American Guild of Organists, the Marion Lecture Recital Club, as well as a private instructor in piano and organ.

Angela Carbetta graduated from the Capital University Conservatory of Music in Piano Pedagogy, then went on to study organ and music therapy at Ohio University. She started piano lessons while a student at St. Mary Grade School here in Marion, began playing for Masses in junior high, then later enjoyed formal organ studies with Eugene Wickstrom at Ohio University.  Carbetta taught music at Epworth Preschool, Marion Catholic High School, and Palace Cultural Arts classes, along with private piano and organ lessons for over thirty years.  She currently serves as Organist/Music Director at 1st Presbyterian Church (Mt. Gilead), Assistant Organist at St. Mary’s, and makes regular appearances on The Mighty Wurlitzer at The Palace Theatre.

Carbetta is past president of the Heart of Ohio Theatre Organ Society, and a member of the American Guild of Organists. In addition to her busy life in the music world, Angie serves the community as Director of Marion County Recycling & Litter Prevention.